gifts that keep on giving

If you don’t already follow the Crunk Feminist Collective, you should! I’ve just started my holiday baking (check out my guest post over at Crazy Quilts) so I especially appreciated this recent post on feminist gift-giving practices:

This holiday I would like to actively engage in a more feminist practice of gift giving. I want to give presents that affect the people I love the way these presents have affected me. I don’t want to just give presents: I want to give lasting memories.  Also, the less people I oppress, the better.

Some ideas I came up with:

• Support local craft fairs and purchase hand made items by local [women] artists
• Print one of your favorite photographs in black & white and frame it
• A CD of all of the top ten songs on the radio the year your loved one was born
• Spread the feminist love by giving a young adult a book written by a woman of color feminist author
• Make a book of coupons with redeemable actions: hugs, chores, homemade dinners, back rubs, quickies, etc.
• Compile a cookbook of your families’ most cherished recipes and include a brief bio of every cook
• Make a homemade calendar full of your favorite family photographs that highlights all the birthdays
• Seeds, pots, and soil so that they can plant their favorite flowers or start their own vegetable garden
• For the new parents: children’s books that feature people of color
• Dance classes
• An autographed copy of your loved ones favorite book
• Write their autobiography
• Interview family members and ask them to share their favorite holiday memories, make a compilation and give everyone a copy
• Make jars full of dry (organic) ingredients of their favorite cookies