Similarly to me bearing more responsibility than my brother, my mother bears more responsibility than anyone else on Thanksgiving day. While we all help cook the food, she is the one to organize and run the event. As Professor Lara talked about in lecture, kinship is also a cultural system that defines familial obligations. In my family, the person in a matriarchal position has authority over the workings of any holiday party. My mother handles this responsibility with good nature, putting out her towel that has an image of a turkey coming out of the oven and the phrase, “Ta-da! Now let’s have a cocktail!”

Lara, Ana-Maurine “Kinship, Family, & Marriage” (Lecture, Introduction to World Cultures, Eugene, OR, November 2, 2017).