The textbook defines "family" as "the fundamental unit of society traditionally composed of two parents raising their children" and includes "any of the various social units different but considered equivalent to the traditional family." Ideas about what families are come to us partly from our environment. From an early age we are exposed to ideas about what families should be like and how they should function. We are exposed to alternative images as we learn about the different family structures depicted in the media; books, newspapers, magazines, films and especially television. For decades, television has been a powerful cultural focus for families. For the most part, these images have tended to be conventional. Furthermore, with the emergence of more diverse families, whose characteristics "vary dramatically" based on various factors such as race, age and economic status, gender roles have deviated slightly from those traditionally delineated to the father and to the mother. These roles are now distributed more equally, which correlates with the changing economic role of women. However, some expectations regarding the role of parents are still perpetuated; most of society still expects the father to be the “breadwinner,” and while the mother may or may not work, she is still expected to take on the majority of household responsibilities. In the 1950s, television largely reflected the prevailing concept of the American family. Popular shows like Leave it to Beaver and The Brady Bunch depicted the family as a heterosexual, patriarchal, churchgoing unit with chaste children. But in the 1960s, representations of the family began to change. Modern Family was on the air in the 1950s and people would have been horrified by its content. A same-sex couple living together with an adopted child and an older man married to a much younger woman are just some of the dramatic changes described in our society. Women now play a more dominant role than on shows like Leave it to Beaver and The Brady Bunch. Women are seen with careers outside the home, without relying on their husbands for financial support. However, television still tends to portray traditional gender roles within families. In Modern Family, for example, Claire is often seen doing almost all the housework, cooking and juggling for the children. The family that represents the most drastic change is that of the homosexual couple Cam and Mitchell. Although the two are both male, it is evident that Cam is much more feminine than his Mitchell counterpart. It seems ironic that even in a