Why does Christmas have to be sexy? Oh right, so we buy more.

Katy Perry in what's now considered a standard Santa costume for women. (Photo by Larry Marano/Getty Images)
Katy Perry in what's now considered a standard Santa costume for women. (Photo by Larry Marano/Getty Images)

When we look to pop culture to explain why young girls feel pressure to dress sexy, we blame people like Miley Cyrus. Never Santa. But Christmas has been consistently dishing out the same mixed messages as Miley since the '50s.

First Santa's jolly ("Jingle Bells"), then he's sexual prey ("Santa Baby"). "Naughty or nice" is meant to keep kids behaved or it's meant as innuendo. "Santa's Little Helpers" are mythical elves- no, wait, they're strippers delivering toys to kids in a moving pole-dancing bus in Las Vegas. No really, that just happened.

Like everything in tween-centric pop culture, subliminal messages for adults always get in the way and cross wires. Look to greedy marketers using sex to get consumers as excited about the holidays as their children. From Katy Perry in her scantily Santa mini-dress at the Jingle Ball, to the burlesque-inspired Holiday windows, the season is looking more and more like Halloween everyday. Costume sites that hawked sexy devil outfits only two months ago have added a little cotton to the left-over stock for this season's stripper Santa styles.

It's not that there's anything wrong with sex, it's that there's something deeply wrong with "sexy." Sexy takes a popular concept like Christmas and adds Vinyl, scented candles and a belly button ring. We put up with it for Halloween, we've given an entire day to sexy merchandise in February. Does Christmas need to get the sexy makeover too? It just feels wrong, considering the holiday is all about family, or so we're told.

Have a look at the sexy Santa inspired stuff through the years. Please no 'ho ho ho' jokes or 'have a seat on Santa's lap'. Considering it's all derived by a kindly old-grandpa-type, the innuendos are just disturbing.


Related stories on Shine