A Professor Says the Term 'Holiday Party' May Also
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For years, the term "Christmas party" has been ubiquitously amended to "holiday party" in order to account for all the groups of people celebrating the various holidays this time of year.
But according to one Texas college professor, now even "holiday party" is potentially insensitive.
As part of Texas Woman's University's holiday tips package, Mark Kessler, a professor of multicultural women's and gender studies, wrote that the word holiday "connotes religious tradition and may not apply to all employees." He instead suggested the phrase "end of semester parties."
He also recommended replacing Santa Claus, reindeer and evergreen tree decorations with more winter-themed decor, such as snowflakes and snowmen.
Kessler continued:
"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."
Sounds like the perfect debate subject for "Outnumbered," right? Sandra Smith, Dagen McDowell, Dean Cain, Julie Roginsky and Meghan McCain agreed on the ridiculous-ness of this argument.
Cain looked up the definition of "holiday" and said it's "a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done."
"How is that offensive in any way, shape or form?" he said. "I don't get it. It's just ridiculous."
McCain said she has been saying "Merry Christmas" left and right to everyone as she echoes President-elect Donald Trump's views on "holiday" versus "Christmas."
"I'm not even kidding, my notes for this was, 'Trump won, grow a pair.' ... He's making Christmas great again," she said.
Texas Woman's University has since removed the original holiday tips page from its website and released an apology for "any concerns this article may have caused."