tradition « Henkel Diversity Blog

Diversity at Christmas Time / Vielfalt an Weihnachen

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

Christmas is one of the most common holidays worldwide. All Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus but depending on the place and time, they celebrate it differently.

While in Germany Christmas Eve is the most important day (and the day when we all get our gifts) in the Anglo-American area people have to wait until December 25^th to get their gifts. The Greek Orthodox Church however celebrates Christmas at January 7^th because all holidays are scheduled by using the Julian calendar.

In a very interesting article wikipedia is reporting about Christmas traditions worldwide. Here is some cherry-picking for you:

In Sweden Christmas Eve traditionally starts with watching an episode of Donald Duck.
In Poland eating carp at Christmas Eve is a very common tradition. According to the twelve apostles Polish people eat a menu consisting of twelve meals.
In Russia and most other Slavic countries Jack Frost and his grandchild Snegurotschka are bringing the gifts.
In Spain however the three Magi are responsible for bringing gifts at January 6^th. But watch out! Those who haven’t been honest during the year only get a piece of coal!
The USA seems to be world champions of decoration. There, Christmas often is very colorful and loud. To respect different ethnic groups they only send “Season’s Greetings”.

These few examples show how divers the same holiday is celebrated worldwide – a real prime example of diversity, although it might be posed in a very stereotyped way.

Now it’s time for us to travel home to our families too for eating roast goose, Fondue, or wieners with potatoes’ salad

Thank you for your loyalty. We hope we picked up some interesting topics for you. If you did enjoy our blog, don’t keep the secret! Tell others and us – this is your Christmas present for us .

We wish you a Merry Christmas and the best wishes for health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year. We are looking forward to welcome you in January with the latest vibrant news on Diversity & Inclusion.

Your Global Diversity & Inclusion Team

P.S. Do you wonder how the Nativity story would have looked like in the 21^st century? Maybe like that…

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When women earn the money / Wenn Frauen das Geld verdienen

Monday, August 16th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

On tuesday evening the ZDF-show „37 Grad“ reported about women who earn more money than their husbands. At Henkel we actively support women to have a successful career, therefore this show was interesting for us. Just a few years ago the gender roles were clearly seperated: the man was the bread-earner. Women mostly worked part-time, if they worked at all. But the times have changed and nowadays it’s not a rarity that women earn more money than their husbands. In every tenth househould, women take the financial responsibility.

The TV-show pursued the questions how couples deal with the situation and how the gender roles are being re-defined. Three different couples were introduced, all of them with a different background. Two of the three men lost their jobs, whereby their wives became the sole earners. The men didn’t feel very comfortable about their situations and suffered from self-doubt. However, it is another situation, if both have a job but the woman earns more money. This was the case for the third couple. The man who stays at home and takes care of the children said: I have never felt better in my life. The TV-show demonstrated that there is a new generation of men, who enjoy staying at home and taking care of the children without feeling unmanly.[DE]

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Am Aschermittwoch ist alles vorbei/ On Ash Wednesday it’s all over

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

Karneval, Fastnach or Fasching – also known as the fifth season – is the time for fun, jollity and overwhelming lust for life. Starting on Twelfth Day until Ash Wednesday traditionally it’s Carneval in German speaking countries. Highlights are the old hag’s day and Carnival Monday. On Ash Wednesday it’s all over and the Lenten season starts. And although it’s not the properly meaning of carneval this extraordinary time is a good opportunity to experience diversity… [DE] (more…)

An exemplary raven mother does not make a summer – Eine vorbildliche Rabenmutter macht noch keinen Sommer…

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

By the way… does anybody know, what a raven mother is? Ask a German! But as you may assume, it’s no good! Where does the German attitude that working mothers are bad mothers come from? Why are the German schools offering afternoon classes in the minority? What has to change in Germany to increase the birth rate, level of education and economy? An article in the International Herald Tribune deals with these questions. Sometimes it’s eye opening to see your reflection from a different point of view! [DE] (more…)

The good mother and modern politician/ Die gute Mutter und moderne Politikerin

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

The conservative members of the German party CDU are confused: Their recently minister for family affairs (now responsible for labor), Ursula von der Leyen, seems to be a conservative women: married, says grace every evening, has seven children… However, her idea of a family is not so conservative: she supports fathers to care for their children and women to go back to work. [DE] (more…)