The New American Dreamers

Ruth Sidel:  a professor of Sociology at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

New American Dreamers = young women in the United States

Sidel, in this article, describes the hopes and dreams that young American women have for their personal and professional lives. She focuses the goal and aspiration of young American women who dream about controlling their own personal and professional destinies and achieving material success. Outlining the lives of several young women from different ethnic backgrounds and social classes, Sidel addresses the questions of how realistic these women’s chances are of actually achieving the American Dream. She maintains that young American women from all social classes, ethnic groups, and geographical areas have the same dream for the future: being able to control their own personal and professional destiny and achieving material success. Despite American women’s optimistic view with hard work, the chances to accomplish what they want are limited for many of them.

The major aspects she describes are:

- the good life that includes one’s own home, professional career and material success.

- a happy marriage with children and joint parental responsibility.

- a sense of optimism that includes upward social mobility.

- Personal choice and

- a belief that with enough hard work and determination, one can control one’s own destiny and have it all.

In the past, women wanted to find their identity from marriage. But in the later days, they prefer their own way in the world and determine their own destiny before they form a significant and lasting intimate relationship. For them, material richness, work, career and own identity is more important than marriage and children. They want freedom, no dependence, own choice and own way of life. No matter whatever family class they come from, every American lady dreams of a good life with material success.

Ruth Sidel: an example of confident, outgoing, knowledgeable active young woman. She is stylish to face young people’s vital issues like sex, drug and alcohol and takes them seriously, thoughtfully and frankly. She takes good control of her life, plans carefully; works hard, makes right decisions and leads well planned life. She desires to have material goods of her choice, will get married if she wishes and probably have children.

 Beth Conant: is a 16 year old junior high school student from middle class family. She lives with her mother (a librarian) and step-father (a stockbroker) and has five brothers, 4 older and one too younger. This excellent public high school junior lady hopes to study at Yale College and develop her career in the field of acting. She wants to have a great life, be really independent and materially affluent. By the age thirty, she will get good roles, buy a house in the country, get married with a cooperative man. She will get a baby if she has time and will make one more movie after one year.

Amy Morrison:, a small, black, 15 year old 10^th grade student from working class family, lives in Ohio. She lives with her mother, a part-time worker and her father who works in a local art museum. Her ambition is to join a medical school and become a surgeon so that she can earn a lot of money. She wishes to get married only after she has a good secure job. She also intends to cohabit with someone till then. She is not sure whether she will get a baby or not but wants to earn more and more money, buy a car.

Jacqueline Gonzalez: is a confident 19 year old Mexican- American lady. She is a 10^th grade student in a community college in South California. She is the second youngest child of her parents’ six children. Her father is a self employed contractor and mother is a house wife. She is the first in her family to go to college. Her goal is to go to law school and then go into private practice. After professional achievement, she wants to get married, have one or two children and lead an upper-middle class life.

Arizona: a 16 year old unmarried mother of a 4.5 month old baby looks forward to a professional career in a bank or with a computer company. Her ambition is to have own house, a nice car, ability to buy good clothes for her son. She is looking for dating but not for marriage. Another17 year old black unmarried mother of an infant hopes to be a professional model, have a lot of cash, be rich and then have another baby but not sure to have a partner.

18 year old Hispanic lady:  is an unmarried mother. She hopes to be her own boss in a large company, have a beautiful home, and send her daughter to the best school.

Simone Baker: is a dynamic, bright, 18year old black woman from Louisiana. Her mother is a seamstress who has been off and on welfare over the years and her father is a drug addict. She herself has been addicted to drugs of one kind or another since she was 5. She has been in and out of drug-abuse facilities. Although she attended school for many years and was upgraded from one class to another, she can barely read and write. When Sidel met her in a drug rehabilitation center, she was struggling to become drug-free so that she could join the Job Crops.  She wants to finish high school and obtain some vocational training. When asked, she replies that she wants to be a model, to have a Jacuzzi, to have big house and big family – three girls and two boys. She wants to have a hard working cooperative husband who is sensible and sensitive to her feelings.  He will be a lawyer. Her ambition seems to be completely impossible.