I haven’t heard too much this year about the perennial conflict between those saying that “Merry Christmas” is not inclusive and those who say “Happy Holidays” is bland and joyless. Indeed, as one who feels that everyone should just use whatever greeting they want and no one should be attacked, bullied, shunned, or annoyed because of whatever greeting they pick, I’d be quite happy if the entire debate was over for good. Fortunately Mark Kessler, a professor of multicultural women’s and gender studies at Texas Women’s University, has a solution for how to be more all-inclusive:
When planning December office parties that coincide with the Christmas season, it is a challenge for event organizers to make celebrations “all-inclusive.” Not all faith traditions have holidays in December, and not everyone identifies with a particular faith tradition. … Consider naming the party, if it is scheduled for December, without using the word “holiday.” “Holiday” connotes religious tradition and may not apply to all employees. For educational institutions, a December gathering may instead be called an “end of semester” party. For a business office, an “end of (fiscal) year” party may be more appropriate.
So it turns out that both those who say “Merry Christmas” and those who say “Happy Holidays” have been oppressing religious minorities. It is true that not every single group on earth has a holiday in December, and thus using the word “holiday” in December is clearly a microaggression. Indeed, urging anyone to be happy or merry is clearly marginalizing. And after all, who’s heart wouldn’t thrill with joy at the approach of the End of (Fiscal) Year Party? Obviously the correct greeting at this time of year is, “Experience whatever emotion is appropriate for you during the end of (fiscal) year.”
And the good professor has more advice, such as:
[ul]
[li]Plan a menu that does not symbolize a particular religious holiday (for example, red and green sugar cookies shaped like Christmas trees).[/li][li]Avoid religious symbolism, such as Santa Claus, evergreen trees or a red nosed reindeer, which are associated with Christmas traditions, when sending out announcements or decorating for the party. Excellent alternatives are snowflakes, snowmen or winter themes not directly associated with a particular holiday or religion.[/li][/ul]
This, however, seems to be getting extremely problematic. Wouldn’t decorating with “snowmen” send the message that snowwomen are being excluded? And how are indigenous people from tropical regions without snow supposed to feel about finding their End of (Fiscal) Year party decorated with imperialistic snowflakes associated with oppressive places like Europe and North America?
Unfortunately we don’t seem likely to get answers to these questions, as the university appears to have removed the advice from their website. (The cached version is here.)
