I just bought myself a little present to celebrate this past Tuesday’s elections:
(image from Amazon.com)
Sienna Sky Blue Wave earrings.
Which reminds me of two other pairs of earrings I’ve bought recently, both of which are bee-themed. If you are not friends with any pissed-off progressive women, you may not have heard that bees are the current symbol of how very pissed-off the progressive women are. Plus, bees are cute. Plus, bees are crucial to our survival and also endangered, so it’s Bee Awareness too.
(image from Ruby Spirit Designs on Etsy)
Vintage Bee Leverback earrings and the matching adjustable ring and necklace from Ruby Spirit Designs. The way Etsy works, if someone buys the exact earrings or ring or necklace I linked to, it’ll show as sold when you click through—but that doesn’t mean there are no more available: go to the shop’s link and see if another of the same item has been re-posted (sometimes it takes a few days). This seller is in the UK, so if you’re in the US and you want these as a holiday gift for someone, it would be wise to order early.
(image from Jen’s Bead Box on Etsy.com)
Brass honey bee earrings from Jen’s Bead Box. They also come in a silver version. These are small and pretty, and my mom commented that she kept noticing them moving near my ears as if they were hovering buzzily. Mine arrived looking shinier and more golden than I’d expected, but the brass has gradually darkened.
(image from PlanUSA.org)
If you’re shopping for someone who likes charity gifts, a $50 donation in their name to PlanUSA.org will protect a girl.
(image from Amazon.com)
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, by graphic novelist Pénélope Bagieu. A thrilling selection of women throughout history, comics-style. I loved it. And it makes a nice gift book: it’s a fancier/larger/denser paperback, with a textured cover.
(image from Amazon.com)
Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History, by Kate Schatz, illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl. Paul gave this to me and it’s still in my to-read pile, but I can tell you I certainly enjoyed receiving it. A nice hardcover.
(image from Amazon.com)
The Power, by Naomi Alderman. Revenge-fantasy fiction about what might happen if women developed a power that meant suddenly men were the ones who had to be scared about walking alone at night, while women could walk freely and comfortably.
(image from Amazon.com)
Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections), by Stephen Prothero. Like many non-fiction books, this seems to me to be two essays’ worth of material padded to book length. I read until I caught the gist, then kept reading the point-reinforcing examples for awhile, then skimmed for awhile to more interesting examples, then felt in no need of further examples and stopped reading. Well worth the cost of the book: the gist has stayed with me in times of trouble, and it is a very reassuring gist.
This is Swistle from the future adding this next suggestion, which wasn’t yet published at the time of this post:
(image from Amazon.com)
The Future of Another Timeline, by Annalee Newitz. See review post.
I have been acquiring a collection of political/fundraising t-shirts. Most such t-shirts are unisex sizing, which generally means men’s sizing, which means they poof out around my shoulders and grip too tightly at the hip; those end up at the bottom of the drawer, or transferred to Paul’s drawer. (Can you imagine men putting up with “unisex” shirts that were baggy in the chest, narrow in the shoulders, maybe with a nice scoop neck and little cap sleeves? With a few organizations offering a “men’s” style option, which would only be available in limited sizes and would cost more money?)
Where was I? Oh yes: here are two shirts that are better than the usual unisex:
(image from ACLU.org)
ACLU basic tee. I’m not saying it’s fancy, but it’s a soft, comfy, drapier knit and I think it’s cute. It still looks like I’m wearing my boyfriend’s t-shirt, but it looks like that was a good idea instead of a bad one.
(image from HRC.org)
Human Rights Campaign Everyone Rainbow t-shirt. Almost as good fit-wise as the ACLU one. It’s kind of like CHILD-fit rather than boyfriend-fit or whatever: it reminds me of how it felt to wear clothes when I was a child and didn’t spend any time thinking about how annoying it was that unisex clothing was fitted for men. And it’s a more decorative/fun design than the ACLU one, if you’re looking for gifts. The Rainbow T-Shirt is another favorite; I have it in grey.
Speaking of everyone/equality/rainbow, I am not really a bumper-sticker kind of girl, but I have one of these equality stickers on the back of my car:
(image from HRC.org)
I like that it’s very, very simple but also A HUGE AND IMPORTANT CONCEPT COVERING MULTIPLE CURRENT ISSUES. Also: the way I feel when I see the same sticker on other people’s cars is the way I want those other people to feel when they see the sticker on mine.
Speaking of stickers, I also ordered a bee sticker. I’ll put it on the other side of the bumper.
(image from Amazon.com)
It feels like a secret and subversive signal to other members of The Hive.
If you haven’t already, I suggest spending time on Emily McDowell’s site. There you will find excellence such as:
(image from emilymcdowell.com)
(image from emilymcdowell.com)
(image from emilymcdowell.com)
Patriarchy tote. I like the mug even more, but it’s out of stock and I didn’t want to get your hopes up with a picture of it and then say “Ha ha but you can’t have it right now!!”
(image from emilymcdowell.com)
Perhaps you know someone who still plays solitaire old-school:
(image from Amazon.com)
This nail polish is a color I don’t even particularly like, but I have two bottles: one among my other polishes and one tucked away with my Hillary Clinton on a unicorn t-shirt (made of really wonderful-feeling cotton, but 100% men’s fit so it’s in a drawer) and 2016 campaign pins.
(image from Amazon.com)
OPI nail polish in Madam President. Within our lifetime, perhaps.
So good! For progressive sports fans I also recommend the merchandise at Burn It All Down. I think I’m in the mood for a mug, might have to get myself an early Christmas present.
I LOVE this post! I am actually friends with a lot of pissed-off progressive women, but I had not heard of the bee symbolism before. I will be sure to go out and buy lots of cute bee-themed items now!
These are excellent and NEW ideas I haven’t seen before! Thx for sharing!
I just bought these RBG Dissent Collar earrings!:
https://dissentpins.com/products/dissent-collar-earrings
While I love getting ideas from your other gift guides, this is by FAR my favourite list. I think I may be sending some mugs to various friends this Christmas.
Yes. Let’s stay on this corrective path! The fight in me is so strong.
Also, Beyonce is 100% bee related! 👑 👑 👑
This is the kind of gift list I love and I hope you get lots more good suggestions in the comments. I like to find Etsy shops run by black women and shop there. Also I purchase online from gift shops of museums like the National Civil Rights Museum, The Holicaust Museum, etc.
I also love the bee imagery. BUT. I live in Utah and the Mormon Settlers here have a history of using the beehive symbol and bee imagery is big here. So while I want to wear bees so much, I’m fairly sure it would send a different message here than I want. :(
I’m going to go and check out Prothero’s book. I need ALL the examples right now.
I love ALL this and now I kinda want a bee tatoo. A queen bee tatoo!
I am so angry today. So angry when I drop off my daughter at preschool and we smile and wave at the security guard. He’s new since the Tree of Life shooting. So angry when I hear another mom ask if we will be notified in advance of the lockdown drills. It’s a two year old class. TWO. Someone is making my little baby PRACTICE for a goddamn active shooter. So angry when I read that there are now people who have survived both the Las Vegas shooting AND the Thousand Oaks shooting last night. I’m so fucking angry, I want to take every single gun in this country and MELT IT DOWN and then I want to cast it into a monument with the name of every single mass shooting victim on it, and I want every single person in this god forsaken country to make a goddamn RUBBING of every single motherfucking name.
YES!!!
I AM HERE FOR THIS COMMENT AND THIS PLAN! Sorry to shout, but I’m feeling it.
I love this post.
I’m bookmarking this list!!!
And the pre-school daughter of a good friend of mine was wearing the purple kid-sized version of this t-shirt:
https://society6.com/product/my-favorite-season-is-the-fall-of-the-patriarchy_vneck-tshirt?sku=s6-7721123p36a37v292a38v311a39v329
It says, “My favorite season is the Fall of the Patriarchy”
EEEEEEK! Getting this for my daughter. And my niece. And possibly every woman I know.
Angrily pissed-off progressive women! Yes! I know a few. I am one! But… the bee thing? 🐝 That’s new to me. Can anyone fill me in? I promise I haven’t been living in a cave. I’ve just been stressed out and busy, and I’ve had remove myself from most online discourse because It Wasn’t Helping Me At All. Many thanks and many bees! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
It comes from this tweet, which then went viral: https://twitter.com/eekshecried/status/1012179318456414208. It reads: “Every woman I know has been storing anger for years in her body and it’s starting to feel like bees are going to pour out of all of our mouths at the same time.” It led to this article: Welcome to Bee Season! Women Are Furious, But You Knew That Already
Not to be confused with Evil Bees from Captain Awkward.
Thank you! Of all my social media deserts, Twitter is the most Sahara-like for me. Or maybe Death Valley. Anyway. The point is that if I am on Twitter, the Earth has begun revolving backwards or something.
BEES. I get it now! I AM SO FULL OF BEES. 🐝
Ooo I read The Power awhile back and let me just say that I’ve spent some TIME thinking about the world/circumstances of that book. A LOT of time…
Thank you for this great post.
I’m tired of being angry but that only makes me angrier because I realize how long I have been angry. Release the bees I say.
Maybe a mug would make it bettter.
I didn’t know about the bee thing either, and I am HERE for it. Did you like The Power? I keep starting to read it and then stopping. I can’t quite articulate why – I think I’m either afraid it won’t be done well or it will and I’ll be sad that it’s not true. I’ll read back to see if you reviewed it.
I thought I’d reviewed it but I can’t find it so maybe I just reviewed it in my head. It’s a disturbing book so it’s hard to say “liked” about it, but I was glad I read it and I gave it to a few people as a gift. There were parts I thought were done poorly (as in, I thought, “Wait, no, that one thing would not have happened, ever”), and there were a lot more parts I thought were done well. I thought the concept was pretty mind-blowing. I did end up kind of upset.