November: the forgotten fall month

Leanna Flexo '24

Arts and Entertainment and Features Editor

November is such a pretty month of fall; the weather gets notably colder, the leaves fully transform into a bright red and orange hue, there’s a slight breeze in the air and people start to wear sweatshirts and hoodies.

Even though November is an entire month in the fall, it often gets overlooked. The moment November 1 hits, many people take out their Christmas decorations, eager to celebrate the holidays. More and more people today don’t take the time to enjoy November as the Christmas season completely disregards it. Green and red Christmas lights and decorations line the shelves of stores, and before you know it, November gets lost in the excitement of Christmas, even though Thanksgiving has not even happened yet. This is a HUGE cultural issue.

Christmas should be celebrated after Thanksgiving, and people should learn to wait until December. It’s incredibly rude to infiltrate such a beautiful month of the fall season with Christmas songs and Christmas decorations. Everyone should be more patient and take the time to appreciate fall.

An aesthetically pleasing photo of fall foliage taken by Leanna Flexo '24.

I think the one truly at fault for November being forgotten is capitalism. It is the root of why people start to celebrate Christmas so early, not even thinking about the fact that it is still fall in November. People get so anxious to buy gifts and start their holidays early because various advertisements force standards onto society to get their Christmas shopping done early.

All of these ads, promotions and special deals are just a scheme to urge people to buy their way into the holidays. It is all just a way to promote capitalism and no longer about celebrating the holidays with loved ones. People turn a blind eye to the true purpose of November because society has normalized celebrating Christmas a lot earlier than normal.

Fall doesn’t even end until December 21, which is something that a lot of people might not even know. Winter does not start until late December, so why do we celebrate Christmas so early?

Of course, we all love the holidays: the aesthetics, hot cocoa, Christmas movies, visiting family, traveling and especially not having any school. These things are all great, but they shouldn’t overpower a whole month that is meant to be for Fall and giving thanks to the people you care about.

Another problem with Christmas interfering with November is the fact that it is Indigenous People’s Month, which is an extremely important month to recognize. As Christmas creeps into the month of November, it directs the attention away from honoring Indigenous Peoples and focuses more on Christmas shopping and preparing for the holidays.

November should act as a buffer month between the Spooky Season of October and the Christmas season of December. November should be recognized as its own month and should not be considered a Christmas month. It has its own individual holidays that are just as important as any other holiday throughout the year. Society needs to go against the standard of Christmas starting so early because it deprives November of its true meaning and purpose.