Though this schema works for many, however, there are also downsides to these societal changes that are not often discussed as they are rather unpopular. With greater individual freedom comes greater individual and collective risk. This is not to suggest that women should be controlled by men, or indeed that any segment of society should be controlled by another, but as families become less structured and more permissive entities, responsibility for the production of socially connected citizens becomes more difficult to place, and the concept of social responsibility itself even comes into question. The answer to this predicament is that the family as a whole becomes responsible, though the individual roles are more freely and equally divided.
Some of these changes can even be observed during the Renaissance period that took place from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries throughout Europe. Though coming to England somewhat later than many mainland European countries, this Renaissance created, "a breakdown in traditional class distinctions accompanied by a social mobility unprecedented in European history" (Sayer pp. 776). Families and lineages, though still of great importance for many social and even economic...
This is Alberti's primary measure of success for the family and for the male head's role in that family, according to certain passages in Books II and III of his text, but now success or failure in life is the responsibility of each individual, regardless of familial circumstances.
There is definitely more fairness in the social system as it exists today than it did during the Renaissance, either in Italy or England. At the same time, especially for the upper rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, families still tend to be fairly patriarchal and are still instrumental in creating success for the younger generations of the family. Without a clean slate with which to begin, equality can never really be established. Still, as the risks and regards of personal freedom continue to increase, we can only approach a society with greater equality.
