During this Christmas season, we live in a paradox: on one hand, we feel that work obligations are decreasing until the following year; on the other, the frenzy of shopping for gifts or party food increases, and our everyday meals transform into festive food. What social implications does this have?
There is something curious about Christmas festivities: they are among the few celebrations shared across many latitudes of the Western world, transcending even creeds, agnosticism, or atheism. Whether due to their diffusion, meanings, or implications, no one is left without an opinion: on one side are those who abhor them, finding archetypal symbols in Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch. On the other, there are Christmas enthusiasts. In the middle are people who ultimately constitute and revive the tradition each year, transforming and adapting it to the circumstances the world presents.
Reviewing the literature, we find that Christmas has been of anthropological interest in Germany and France. It is curious to note that since the nineteenth century, some complained about the commercial nature of Christmas. Regarding Mexican Christmas, we find historical and folklorist accounts, but they leave a substantial gap in contemporary forms of celebration. On another note, it is interesting to observe international press headlines about Christmas festivities: “This Christmas, we will gain between 3 and 5 kilos.” “Only 24% will attend work dinners this Christmas,” giving us an idea of the heart of the matter: food, celebration, the breaking of everyday norms and rules about what constitutes good eating, as if eating were only about gaining, losing, or maintaining weight.
It is easy to see that the massification of the famous “Lupe-Reyes” marathon (which is also a relatively recent addition to Mexican vocabulary) is one of the topics of social life, always treated with irreverence related to excess: food, alcohol, and partying. Beyond the spiritual meaning each person may or may not attribute to Christmas festivities, it is clear they hold great importance in social life, beyond calories. First, humans and nature itself are governed by cycles. It is no coincidence that the birth of Christ is celebrated very close to the end of a major cycle in the Gregorian calendar. Our human condition makes us need symbols to mark these milestones. What could be more symbolic than food to mark cycles? Our meals are defined by the occasion; eating at home is not the same as eating at the office, nor is a random weekend the same as a posada. Why should we eat everyday food on a special occasion? Let us remember that one of the symbolisms of Christmas is returning to utopian thoughts where union beyond differences is possible, at least during dinner, which functions as a truce. Social cohesion is represented in festive meals, and whether we believe it or not, it fosters solidarity among people. Don’t you feel obliged to bring a dish when there’s a party, return the dish someone lent you with food, or at least reciprocate an invitation to someone who invited you to dinner? This reciprocity is the social mechanism that allows us to feel part of a community.
In this Lupe-Reyes marathon, aside from the excess it is associated with, there are other social dimensions of the banquet that we enact unintentionally, though not without the conflicts that arise from gathering to share food. Let us take advantage of the symbolism of the beginning and end of a cycle to renew ourselves, and of great meals to rejoice.
Happy holidays.
@Lillie_ML
Originally published in El Economista
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— This article was originally published in Spanish by Liliana Martínez Lomelí. Translation generated with AI from the original text.