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The Conversation
The Conversation
Rin Reczek, Professor of Sociology, The Ohio State University

The real reason many Americans are cutting ties with their parents and siblings

The path to estrangement is usually gradual, marked by mounting tensions and unresolved conflicts. Nick Lehr/The Conversation via ChatGPT

Luna, 26, no longer speaks to her father. There was no single betrayal, no dramatic rupture. What ended the relationship was his insistence on obedience and dominance.

“In his head it’s like, ‘I’m the father, you’re the daughters, we do things my way,’” she told me. Luna explained to him that she was “not willing to have a relationship like that,” and her terms for contact were simple: “We could only have a relationship where you understand that I’m a person, and I’m not just gonna do whatever you want me to do whenever you want me to.”

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