Shop the Feminist Way This Year

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-11-26 15:00:00 UTC
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It's Black Friday, which means that people around the country are scrambling to jump-start their holiday shopping by taking advantage of the sales, sales, sales. Or, you could shop online, the feminist way. Here are just a few suggestions, courtesy of Change.org's Women's Rights Cause. Doesn't it make you feel all warm and gooey inside to know that you can spread around your holiday dough for great gifts that support women's rights? And you can do it in your PJs.

  • Bead for Life offers a collection of fair trade necklaces, bracelets, and earrings as well as beautiful loose beads for your own crafty adventures — you can tell your friends you strung together their favorite new necklace, or make it an social gift with a Bead for Life jewelry-making party. The exquisite beads are made of recycled paper (score one for the environment) by women in Uganda working to support themselves and their families.
  • Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry: If just beads aren't your thing, the Nightlight jewelry line, made by human trafficking survivors and supporting sexually exploited and at-risk women and girls in Thailand, offers a wide range of fancier accessories, including a pearl collection. Amanda Kloer has a list of other places to shop to benefit trafficking victims over on the End Human Trafficking blog.
  • Babeland, a woman-centered sex shop with physical locations in Seattle and New York, takes an uber-positive approach to female sexuality that already makes it a fantastic, fun, and feminist place to shop. But even better is their Come for a Cause philanthropy efforts. Buy an Orgasm in a Box (comes in Hers and His) this holiday season, and not only are you promoting safe sexual empowerment and pleasure, Babeland will donate to the Food Bank of NYC and Seattle's Urban Rest Stop for the homeless. Getting off never felt so good.
  • If you feel like pulling on some shoes and actually venturing outside, might I suggest hitting up your closest feminist bookstore (or, if it's too far away, stay in your pajamas and shop online from some of the best). You can never go wrong with a good book as a present. My local favorite bookstore is Bluestockings, conveniently located on the Lower East Side a brief walk from my apartment and chock-full of books, zines, and those snarky little progressive buttons I like to decorate my bag with.

And, of course, there's always tons of women's rights organizations in need of (tax-deductible) donations to keep working on behalf of gender justice. Planned Parenthood warns that Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has their funding in his cross-hairs in their latest request for donations, and NARAL Pro-Choice America wants help to fight against any attempts by the flood of anti-choicers into Congress to take control of women's bodies, to name just a couple. Make a donation on behalf of a friend and let them know you chose a gift that keeps on giving.

So these are a few our our recommendation. Where are your favorite places to shop or donate this holiday season?

Photo credit: Beads for Life

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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