Thanksgiving Ritual Essay

777 Words2 Pages

Through my Thanksgiving ritual, I noticed that the men and women in my family have different tasks in the preparation, serving, and removal of the meal. The rituals of the men and women show different gender ideologies. Before we left, my grandma called us to ask to bring brown sugar as she participates in the “forgetting to buy an ingredient ritual” for the sweet potato soufflé. Therefore, upon arrival on Wednesday evening, my grandma and my sister prepare the soufflé. My grandma prepares most of the food because she is the oldest woman in the family. However, as she shows my sister how to prepare traditional dishes in our family, she passes down her role of the sole preparer of the food. Also, early Thursday morning, my grandma arranged the …show more content…

She performs the “setting of the table ritual” because she is responsible for the conduct of her household. While grandma sets the table in the dining room, my grandpa and dad stuff and prepare two turkeys for dinner (baked and grilled). Typically, the turkey is the most demanding part of our Thanksgiving ritual and traditionally, the men in my family always fix the turkey. After reading Janet Siskind’s “The Invention of Thanksgiving” I realize that we are not the only family where gender determines role in the ritual. Siskind writes, “The preparation of the Thanksgiving feast is a traditional responsibility of women, the carving of the turkey usually the prerogative of the men of the house” (185). Because my grandfather is the most esteemed male in my family, he has the honor of carving the turkey. While we await dinner, which finishes cooking promptly at five o’clock, other members of my extended family arrive for the occasion. My dad’s two brothers who live in town arrive with their families. My dad’s younger brother arrives with his wife, stepson, his stepson’s girlfriend, and his wife’s

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