A Long Weekend of Rest and Labour: Thanksgiving, Holiday Body Work, and the Holiday Body
A Long Weekend of Rest and Labour: Thanksgiving, Holiday Body Work, and the Holiday Body
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Describe how the body is social and how social life is embodied.
Explain how industrialization impacted contemporary understandings of work and leisure.
Differentiate the four different kinds of body work and their relevance for holidays.
Analyze how body work is gendered.
Apply the concept of the holiday body to reflect on the paradox of holidays as leisure time.
Introduction
The sensation of needing a holiday after a holiday is prevalent in social discourse.
Example statement: "We need a third week!"—a reflection from a colleague.
This chapter examines how holiday experiences are embodied, specifically during the Thanksgiving long weekend.
Key focus: The 'holiday body' concept—understanding the paradox of holidays as times of rest coexisting with significant labor demands.
Structure overview:
Sociological background on the body.
History of Thanksgiving in Canada and its evolution alongside labor and leisure dynamics since the Industrial Revolution.
Introduction to body work, specifically 'holiday body work.'
Feminist analysis highlighting gender disparities in body work during holidays.
Thesis: The Thanksgiving long weekend embodies a dual nature: it is a time of leisure yet simultaneously demands substantial labor.
Sociology and the Body
The focus on the body in sociology has gained traction in the last 25 to 30 years.
Early sociological work lacked explicit attention to the body despite its importance.
Feminist theory has significantly contributed to highlighting the body in sociological discourse.
Key factors for increased attention:
Technological advancements allow for direct interventions (e.g., IVF, cosmetic surgery).
Growth of digital tools to manage body image (e.g., self-tracking).
Increasing commercial availability of body-related objects (gym memberships, cosmetics).
Aging population prompts examination of experiences tied to the aging body.
The sociology of the body encompasses various influences:
Influence of media, government standards, and medical definitions on ideals of body size and health.
Social contexts shape meanings attached to bodies (interaction norms, gestures).
Bodies are subject to social regulation via institutions like law, education, and state governance.
Emphasis on the intersectionality of gender, race, ability, class, and sexual orientation in body analysis.
Challenges biological determinism, recognizing human behavior as socially constructed rather than biologically predetermined.
Biological Determinism vs. Social Construction
Biological determinism claims human behavior is purely biologically driven (e.g., attraction based on survival instincts).
This perspective is criticized for generalizing behaviors based on gender and reinforcing social inequalities.
Sociologists emphasize the intertwined relationship between biological and social influences on bodies:
Example: Manual labor physically alters bodies, which in turn shapes lived experiences.
Social inequalities can lead to specific health outcomes based on access to resources.
Acknowledgement that bodies are shaped both by social context and biological factors, creating a complex relationship between the two.
Holiday Time and Thanksgiving Long Weekend
Canadian Thanksgiving as a Holiday
Originated in the 19th century as a religious, nationalistic celebration (Sismondo 2017; Stevens 2016).
Borrowed from American Thanksgiving, aimed at fostering Christian values and national identity.
Ideal identity considered white and Protestant.
Transition from religious to secular:
Focus shifted to leisure and family gatherings, particularly formal meals.
The popular press promoted the thanksgiving dinner as the central event (Stevens 2016).
Formal establishment of the Thanksgiving long weekend in 1908, with a move from Thursday to Monday.
Legislation regarding holidays:
Federal regulations ensure workers receive days of rest, with general holidays designated under the Canada Labour Code (ESDC 2023a).
Employees entitled to two weeks of vacation and specific paid holidays (January 1, Good Friday, etc.) (ESDC 2023b).
Industrialization and Changes to Time
Shift to industrial society in 19th-century Europe led to distinct separation between work and leisure (Cross 1990).
Development of clock time facilitated a new organization of life around strict schedules rather than natural rhythms.
Pre-industrial work characterized by task-oriented labor without defined work hours, whereas industrial work enforced rigid hours and locations for work and leisure.
Workers increasingly viewed work as encroaching on leisure time, motivating labor movements for reduced working hours (Cross 1990).
Viewing work from home has blurred boundaries between work and leisure, especially highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Body Work
Definition: Body work refers to the ways work is embodied and includes both paid and unpaid domestic labor (Gimlin 2007; Twigg et al. 2011; Wolkowitz 2006).
Four types of body work:
Appearance Work: The effort to maintain a specific bodily appearance (makeup, grooming, clothing).
Crucial in service-oriented jobs; employers often seek attractive employees (Warhurst and Nickson 2001, 2020).
Example: A hotel chain's preference for attractive staff and specific dress codes for female employees (Sample 2016).
Emotional Labour: Management of feelings in the workplace, often requiring suppression or alteration of actual feelings (Hochschild 1983).
Example: Flight attendants projecting calm and happiness regardless of personal feelings (Hochschild 1983).
Inter-corporeal Body Work: Involves direct work with or for other bodies (healthcare, beauty work, caregiving).
May include jobs across various sectors and unpaid labor from family caregivers (Gimlin 2007; Twigg 2000).
Body-making through Work: Refers to how the labor environment directly alters bodies (e.g., physical strain from manual labor).
Thanksgiving Holiday Body Work: Feminist Perspectives
The Thanksgiving dinner requires inter-corporeal body work through meal preparation and consumption.
Sensory experiences are integral: smells, tastes, fullness, and associated bodily memories enhance the embodied experience.
Hosting dinners includes emotional labor, creating a festive atmosphere, and ensuring guests' comfort through emotional management.
This labor is not only expected from hosts but also from guests who must engage emotionally and contribute to the event positively.
Gender disparities in holiday body work:
Majority of emotional labor related to hosting is performed by women.
Statistical evidence shows women perform more domestic labor (61% of household work) while men do 39% (Houle et al. 2017; Statistics Canada 2024a).
Feminized roles often viewed as less significant or unrecognized as work due to patriarchal societal norms.
Additional Considerations
The labor surrounding Thanksgiving encompasses a range of workers from farmers to transportation workers, illustrating class and labor inequalities.
Gendered, racialized, and ability differences in holiday body work further underscore disparities in expectations and experiences related to holidays.
Critical to recognize that holiday body work is neither uniform nor equal; it varies by social class, race, and sexual orientation, influencing individual holiday experiences and responsibilities.
The Holiday Body
The concept of the holiday body encapsulates the paradox of holidays: while intended for rest, they necessitate significant labor.
Expectations of leisure and relaxation coexist with the reality of work required for holiday success.
Reflects on how social and biological aspects shape the holiday experience:
Legislation influences how holiday practices are socially organized.
Bodies have physiological needs for rest that must be recognized in the structuring of holidays.
The understanding of the holiday body reveals the complexity of holiday experiences, emphasizing the pervasive embodiment of social life.
Conclusion
The chapter illustrates the intricately embodied nature of social life through the lens of the Thanksgiving holiday.
It critiques the notion of holidays as purely leisure experiences by exposing the labor dynamic intertwined with social expectations.
The distinction between work and leisure, rooted in the industrial era, complicates contemporary understandings of holidays, revealing multifaceted layers of social interaction and individual experiences.
Questions for Critical Thought
Reflect on how holidays discussed in other chapters are embodied; identify other examples of holiday body work.
Consider other holidays and seasonal rituals; analyze how the holiday paradox applies.
Discuss whether clock time still dominates social life and what other temporal organizing methods have gained significance.
Choose an example of work to analyze how types of body work manifest.
Investigate how social differences (class, race, ability, sexual orientation) influence holiday body work.