The changing definition of the American family

Leo Tolstoy probably wasn’t thinking of an American Thanksgiving when he opened Anna Karenina with this line: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” These days, all families — happy or not — are less alike than ever. In the NYT, Natalie Angier takes a look at the changing definition of family:

Families are more ethnically, racially, religiously and stylistically diverse than half a generation ago — than even half a year ago. In increasing numbers, blacks marry whites, atheists marry Baptists, men marry men and women women, Democrats marry Republicans and start talk shows.

And they’re all coming over to your house for Thanksgiving, which brings us to another quote — this one from Oscar Wilde: “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.”

• Natalie Angier
• USA