i do feel pressured. friends and family take it as an insult if you give them a charitable gift, such as donating to a charity ( or something like heifer.org ) in their name, or making a simple handmade gift, instead of going out and buying them a "real" present.

i struggle every year to not let the mass consumerism of the holiday grate my soul, but it becomes increasingly difficult to remain in good spirits while so much hypocrisy surrounds you everywhere you look (see my post here).

i try very hard to focus on what *I WANT* the holiday season to mean to ME, and to celebrate it in my own special ways. one year i made my own christmas cards with a special message inside for every person i sent them to. i also try really hard to focus on all the GOOD things i see people doing during December - giving to charity, volunteering in soup kitchens, helping the homeless, donating warm clothes.

for other ideas, of course there is "Buy Nothing Christmas", another Adbusters campaign, that lists dozens of ideas: link.

stay calm.

Here's one way my feminism affects my celebration of the holiday - my Xmas cards.

Since, I don't know, sometime in college, I decided that I was Through with sending cards that amounted to an homage to a very patriarchal sort of religious scene; plus, I like artsier cards anyway. So, I started buying my annual angel cards. That is, I purposely select cards that feature an artistically well-executed vision of a female spirit (and no reference to Christmas by name inside). This effectively slips a little celebration of feminine spirituality past my Southern Baptist family.

I enjoy holiday decorating and shopping because I associate these with relationships, not "getting stuff." My family always decorated the tree together; later, I did this with my college roommate, whom I loved. My mother and I bond over shopping, so I think of this as fun on its own, but much more fun because of getting to interact with my Mom at the same time. I don't know if my politics are much involved there.

This year, I'm making many of my presents exactly because I don't have a lot of money and because I think it's more meaningful. Other family members are doing something similar, if they can, or buying small presents to conserve funds - these are less prosperous days for all of us. We're not conspicuous consumers or terribly materialistic, as a clan. I don't think any of us have really been raised with the "you must make lots of money and then breed" mentality for which we might have genuinely been at risk.

Otherwise - well, my personal challenge will be not breaking vegetarianism. Heh.

I have posted a lot about Buy Nothing Day, but I wrote a special response to this prompt. Hope to expand on it more, here.

Here's my response!

My response is here. Basically, holidays=family, and screw consumerism.

Mine's up. Thanks for the responses, everyone. Gave me something to think about.

Mine's up here finally!

I have much more to say but no time. Gotta go shopping! (Just kidding, but I do start making presents this time of year and don't write as much.)

My post here, incidentally i wrote this and then came here and saw this topic, so it might ramble a little. I generally ramble. To sum up, I'm not religious and I feel cheap celebrating a holiday I don't believe in just to get presents. My immediate family lives across the country from the extended branches, so the holidays have never been particularily homey. My conclusion: I like to give and receive presents at random because it makes life much more interesting. :)

oops, the link might not work, best to just go to my page and skim down to dec 7th. sorry, y'all.

Mine's up, belatedly. It's really dull.