Who covets more, is evermore a slave. - Robert Herrick

I'm still chugging away on my crazy amount of school work. But here was a blog post that I just had to take the time to read. I hope that you will, too.

Black Friday Feminism
from Disobedient Mother. Disobedient Daughter.

Now, before anyone thinks that I am pro-recession, pro-depression, or anti-prosperity, let me squash those thoughts right now. As an American citizen and feminist, I recognize that the economy is run by consumers and the face of the global market largely depends on the flourishing of the US economy.

That being said, I offer this: Maybe this is an excellent time for US Americans to experience a financial crisis. Maybe there are some gains to be made in this difficult time which cannot be measured in the Dow Jones or home buying rates.

Black Friday is called Black Friday because it signifies when business companies are supposed to go into the black, showing surplus and profit. Notoriously, this is the day when US citizens open their wallet and begin the costly splurge of commercial gift-giving.

The less news I watch and the more observant I become of the people around me, the more I am convinced that this time of crisis can be an opportunity for many to deepen their lives and rethink the function of material goods in their homes. Perhaps a bit simplistic, but the concept of Americans re-evaluating what is necessary and what is superfluous in their homes sounds fabulous to me. It is common knowledge that US Americans are some of the most wasteful citizens on the planet, nonchalantly eating more than our share of the world's pie and throwing out any leftovers that weren't ours to begin with. We are all guilty of this. Our society thrives on convenience, comfort, and "if it's there, use it up" mentality.

What does this - consumerism, wastefulness, and intentionality - have to do with Feminism?

Alot.

Jessica Hoffman wrote an excellent article that envisioned what a feminist liberation looks like and how systematic powers (racism, economic hierarchy, ableism, sexism) - particularly capitalism - function as a multi-systematic team of oppression. She writes that it is not enough to recognize "intersectionality," as a lens to view feminists themselves, but also how to analyze the existing oppressive forces around us. She argues, "I do think that resisting capitalism, globally, is integral to antiracist, progressive, social-justice feminisms — that is, the only kinds of feminism I think have a chance of liberating anyone/everyone, and the only kinds of feminism I want to have anything to do with." MORE...