Cuban families: a plural form that shall be taken into consideration

By repeating it so much, it seems that everyone knows the reason for that plural: Familie(s) Code Project.

However, just yesterday I happened to hear the dialogue between two middle-aged women, presumably friends or neighbors, who were waiting to buy the printed version of the aforementioned project.

One lady corrected the other:

-Say it right: Families Code, with an -S.

-It doesn't matter, after all we are a big family, right? Why so much -S, that's just to be politically correct.

-It's not like that, the other woman answered back.

I don't know how the conversation continued because the two finally bought that printed version, and I stayed waiting for my turn in the line.

As such word exchange could be repeating itself in different circumstances and of course, with different words, perhaps it would be convenient to remember why it is very important to speak of Cuban families and not of the Cuban family, in its singular form, as if it were a homogeneous mass, without differences that distinguish one from another.

However, the traditional and heteronormative model that identified the family as one in the past, has been displaced by realities that go beyond it.

So much so that, according to Dr. Patricia Arés Muzio, Full and Consultant Professor at the School of Psychology of the University of Havana — among the most consulted specialists these days —, the family institution or social group is no longer defined by only blood ties, not cohabitation, kinship or conjugal ties.

Consensus, cohabitation, adoption, relationship and guardianship are also relevant, says the expert, who has stressed that it is no longer possible to speak of a single family model.

The aging that today marks the Cuban population, as well as migration, the increase in divorces, sexual diversity, and other variables have conditioned diversity and complexity as guiding trends in Cuban families, where, at present, there are many “more voluntary, less stigmatized and more innovative unions in the way it works.”

Today abound in Cuban families:

- Families formed by few members and also single-parent

-The variety of ages, genders, and sexual orientations

-Coexistence as a couple without a formalization of the union

-Number of children born outside marriage

-Fertility decline

The popular consultation process that is now being held regarding the family code project is also an opportunity to meditate and continue redefining the vision of family that each of us has, not always free of prejudices and stereotypes.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff