Unwrapping Materialism: The Mass Consumption Surrounding Christmas
By Kerryann White
It’s that time of year again, the season when we frantically assemble our Christmas wish list and let the TikTok “IT Girl Gift Guide” determine what items and products we suddenly need and couldn’t possibly live without. It is seemingly overnight that your wants and needs blur, and a Dyson Airwrap or a themed Stanely Cup become essential to your livelihood, because nothing quite says holiday spirit like informing your parents of the hundreds or even thousands of pounds they apparently must spend to keep you fulfilled.
The Paradox of Christmas
What was once the season to be jolly (fa la la la la), intended to give families the opportunity to gather and indulge in love, generosity, and connection, is now driven by people competing for the best gift line-up and companies scrambling desperately to meet their sales targets.
The holiday that has now evolved into a month-long shopping event was once rooted in something much simpler. Its origins lie within a Christian tradition, but it is also meant to mark a time for reflection, community, deep generosity and a chance to take stock of the year as the darkest days passed. It promoted gathering with those you loved, sharing the little you had, and finding a sense of warmth in a gruelling winter. Gifts have always been a part of this celebration, but they existed as a symbol of care and thoughtfulness rather than the gross display of economic performance that they are now.
Somewhere down the road, the quiet, communal spirit collided with mass production and an unbearable level of marketing, making the run-up to December feel less like an anticipatory excitement for fun and more like a season of dread and financial struggle, particularly in such an unsettling economic climate. The holiday that we are supposedly celebrating our gratitude and taking a moment to slow down has become the most powerful engine of consumerism we participate in all year.
With each year, the pressure builds to make it the most materialistic event, and it is believed now that the way to show the most love is to spend the most. Dazzling advertisements of perhaps the newest and most expensive iPhone, the biggest beauty brands or the latest gadgets are most convincing when they relay that not only do you need it, but it will make you and your loved ones happier. It centres connection in reliance on commodities and makes it increasingly difficult to determine whether we are truly enjoying Christmas or just performing it.
The Effects of a Material Christmas
The paradox of Christmas is catching, and the effects are detrimental to most. The most obvious one is the pressure, the expectations that your Christmas should look a certain way, feel a certain way and cost a certain amount. You shouldn’t simply enjoy a holiday; you should curate it to resemble perfection, making sure your decorations fit into a luxurious aesthetic and you partake in plenty of Instagram-worthy festive activities.
Emotionally, the weight of comparison can hit hard. It’s next to impossible not to stack your own Christmas against the other versions that people are sharing online, may that be their “perfect” gifts or their “perfect” families that make your own feel inferior.
Economically, the strain is even worse. Many parents struggle at the hands of their children witnessing more privileged children receive more gifts without understanding how it works, and students already navigating a cost-of-living crisis feel obliged to spend more than they can manage. The cycle of guilt, expectation and the fear of disappointing those you love becomes crippling, and stretches people far too thin.
Not to mention, the environmental impact is no less than major. Only when we see our overflowing bins on Boxing Day can we conceptualise the mountains of boxes and packaging, fast-fashion clothes that never got worn and novelty gifts that don’t leave their boxes, that are all part of the cycle damaging the planet.
Ironically, none of us want to feel this way; no one is waking up on December 1st feeling excited for a month of emotional guilt, financial harm and unnecessary waste, but the extreme materialism and consumption that exists today makes this harder and harder to avoid.
Final Remarks – What Can We Do About This?
As someone who thoroughly enjoys gifts as much as the next person, I don’t suppose we abandon them entirely, as they can be a truly beautiful element to the holidays. However, taking a moment to practice gratitude and instil it within others is highly recommended. This doesn’t mean obtaining a moral high ground, but stepping out of the “more, newer, better” mindset and simply noticing the parts of the holiday that can’t be bought. For you, that may be a catch-up with friends, laughing over nothing, playing a board game with family, or feeling a bit of peace for the first time in weeks.
These aren’t always the social media-type highlights, but they last longer than any gift. Gratitude then, becomes not a complete rejection of materialism and appreciation for items, but remembering that there is a version of Christmas that doesn’t need to be centred on the stuff you have. With this, the season can suddenly feel much lighter.
