The Hardest Day of the Year

2.3 million older people in the United Kingdom wish they had someone to spend time with at Christmas. For 1.6 million people, Christmas is the hardest day of the year. According to Age UK, 1.3 million people will feel lonely this Christmas (via).

photograph via

Just Another Day

Buone feste ... I sincerely wished that those who celebrate Christmas today were not alone, particularly the aged.



"Nearly half of the older people surveyed for Age UK – equating to almost 5.7 million people aged-65 and over – feel their days can be repetitive, almost a quarter of whom (around 1.4 million older people) admitted that Christmas isn't a special day for them and just passes them by.



Based on the survey, the charity estimates that getting on towards a million (873,000) people aged 65 and over don't see or hear from someone for days on end over the festive period. And at Christmas time, on days when older people do not see or hear from anyone, over half (55%) rely on the TV for companionship."
Age UK

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photograph by Bruce Gilden via

Thought for the Day

On 22nd of December, Prince Charles spoke on BBC Radio 4's religious "Thought for the Day" slot; it was the third time he was invited to speak as part of the BBC Radio 4's religious programming (via). In his wonderful speech, the Prince of Wales speaks of populism and religious oppression and calls for tolerance.
Happy Holidays, schöne Feiertage, buone feste!



"In London recently I met a Jesuit priest from Syria. He gave me a graphic account of what life is like for those Christians he was forced to leave behind. He told me of mass kidnappings in parts of Syria and Iraq and how he feared that Christians will be driven en masse out of lands described in the Bible. He thought it quite possible there will be no Christians in Iraq within five years. Clearly, for such people, religious freedom is a daily, stark choice between life and death.

The scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated. Nor is it limited to Christians in the troubled regions of the Middle East. A recent report suggests that attacks are increasing on Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadis, Baha’is and many other minority faiths. And in some countries even more insidious forms of extremism have recently surfaced, which aim to eliminate all types of religious diversity.

We are also struggling to capture the immensity of the ripple effect of such persecution. According to the United Nations, 5.8 million MORE people abandoned their homes in 2015 than the year before, bringing the annual total to a staggering 65.3 million. That is almost equivalent to the entire population of the United Kingdom.

And the suffering doesn’t end when they arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land. We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith.

All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. I was born in 1948 – just after the end of World War II in which my parents' generation had fought, and died, in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That, nearly seventy years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past.

Normally, at Christmas, we think of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder, though, if this year we might remember how the story of the Nativity unfolds – with the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that when the Prophet Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina, he did so because he, too, was seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship.

Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same - to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God. That’s what I saw when attending the consecration of the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in London recently. Here were a people persecuted for their religion in their own country, but finding refuge in another land and freedom to practise their faith according to their conscience.

It is an example to inspire us all this Christmastime."

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text via, photograph via

Lady Santa would get lost in the sky but be better at cooking

Elle UK started the #MoreWomen campaign and made headlines when it released a 45-second video that showed what photographs we see every day would look like if men were photoshopped out (watch). Part of the #MoreWomen initiative is a lovely clip showing British children's answers to the question whether a female Santa Claus could get the job of toy delivering done. Mother Christmas would get a headache, would get lost in the sky, wouldn't have the strength to carry the presents and if she had a baby, the baby would crush all the toys during delivery. It is interesting to see how narratives are internalised and how early we start finding it challenging to view a woman in a position of "toy-delivering power" (via and via).



::: Here it is... A couple of children are asked if a female Santa could do the job: WATCH
::: And here another hilarious one: Jimmy Kimmel asks children if a woman can become president: WATCH




Happy holidays!



photograph by Susan Meiselas (NYC, 1977) via and of Sophia Loren via and via and via

Roger Moore & Zwarte Piet

Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) is the companion of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas in Dutch folklore). On 5th December both go to children's houses with presents ... if the children behaved well (legend and rumour have it that the naughty ones are stuffed into Zwarte Piet's sacks). In early depictions, Zwarte Piet was Saint Nicholas' dull-witted, clumsy, broken-Dutch speaking servant. In the 1950s, the "Moor" was turned into a man whose face was black because he had come down the chimneys. An interesting fact, however, is that it is only his face that is solid black while his clothes remain perfectly clean ... neither does the chimney explain why Zwarte Piet often has an Afro-wig, hoop earrings and exaggerated red lips. In the 1960s, the image of the servant or slave partly transformed into the image of the less ignorant and more responsible helper or friend (via).



One of the first persons to question Zwarte Piet's portrayal was M. C. Grünbauer in 1968, at least one of the earliest ones with a record of it. Grünbauer linked him with the Dutch history of slavery. She argued that Zwarte Pieten should become Witte Pieten (White Pete) to change the power differences between the white master Sinterklaas and the black slave Zwarte Piet. Black Pete did not change his colour but changed from a rather creepy person to a clownish one. In Suriname (which was conquered by the Dutch in 1667, later reoccupied by the British and the Dutch a couple of times and gained independence from the Netherlands only in 1975), celebrating Sinterklaas was banned in 1980 as it was seen as "an unwanted symbol of colonialism". The following year, the Solidarity Movement Suriname organised the first protest against Black Pete in the Dutch city of Utrecht.



At the moment, there is an unprecedented heavy, emotional, aggressive (Wouters, 2014), nasty, messy, fierce and heated (via) debate in the Netherlands about how acceptable Zwarte Piet is. It is also a debate about tradition, defence of Dutch national identity and the Netherland's self-concept of being a tolerant society.
Social historian and member of the United Nation's Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent Verene A. Sheperd was insulted, threatened, intimidated and told "to go back to her own country" because she had criticised Zwarte Piet (Wouters, 2014) and called the custom "a throwback to slavery" (via). According to a survey carried out by the municipality of Amsterdam in 2012, only 7% responded Zwarte Piet was discriminatory (Wouters, 2014). On the other hand, in 2013, there were 21 official complaints about racist characteristics of Zwarte Piet and calls to stop Sinterklaas parades in Amsterdam (via). The petition "Pietitie" to retain Zwarte Piet was liked by 2.2 million Dutch people on Facebook within a short time.
Black Pete elicits divergent opinions ranging from "innocent holiday tradition, part of culture and identity, just funny, not racist" to "bizarre sidekick and "one of Europe's oddest and most titilating Christmas traditions" visualised by blackfaces that resemble Renaissance minstrels (via). Questioning Zwarte Piet is somehow felt as an attack on Dutch identity ... due to the impact traditions more or less automatically seem to have but also because tolerance is regarded as a core value of Dutch culture by a clear majority (i.e. 66%) of Dutch citizens. The self-image of a great many Dutch is undermined as their tolerance is criticised; society is polarised (Wouters, 2014). The whole issue is surely too complex to generally state that the Dutch have turned into an intolerate society. Various European surveys show that the Dutch are among the ones who highly value non-discrimination, freedom of religion, women's rights, and acceptance of homosexuality (Duyvendak, 2005). In short, Zwarte Piet is an anachronism in a modern and progressive country (via).
According to Duyvendak, cultural homogenisation took place in the past decades which made a Dutch majority develop uniform, progressive ideals. As the citizens of the majority population differ little from one another, "it would seem that Dutch society is losing its ability to cope with cultural differences". Considering policies regarding newcomers, Duyvendak comes to the conclusion that "a 'tolerant' country does not necessarily have to esteem diversity" (Duyvendak, 2005). An interesting paradox.



Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

17 January 2013

Excellency,

We have the honour to address you in our capacities as Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on people of African descent; Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; Independent Expert on minority issues; Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 18/28, 19/6, 16/6, and 16/33.
In this connection, we would like to bring to your Excellency’s Government’s attention information we have received concerning the Dutch celebration of Black Pete, also known as “Swarte Piet”, which, each year, is part of the Saint Nicholas Event (5 December), and precedes and accompanies the celebration of Santa Claus .

According to information received: 

The character and image of Black Pete perpetuate a stereotyped image of African people and people of African descent as second-class citizens, fostering an underlying sense of inferiority within Dutch society and stirring racial differences as well as racism. During the celebration, numerous people playing the Black Pete figure blacken their faces, wear bright red lipstick as well as afro wigs. The Black Pete figure is to act as a fool and as a servant of Santa Claus. The Black Pete segment of Santa Claus celebrations is experienced by African people and people of African descent as a living trace of past slavery and oppression, tracing back to the country’s past involvement in the trade of African slaves in the previous centuries. Reportedly, a growing opposition to the racial profiling of Black Pete within the Dutch society, including by people of non-African origins, is to be noticed. However, it is also alleged that no response has been given to associations defending the rights of African people and people of African descent in the Netherlands, which are asking for dialogue on this issue.
Furthermore, it is reported that in relation to the acceptance of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012 by the Netherlands, proposals have been made to declare the Dutch Cultural Historical Tradition “Santa Claus and Black Pete” as Immaterial Cultural Heritage. It is reported that the Dutch authorities have selected the annual Saint Nicolas Event (December 5) as one of the intangible heritages to be submitted for inclusion in the UNESCO list.

While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of the facts received, we should like to appeal to Your Excellency’s Government to guarantee the right to equality and non-discrimination of African people and people of African descent in accordance with article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to which the Netherlands is a party. (...)
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Some more facts: Verene Sheperd was criticised by Belgian UNESCO official Marc Jacobs for abusing the name of the UN (via) and not having been authorised to sign the letter to the UN (via). This year, an Amsterdam court ruled that the Zwarte Piet tradition is offensive to black people since it perpetuates a negative stereotype of black people. Amsterdam's mayor wrote in a letter that he would support a "less black and less servile" Pete (via). The songs sung during Sinterklaas, by the way, will be rewritten and certain words will be replaced (via)

- - - NO MATTER IF OR WHAT YOU CELEBRATE AND WHEN ... HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND/OR JUST A WONDERFUL TIME TO ALL OF YOU. - - -

- Duyvendak, J. W. (2005) A multicultural paradise? The cultural factor in Dutch integration policy. Paper presented at the 3rd ECPR Conference - Budapest, 8-10 September 2005. Open Section (31) 17: What the hell happened to the Netherlands? Public culture and minority integration in the country of (in)tolerance. via
- Wouters, L. (2014) "Zwarte Piet contested" Tolerance and the (re)production of the Zwarte Piet tradition in the Netherlands. Utrecht: MA Thesis
- photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) via, of Roger Moore as Santa Claus (Southampton, 1969) via and via and (with third wife Luisa Mattioli) via

Father Christmas, Martians, an Ironing Table and a Hoover for Her

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), a science fiction film that is often on the lists of the "worst films ever made", is about Martians that are worried about their children. They are afraid that the children on Mars (who by the way like watching Earth TV) might become more and more unhappy due to the rigid societal structures on the planet. The Martians come to the conclusion that the children need to be allowed to have fun and decide to bring Santa Claus to Mars (via). However, Santa Claus does not seem to have a positive effect on everybody...



... as being in the presence of Christmas display has different effects on people depending on the fact whether they celebrate Christmas or not. In their study, Schmitt et al. asked participants (Christians, non-Christians and non-celebrators) to complete questionnaires on psychological well-being in different conditions, i.e. in the presence and in the absence of Christmas symbols. The authors came to the conclusion that Christmas display had a negative effect on both non-celebrators and non-Christians making them feel less integrated in society.

A good time to all of you - no matter if and what you celebrate.



And now for something completely different (as Monty Python wonderfully put it). If you have not yet decided which Christmas present could be a good idea, here are some inspirational advertisements.

Wives. Look this ad over carefully. via



They all want the same thing, Santa ... my ironing table! via



Even Mrs. Santa Claus wants this one! via



Look at all the Pyrex ware you can give her. via



Make it merry, make it Mojud. via



Christmas morning she'll be happier with a Hoover. via



Give her a Hoover and you give her the best. (...) Lucky woman! Her husband's giving her the Hoover (...) via



She'll be happier with a Hoover this Christmas. via



For Christmas ... I'll love it! via



For a Sentimental Person with a Practical Side! ... What could the lady of your heart cherish more than a gift to preserve youth? via



This Christmas ... treat him like a millionaire! via

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The ideal gift for all occasions. Oh darling, how lovely ... I've just longed for a (...) via



Be a "Real Santa Claus" to "the Wife" via


What a wonderful present for her. via



A Barcalounger is two Christmas Gifts in one! via



O-o-oh Santa - I just love that Microsheen shine! via



Schmitt, M. T., Davies, K., Hung, M. & Wright, S. C. (2010). Identity moderates the effects of Christmas displays on mood, self-esteem, and inclusion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(6), 1017-1022; photos via and via and via