Even before I started my holiday shopping this year, I felt overwhelmed. Not by the number of gifts on my list, but from watching my Instagram fill with posts on which companies to boycott well before Thanksgiving. Amazon, Home Depot and Target came up time and again, while more detailed lists insisted you shouldn’t use UPS or FedEx or any company that has contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
There were other suggestions, all equally exhausting. I should simply stop overconsuming. Shop small and local only! Make everything from scratch! Curate thrifted secondhand gifts! Don’t give gifts at all and become a pariah for the greater good!
I looked at these expectations and knew following them all was impossible, but I felt riddled with guilt. I wanted to create an ethical holiday season through my purchasing power, but with what time? With what money? With what mental space?
Women’s statistically outsized portion of the household’s emotional labor intensifies during the holidays. We’re not just becoming Santa and buying all the presents for our kids. We’re buying for our family, our friends and often our partner’s family too. (And we’re making sure we don’t run out of toilet paper or dish soap while we’re at it.)
