Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men

[AlicetheKurious]

God bless and guide us, every one.

Ignore the trappings and just listen to that voice:

[Cosmic Cowbell]

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

~Charles Dickens

[AlicetheKurious]

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

~Charles Dickens

It is. And no matter what else is going on, being with children at Christmas can't help but bring back the joy and excitement and wonder that we all too often forget is even possible. I love that cartoon, CC, it's so peaceful and happy at the end.

[Laodicean]

It's Christmas Eve! It's... it's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we... we... we smile a little easier, we... w-w-we... we... we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be!

[Nordic]

Just wanted to join in here. Anything I can think of to say sounds schmaltzy and trite, so I'm just gonna say that I am sharing the sentiment.

[barracuda]

[Pele'sDaughter]

[Joe Hillshoist]

[justdrew]

[Project Willow]

Screw men!

Godessdarnit, I fought too damn hard for this shiat. GOODWILL TOWARD WOMEN! And a pox on all traditionally minded gender traitors, even if I might otherwise respect them, usually.

Bah Humbug too.

[AhabsOtherLeg]

Screw men!

I'd rather not, if you don't mind. Never tried it, but from what I've heard it's not much fun at all. Hard to believe it ever got popular in the first place.

Merry Christmas everybody. I'm liking Annie Lennox' rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" this year.

I think Allegro posted it first in the music thread, then I copied the post almost exactly, in that special charming way I have of repeating the previously expressed views of myself and others with no apparent self-awareness whatsoever.

Here it is again:

[Nordic]

Screw men!

Godessdarnit, I fought too damn hard for this shiat. GOODWILL TOWARD WOMEN! And a pox on all traditionally minded gender traitors, even if I might otherwise respect them, usually.

Bah Humbug too.

Okay, fine, but what do you call "mankind?" Peoplekind?

Isn't "man" really another word for homo sapiens? As in "man came to the forest" (and killed Bambi's mom).

[Project Willow]

Isn't "man" really another word for homo sapiens? As in "man came to the forest" (and killed Bambi's mom).

Oh, Nordic, do you have to display your utter ignorance of feminist theory for all to see? You have a step-daughter, if I'm not mistaken, can't you read a tiny little second wave tome on her behalf?

There is a veritable library of feminist critiques of language, but I'll give you a short form. Our languages reflect our power relationships. Using "man" as just another word for homo-sapiens reinforces the subordinate (unacknowledged, invisible) position of women in patriarchal society. Even the words 'woman' or 'women', being nothing but 'man' with a prefix added, (which stands in opposition to biology), reflects this subordination and so many feminists moved to substitute 'man'-less spellings of it such as womyn or wimmin, etc. Sadly, this has gone out of favor.

I'll give you a more personal perspective, because the personal is political after all! When I read the phrase "goodwill toward men" I remember that I am not a man, and I do feel excluded. This was the case when I was a child as well, I never understood this exclusive language except as a device to remind me of which sex was considered central, held the power of naming and my inherent inferiority and inability to ever achieve such power. I may not have put it in such terms, but that's what I felt inside. So many feminists have argued that our language should change to reflect gains towards female equality and visibility in society, and that we shouldn't prop up a language that subverts these, or continues to negatively impact our daughters' psychological health.

Does that help?

Okay, fine, but what do you call "mankind?" Peoplekind?

Persons or people, let's re-write that old phrase, it's got whiskers on it.

[AhabsOtherLeg]

The big problem with tradition is that it's very traditionalist. Goodwill to All sounds pretty good - that way you get kids and suchlike included too. I wouldn't like to see any actual old writings - novels, songs, scriptures - adapted to newer ways of thinking, though. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen must stay as it is, especially since I think it was specifically written to be sung amongst gentlemen (if such they could be called) in the boozer.

Also, imo, the first wave was the best wave. But that's neither here nor there.