As December begins, holiday festivities have been underway for quite some time…more specifically: Christmas festivities. In the months leading up to Christmas, the holiday cheer cannot be avoided. However, instead of displaying a celebration of holidays, companies strongly put out Christmas themes, as opposed to the diverse range of holidays that occur in December.

For the most part, companies do not display the religious meanings behind the Christian holiday. Companies put out Christmas cheer by using trees, songs referencing Christmas, and other knick-knacks that relate to Christmas. Despite referring to their limited-time items or deals as holiday related, it is evident that the only holiday on their radar is Christmas.

The excess amount of Christmas in the media and public can be frustrating to those who do not participate in Christmas during December. The holiday season contains more than just Christmas, but the way that society frames it makes it appear as though all holidays other than Christmas are irrelevant or less-than normal.

When searching “December holidays” into the internet, the only day to show up is Christmas Day, even though Christmas is not the only holiday in December. With the ideas of Christmas being shoved into every aspect of the media and stores, celebrators of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other religious holidays do not see representation. All holidays deserve equal chance to be celebrated in a public setting.

Pew Research Center released that 46 percent of the United States population celebrates Christmas. More people celebrate Christmas than any other one holiday. However, that leaves 56 percent of people who don’t observe any holiday, or who observe a separate holiday. Society does not represent this, and it is clear that they are only using Christmas as an example of holiday festivities. 

It is not necessary for companies to display an excessive amount of Hanukkah dreidels or Kwanzaa candles, but more representation is needed in order to make holiday cheer more

inclusive for people of all cultures and religions. Companies need to divide their holiday themes among holidays in addition to Christmas and make an effort to support those celebrating other December holidays, allowing them to experience the public holiday cheers.