Wondering what to get the feminist in your life? Here’s some festive ideas!

If you’re not a feminist, I understand sometimes it can feel like a bit of a minefield to navigate things with a feminist friend or family member. So here’s some things that might help this Christmas season. Not all of them are strictly feminist as such, just thoughts on useful or fun bits and bobs!

(None of them are a framed picture of Kate Sheppard. Nice, but entirely uninspired).

BOOKS

As you’ll possibly know from me banging on about it, I’m co-running a reading challenge next year – Rebel Girl Reads. The idea is to read books for, by, and about women. That post points to the spreadsheet where we’re collecting title ideas, but here’s a snapshot:

We’re partnering with Volume bookstore here in Nelson, so feel free to order any of those titles from them and I’m sure they’ll do their best to help!

ART BY WOMEN

Consider supporting a local artist as well as getting a cool and unique gift! Most commissions have closed by now, but artists I like are Pinky Fang, Jem Yoshioka, Rose Young, Rose Newton (Rose Gold Illustration), and Pika and Pookie. That list might give you some good ideas even if you can’t get anything direct from them!

Rose Newton

PINS AND BADGES

Pins are all the rage right now, and I totally get why! I particularly like the ones at Clever Clove (though they’re not local). They have lots of literary and tea-inspired items.

A search for feminist pins on Zazzle brings up some excellent options, though they don’t always list the artist so I’m not sure how good I feel about it – I’d always rather buy direct if possible.

I know they also have some good ones instore at Cosmic, if you’re a Wellingtonian.

TEA AND COFFEE ACCOUTREMENT

Not all women I know drink wine, but most of them drink tea or coffee or both (probably while reading)! Gifts in this area are a pretty safe bet – consider getting a nice herbal tea blend and pairing it with a tea egg or a mug. I like this one from notsocks.co.nz (which has a bunch of other ideas too).

DONATIONS

Supporting organisations that help women is a great idea, and you can give gifts in your friend’s name or anonymously. Some ideas:

Women’s Refuge – donate

Shine NZ (making homes violence free)

Shakti women’s refuge, helping women, children and families of Asian, African and Middle Eastern origin.

Nelson Women’s Centre – helping women in Nelson (adding because they are my local centre, you will probably have one in your area too).

SUPPORTING WOMEN CREATORS

Another way of supporting creators is by cruising by their Patreons and/or Paypals. A lot of artists and freelancers rely on this sort of income (me included). I don’t know how you’d word this as a gift, exactly, but if you have a feminist friend who’d like to support the arts, you could sign up as a Patron, and give them a card saying something along the lines of “You’re now a patron of X for the next year.”

APPS, SUBSCRIPTIONS AND PODCASTS

Most of the apps I use are free, but probably the most expensive one is Headspace, for mindfulness and guided meditation. Not strictly a feminist thing, but I feel many women are always trying to do so much, and not making time or space for ourselves. I’ve found Headspace to be super useful for my mental health, and that expensive (for me) subscription would be an excellent gift.

Have a think about what sort of subscriptions your person currently has or would want to have – Hulu, Netflix, maybe some games or podcasts? Gifting these things can seem small, but often having one less thing to pay for every month means way more than you think.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Hopefully some of this has been helpful – even just to jog your own ideas!

Merry Christmas, everyone. May your new year be filled be joy and equality <3