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The holidays can be filled with celebrations of coming together, gift giving, and enjoying plentiful meals. The holidays can also be filled with a great deal of sexism, misogyny, and racism. When you look just below the surface of gingerbread houses and jingle bells, there is a plethora of gender discrimination to be found. Think about it: Santa is a strange man, and yet you run to sit on his lap and tell him what presents you want to receive. He then has control over whether or not you receive those gifts. And when you are given a gift, it’s often a reinforcement of your gender’s traditional norms. Girls are gifted play kitchens and dolls while boys are gifted Lego sets and Nerf guns. Then when Christmas dinner comes around, women and girls are more often than not the ones both preparing it and cleaning up after the celebration is over, while men and boys sit around and relax. After everything is put away and the kids are tucked into bed, who do you think is the one donning “Sexy Santa” lingerie?
Sexism and misogyny are rampant during the holidays, and so is racism. Not only are the icons of the Christian holiday (Santa and Jesus) both male, but they’re both portrayed as caucasian (yes, Jesus lived in the Middle East, but he’s white washed in modern day Christmas regalia.) Christmas is very much a holiday that excludes people of color in its representation. There is little to no diversity in the images, stories, or traditions that honor the holiday.
Racism, sexism, and misogyny not enough for your Christmas plate? Economic disparity is the perfect dessert for a holiday meal of inequality. As children and adults alike look forward to receiving gifts, there is competition for who receives the best gift, who receives the season’s hottest item, and who was able to get ahold of the backordered new PlayStation. Children, parents, and families who aren’t able to afford lavish gifts are often left feeling ashamed, belittled, and excluded. Imagine a single parent of two children who works multiple jobs just to put food on the table. Now that Christmas has arrived - a holiday that is supposed to be centered around community and shared time with loved ones - they are also expected to put gifts under the Christmas tree (a tree that may be worth a full paycheck.)
The holiday season is filled with disparities and a lack of equal representation, but we can find ways to promote diversity and eliminate harmful social norms so that future holiday celebrations can be enjoyable and inclusive for everyone.
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Photo: iStock
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