The Thanksgiving holiday has its roots in the American colonial experience, specifically that of the Pilgrims who came to the New World in the 17th century (Siskind 42). This experience, one of adapting to the rigors of a new climate and hostile environment, led to the establishment of the national American holiday that is still an important part of American culture today. The idea of giving thanks, specifically for the bounty of food, comes with it an American social experience, with food as an important symbol of success, and with labor often divided between genders.
The holiday of Thanksgiving has not changed much since I began college. Though I am away at school, I still head home, like most of my classmates, and spend the weekend with family. We eat turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, yams, and stuffing, and we watch American football and play board games. Like the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that remind one of one’s American heritage, with food and family as the central cultural symbols. Moreover, social theorist Janet Siskind writes, “Thanksgiving … expresses and reaffirms values and assumptions about cultural and social unity, about identity and history, about inclusion and exclusion” (41). Siskind’s quote exemplifies the importance of family gatherings around the Thanksgiving holiday and the significance in sharing the communal American experience.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Thanksgiving and Social Structure".
Furthermore, there is a certain power of food as a symbol of this holiday. Thanksgiving dinner is not just about eating turkey—it is a cultural experience for many American families. Having plentiful food on the table reminds us that many Americans do have a lot to be thankful for, i.e., (like the classical cornucopia) food in abundance on the table, a roof over one’s head, cars in the garage, a flat-screen television on which to watch football, and so on. On this holiday, plentiful food is a kind of symbol for status, and having more food than one needs to eat (the traditional sign of a successful harvest) is a privilege that many Americans enjoy.
While food is a symbol for status on Thanksgiving, it is also a point of reference for the traditional social structure and the gendered division of labor. In my family, little has changed in this respect. The women in my family do the cooking and cleaning, while the men basically get a free pass and get to carve the turkey (and watch television). This is not exactly the same structure as would have been experienced by the Pilgrims in the New World, where the men would hunt and the women prepare the food, but there is a similar divisional of “labor.” It is interesting to analyze this social structure and how one’s family history can reinforce the idea that women should do the cooking and cleaning. I wonder if my mother and sisters ever wondered why they had to cook and clean on this holiday just because of their gender. I do not think the men in our family ever questioned the social structure, nor offered to cook one year so the women in the family could watch television instead. At the same time, my mother appears to enjoy the cooking and preparing during the holiday, so maybe she does not see it as a “chore.”
The Thanksgiving holiday is an American experience that many families enjoy in November. There is so wonder it is one of the most traveled holidays across the country, with people hurrying home to be with their families and loved ones. The idea of being alone on this day, as an American, seems a foreign and depressing prospect. While the holiday has certainly changed over the years since the Pilgrims came to the New World, closer analysis reveals that the same gender norms and social customs remain intact to this day.
- Siskind, Janet. “The Invention of Thanksgiving: A Ritual of American Nationality.” Critique of Anthropology, vol. 12, no. 2, June 1992, pp. 167–191, doi:10.1177/0308275X9201200205.
