Sunday, November 19, 2006
We Give Thanks
What I love about Thanksgiving is the fact that it celebrates coming together and enjoying good food. What I hate about it is—a much longer list.
The holiday celebrates a duplicitous moment in American history, when the pilgrims were saved from starving by the generosity of the Native Americans, and gave thanks to their God for sending them such beneficent friends. It’s duplicitous because as soon as they could, those same smiling, grateful pilgrims turned around and massacred their Native neighbors in droves, savagely murdering any men, women, children or old people who had the audacity to think they could continue to reside in their ancestral homeland.
In the succeeding years, American capitalist culture has taken this nice family-oriented holiday and turned it into an orgy of gluttonous excess. We’re not supposed to just sit down to a special meal together, we’re supposed to stuff ourselves into total lethargy, like geese being force-fed to produce fois gras.
Most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving at home, not in a restaurant. And who do you think is responsible for producing this great feast? You guessed it, the women of the house.
Over the years I have asked hundreds of students to write about Thanksgiving at their homes, and it’s amazing how every one of them describes their mothers or grandmothers getting up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven, and slaving over the side dishes and desserts—not to mention serving and cleaning up after the meal. And then there’s the shopping that goes on for a good week beforehand—many hours spent in accumulating all the food that will be laid out on the groaning board that day.
In traditional American homes—and I warrant we are still talking about the majority of American homes here—the women do all the preparation, serving, and cleaning up for Thanksgiving. Maybe the man of the house carves the turkey when it’s presented to him on a platter. But the main activity of the men in the house, from little boys on up to grandfathers, is watching football, eating and drinking.
Someone please tell me I’m behind the times, and this picture has changed! I know there are some men who love to cook, and take responsibility for preparing holiday meals. But as far as I know, these men are exceptions to the rule.
The truth is that on Thanksgiving, we give thanks for the Native Americans who happily gave us this bountiful land, and for the women who have happily shopped and cooked so we could enjoy this bountiful feast.
Who the hell are “we”?
