{"id":20497,"date":"2024-01-16T16:13:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T00:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=20497"},"modified":"2024-01-16T16:14:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T00:14:12","slug":"christmas-consumerism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/christmas-consumerism\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas consumerism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

With every passing year, Christmas decorations begin to appear in stores across the country earlier and earlier, screaming \u2014 buy me. Department store Santas invite children to sit on their laps while anxious parents buy last minute gifts to put under their decked-out trees. The genuine significance of the holiday lies far beyond neon lights and Black Friday sales \u2014 if you simply dig a little deeper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scrambling together enough money from last month\u2019s paycheck to pay for gifts isn\u2019t the only Christmas stressor. Many families prepare their homes to look home magazine-perfect before their extended relatives come to visit. Then, there\u2019s the Christmas dinner and listening to Uncle Craig talk about politics again. For many Americans, Christmas is an anxiety-inducing time of year.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it doesn\u2019t have to be. Many have lost sight of the lessons the holiday season is supposed to teach. The capitalist society of America has driven Christmas to the forefront of minds even before Halloween. The earliest I\u2019ve seen Christmas decorations arrive in stores is right after the Fourth of July passes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something about the green and red popping up reminds consumers of the money they have to spend \u2014 or probably shouldn\u2019t spend \u2014 on holiday goods. The truth is, Christmas is an easy holiday to commercialize. Companies are smart; they know what people like to buy, and that is nostalgia. That little rush of dopamine is what fuels companies during the holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was it that made Christmas so special as a child? Was it really the presents under the tree, or was it the traditions made with friends and family? Looking back, my fondest memories were reading \u201cThe Night Before Christmas\u201d with my dad and baking cookies for our neighbors with my mom. Though waiting up for Santa to deliver toys was fun, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, many have taken to the internet to show off their handmade Christmas gifts from items they already had at home to inspire others to do the same. Garlands can be made out of dried oranges or paper stars. You can even create unique wrapping paper out of recycled paper bags and personalize each present with doodles. The opportunities for creating are endless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Christmas gifts are bought simply to check another person off the list, without considering their interests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephen Hartley, a junior at Western, discussed this dilemma. \u201cIf you buy something, don\u2019t buy it for storage,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s most of what Christmas gifts are, to add to the consumerism.\u201d Though it seems like time is extremely finite at this point in the year, try to consider what each person you\u2019re shopping for would find personal, so their gifts don\u2019t end up in the landfill.<\/span><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to buy an \u201cugly\u201d sweater from Old Navy you\u2019ll only wear once, the point is to peruse your grandmother\u2019s closet for a new favorite hand-me-down. And if you don\u2019t go to the stores, they will come to you first \u2014\u00a0 \u201cI got an email today\u2026 about getting \u2018extra spending points\u2019 if I buy things between Nov. 30 and Dec. 7\u2026 it\u2019s like oh, I\u2019m already getting advertisements personalized,\u201d Hartley said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, be extra careful around the holidays when it comes to spending money. Chances are, you already have all the materials for a festive time somewhere in your home.<\/span><\/p>\n

I love giving and receiving gifts as much as the next person. However, what makes Christmas truly special is the people you spend it with. Hartley countered this opinion \u2014 \u201cI think you don’t have to have a holiday\u2026 to celebrate with people you love. If I want to see people, I\u2019m going to see people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Especially for college students, going home for the holidays is more sweet than ever. As an out-of-state student, I cherish every moment I am able to spend with my family and friends at home. Sometimes the rush of school, work and making travel plans does get in the way of what my winter break means to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

This holiday season, take a moment to reflect on spontaneous spending habits and think about what you\u2019re participating in. I\u2019m not telling you to not buy any presents \u2014 that would make me a Scrooge. Gift receivers would appreciate something more sentimental rather than a stocking stuffer that will be thrown away, or even re-gifted. Don\u2019t deny it \u2014 we\u2019ve all been there.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tough task to face when advertisements are constantly in your face, tempting you to constantly give in to buying goodies. I understand the difficulties concerning consumerism around the holidays. There\u2019s a bright future ahead, however, that is more sustainable and still includes everything we love about Christmas today.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you blink, you\u2019ll miss the magical aspects of the season. I still look forward to playing with my grandma\u2019s handmade Christmas countdown just like I did when I was little. My grandpa still marks the See\u2019s Candy as being delivered from \u201cSanta,\u201d and I love to see him happy when I play along with it. The joy of Christmas is found within the delight you bring to others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":20498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1791],"tags":[1829,1824,60,1823,1828,1826,441,57,1830,1827,1617,1825,81,1831,711,370],"class_list":["post-20497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-special","tag-black-friday","tag-capitalism","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-presents","tag-consumerism","tag-gift-giving","tag-hanukkah","tag-holidays","tag-kwanzaa","tag-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2","tag-nostalgia","tag-overconsumption","tag-presents","tag-santa","tag-shopping","tag-thanksgiving"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}