New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

Staff Rants: The holidays

From eggnog to Christian hegemony, our staff has a lot to say about the holiday season.

On “merry Christmas”

Max Tiefer, Copy Chief

It’s the start of another holiday season and with it another year of adjectival inequality. Brace yourself for “merry Christmas” galore while every other celebration settles for “happy.” Happy Hanukkah, happy New Year and happy holidays. How long are we supposed to tolerate this blatant double standard in our greetings? And let’s not kid ourselves about why this is happening: corporations save a fortune in printing costs by just reusing the same adjective over and over instead of giving each holiday the semantic uniqueness it deserves. This is to say nothing of how maintaining the exceptionality of Christmas helps perpetuate Christian hegemony in the English-speaking world. Nativity? More like nativism. So this holiday season, let’s challenge the status quo and drag the Notzrim down to our level by wishing your friends, family and platonic loved ones a happy Christmas.

On eggnog

Michelle Han, Deputy Opinion Editor

America, stop trying to make eggnog happen! It’s not going to happen!

On faking it at church

Jake Capriotti, Photo Editor

Going back home for Christmas means I have to shift into some resemblance of what my extended family thinks of me. That means attending Christmas Day mass. Can you guess how many times I’ve attended church since coming to NYU? Let’s see how well I can hum my way through these hymns. 

On Thanksgiving break

Kevin Kurian, Opinion Editor

They should give us the whole week off for Thanksgiving. It’s messed up that kids who don’t live close to New York City have to choose between not seeing their family and shelling out hundreds of bucks to see their families for like two days. NYU, do better. 

On Christmas capitalism

Lorraine Olaya, Copy Chief

Nothing has felt real since 2012, but the holidays especially don’t feel the same anymore. Plus, why is every holiday so removed from its roots? It’s all so commercialized; like how did we start with Jesus, a socialist, and end up with Santa Claus, the literal definition of a capitalist? Anyway, my bank account can’t take any more of this. 

Contact WSN Staff at [email protected]

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