You knew that even Christmas wouldn’t escape the ever-seeking consternation of the feminists and “studies” professoriate, right?
Enter Latham Hunter, a professor of communication and (of course) cultural studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, who writes:
Pity the poor mother who wants to enjoy the holiday season and pass along the delight and warmth of various yuletide traditions but who doesn’t particularly want to put the Christ back in Christmas, as it were, or reinforce the notion that men are the foundation of the most important things in the world, like school vacations and presents.
Hunter goes on to note that Christmas is “impossible to ‘do’ without running into one patriarchal construct after another.” We got Frosty the Snowman, that reindeer with the red nose named Rudolph, and, of course, ‘ol St. Nick himself:
Aside from singing the praises of a man who rules over everything (there really are the most gorgeous choral renditions out there), even the secular Christmas songs are ubiquitous in their praise of male characters: “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and of course, Santa Claus. Santa Claus, a white male who, by the way, gets all the credit for labour overwhelmingly done by women (I’m picturing my friend Kathleen, for example, describing her Plan A and Plan B for getting Minecraft Lego in her hands by Christmas Eve, hoping like hell that one plan works out, wondering if she should instigate a Plan C).
The holiday feminist challenge extends to every Christmas category. Sure, I have fond memories of watching movies of the season with my brother and my mother but now? Now I realize that Maria from “The Sound of Music” finds her true calling as a nurturing caregiver and ends up responsible for a man’s emotional rehabilitation.
Even time-honored classics like White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life do not escape Hunter’s enmity. Regarding the former, the message is apparently that men cannot get along without women being their “emotional handmaidens,” and that all females need to do to get hired is wear “low-cut gowns” and throw themselves at their (male) targets.
The Grinch (Who Stole Christmas) is also targeted. But being the good cultural warrior that Hunter is, it thus seems to me that the professor is being hypocritical here, not to mention quite insensitive.
Yes, the Grinch is routinely referred to as a “he;” however, is he really?
The “guy” runs around during the whole cartoon without any pants on, leaving it “wide open” for all to see. Except that … there is nothing to see.
So, who is Hunter, or anyone else, to label the Grinch a “he?” How do we know how “he” defines “himself?” For all we know, Grinch has been battling to be allowed to use the restroom of “his” gender choice — and it may indeed be female.
Better to have on the professor’s list is Mister Heat Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus. After all, what better example of XY chromosome dominance is there than the personification of global warming/climate change, right?
wait, doesn’t “green” mean “eco-friendly?”
… the film, while obviously fictional, paints a picture of the reality for white children compared to the reality for black children. In the movie, Ralphie, the main character, gets a toy gun for Christmas, and as Molloy points out, nobody cautions the young child that he might get shot by police for playing with it.
In closing, Hunter laments the usual “gender stereotyped” holiday gift options:
Christmas toys are so rigidly defined by gender stereotypes that finding gender-neutral options feels not unlike an Arthurian quest. Shall it be the pink princess fairy aisle or the guns ‘n’ ammo aisle? Do you dress your child in glitter and tulle or camouflage? Because there’s no middle ground here, folks: interactive electronic globes are marketed to boys and International Travel Barbie is marketed to girls. Boys get ant farms and girls get makeup kits.
*Sigh* Indeed, how dare males and females be different!
Nevertheless, I truly wonder if Hunter actually has gone into a toy or department store within the last decade. Even with the “separation” of gift preferences evident in stores, all one has to do is — gasp! — buy what your kids like.
My niece prefers sports gear (soccer, baseball) and superheroes (particularly Batman), and back in the day my own daughter went for Barbies and softball and soccer stuff. Oh, and Nintendo games — the “male-marketed” material.
Maybe one day — one day — people will relax and actually enjoy the holidays … and will stop attempting to turn Christmas into National Aggrievement Day.
h/t to Instapundit.
Dave Huber is an assistant editor of The College Fix. (@ColossusRhodey)
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