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It’s that time of year again when regardless of whether you celebrate, enjoy, participate

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or even care about Christmas you’re constantly inundated with painfully cheery, sappy and repetitive Holiday music,

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everything from the Bing Crosby classics to the latest pop star’s rendition of jingle bells.

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Every store you go into, every mall you enter, and all over our television screens and radios

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these songs are stuck on repeat for a solid month, if not more!

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Those of us who happen to live in the West, probably know all the words by heart and find ourselves unintentionally singing along.

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But have you ever really paid attention to what’s going on in these lyrics?

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Some of the messages are just down right creepy

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and they’re passed off as holiday cheer

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with hardly a comment year after year.

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Here is my list of the top 5 creepiest and sexist Holiday songs.

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At number 5 All I want for Christmas Is You

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“Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you”

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While it might sound like an old time classic,

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it’s actually a contemporary Holiday song, produced for Mariah Carey in the 1990′s.

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On the surface it may seem cute and romantic but there’s a nasty little message embedded in the lyrics.

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It’s the tired old, all women need is a man myth.

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We see this disturbing message embedded in Hollywood movies,

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especially in romantic comedies where it essentially serves as the back bone of the entire genre.

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In these stories we’re taught that women’s primary goal in life is to find Mr Right

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and without him, apparently our lives are all unfulfilled, boring and meaningless.

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“I just want you for my own, More than you could ever know, Make my wish come true, All I want for Christmas is you”

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With lyrics like: “I just want you for my very own, More than you could ever know

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Make my wish come true, All I want for Christmas is you”

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the singer expresses no desire, needs or interests in anything other then being gifted a man for Christmas.

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While most covers of this song are done by women such as Shania Twain, Miley Cyrus, and Mercedes from Glee,

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it’s not any less creepy when a man sings it because the lyrics could be interpreted as bordering on stalker territory.

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Here are some other things that you might want for christmas in addition to romance:

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quality time with friends and family,

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days off for relaxation,

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good homemade food,

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or an 11 inch, cast zinc, life size, replica of Buffy’s Slayer Scythe complete with authentic ostrich skin wrapped hand crafted wooden handle…

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...just an idea.

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And at number 4 is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

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“I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, underneath the mistletoe last night”

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This song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue in 1952 to sell their annual Christmas Card and was originally recorded by Jimmy Boyd.

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It’s still a widely popular holiday song, covered by a variety of musicians

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from Amy Winehouse, The Jackson Five to Reba McEntire.

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The song starts with “I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe last night,”

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and then it goes on to say “I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus underneath his beard so snowy white.”

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The story is about someone’s mom whose cheating on her husband with Santa Claus

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and the poor kid has to watch the whole thing,

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or in the best case scenario it’s his dad dressed up as Santa Claus,

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but either way… bleh.

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Number 3, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go, take a look in the five and ten”

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This Christmas favourite was popularized by Perry Como and Bing Crosby back in 1951.

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And while they sing about candy canes and silver lanes,

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they also celebrate and reinforce harmful gendered stereotypes in children’s toys.

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“A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots, Is the wish of Barney and Ben. Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk, Is the hope of Janice and Jen.”

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The lyrics go: “A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots, Is the wish of Barney and Ben. Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk, Is the hope of Janice and Jen.”

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Really? Baby Dolls for little girls and guns for little boys?

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Continuing to segregate and advertise toys based on gender just works to perpetuate those nasty sexist stereotypes,

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plus it severely limits the development of all young people.

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You can check out my video Toy Ads and Learning Gender for more on all of that.

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Coming in at number 2 is Santa Baby

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“Santa baby, a 54 convertible too, Light blue. I’ll wait up for you dear, Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.”

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Santa Baby was originally recorded by Eartha Kitt in 1953

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and has been covered countless times since then by artists such as Shakira, The Pussycat Dolls, Taylor Swift, Madonna.

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This song might seems cute, and sweet and some have even tried to make it sexy,

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but it’s just another tired old stereotype about how women are materialistic and shallow.

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This woman is urging Santa to hurry down the chimney and bring her a convertible, a yacht, a duplex, and a ring.

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The Gold Digger trope is sadly still pervasive in our popular media from pop songs to hollywood movies

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and this particular holiday song gets dragged out every year again and again.

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And at Number 1 for the most sexist holiday song, Baby It’s Cold Outside.

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“I really can’t stay but Baby it’s cold outside I’ve got to go away but Baby it’s cold outside,

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This evening has been – Been hoping that you’d drop in, So very nice”

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Occasionally referred to as the Christmas Date Rape Song, this duet was written by Frank Loesser in 1936.

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While the song has a sweet melody to it, this style of duet is often referred to as mouse and wolf

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where the mouse part is traditionally sung by a woman and the wolf part by a man.

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The predatory style description is amazingly accurate

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given that the man spends the whole song subtly pressuring the woman into staying with him for the night.

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In the first verse the woman sings “I really can’t stay, I must go away, my mother will worry”

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and the man responds by saying “baby it’s cold outside”.

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“Beautiful, please don’t hurry Well Maybe just a half a drink more – Put some records on while I pour.

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The neighbors might think – Baby, it’s bad out there. Say, what’s in this drink – No cabs to be had out there”

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When she reluctantly agrees to “half a drink more” suspiciously asking “say, what’s in this drink.”

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He responds that she shouldn’t be in a hurry, she wouldn’t be able to get a cab anyway,

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and oh yeah, by the way your lips look delicious.

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He also resorts to the use of guilt, with lines like “What’s the sense in hurting my pride” and “Baby don’t hold out”.

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Throughout the rest of the song he uses deceitful and manipulative techniques

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to constantly pressure her into giving in and getting what he wants,

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and just in case you aren’t clear on this point, what he wants is to get laid.

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Through his slow and sustained pressure he lowers her defenses by refusing to accept her insistence on leaving.

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And he may have even drugged her.

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“I simply must go but Baby, it’s cold outside The answer is no but baby, it’s cold outside”

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I mean, she literally says, “The answer is no” yet he ignores this and keeps persisting.

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The song concludes with her finally giving in with the shudder inducing line, “well I really shouldn’t…. alright”.

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These lyrics are a perfect illustration of the way men pressure women into experiences that they don’t want, aren’t ready for or aren’t interested in.

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Songs like this work to normalize this problematic male behaviour, a behaviour which contributes and perpetuates rape culture in general.

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Yes, most of these songs were written over 50 years ago

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but every year the airwaves are flooded by the old versions as well as new rerecorded ones by the pop star of the hour.

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While you probably won’t be able to avoid any of these songs this month,

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maybe you can use them as a way to engage in a conversation about sexism with your friends and families over the holidays.

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It will make for a interesting and lively conversation, I promise.

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Or you could just show them this video…

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If you enjoy these videos and wanna help keep Feminist Frequency going please donate today!

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Just visit feministfrequency.com/donate