Normally one to shun new year resolutions, I faced 2017 with a difference. This year, I had a resolution: it was going to be my year of activism, and I had the Feminist as F*** T-shirt to prove it. As with a promise to get in shape, I powered through January like a demon. I helped organise an activism and alcohol evening with all my friends to discuss issues from ethical clothing to paternity leave, and on January 21, I joined the Women’s March on Washington with a handmade Nasty Woman jacket and a backpack full of granola bars.
January moved towards February moved towards March, and as my kale salads morphed into ramen noodles, the activism burnout began to hit. Each day the news seemed harder to stomach and more insurmountable. My overinflated ego kicked into play and every headline hit me like a personal offence: if only I’d signed that petition, we’d have solved the environmental crisis by now! I could have fixed global warming! It was all on my shoulders and I was too busy getting my nails done!
Critics of my generation will hold up Dior T-shirts and pussy hats and mock this year’s wave of activism as a trend destined to die out. As far as I’m concerned, activism is as worthy a trend as peplums or cold shoulders, but let’s try and make it the Chanel handbag of trends, one that’s classy and will stick around. Activism burnout is real, and you’re never going to feel you’re doing enough. But just as the fact that your 45-minute spin class won’t turn you into Bradley Wiggins doesn’t stop you getting on a bike, the fact that you’re not going to single-handedly take down all the evil in the world shouldn’t deter you from trying to do some good.
In honour of that little thing called “the election”, this week’s hit list is a bit different: less canine food critics and a few more things you can do that might just make the world a better place.
If you have only five minutes
Work some activism into your social media: Eco-Age (@ecoage) is an organisation doing incredible things for sustainable fashion, and Gurls Talk (@gurlstalk) is a group founded by the model Adwoa Aboah to get girls talking about mental health. Both amazing. Both kickass. Both definitely worth a follow. Elsewhere on the internet, the Code Switch podcast talks about every race issue you were too awkward and English to discuss, while the Good Fish Guide app is an amazing way to check whether the sushi you’re about to chow down on is destroying the planet.
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If you have five friends
Host a wine and whine evening: nothing makes activism funner than doing it with friends, wine and Justin Bieber playing in the background. And while this may sound crass, hosting an activism evening is pretty easy, pretty fun and definitely cooler than the board-games night Steve keeps pitching. Find a cause you all care about, write to your MP if you feel there’s something to be done, Google a petition to sign and generally get off on knowing you have a friend group far cooler than Carrie Bradshaw ever did. The website Writetothem.com makes writing to your MP easy.
If you have five hours
Show up. The “two-hour CrossFit followed by a green juice” of activism: actually getting off your ass. Amnesty International’s Pocket Protest is a great way to stay on top of active campaigns that urgently need your support (they’ll send you a text any time your help is needed), and Volunteeringmatters.org.uk is a website to find volunteering opportunities in your area. Show up, take a picture and let’s make “Instagramming yourself at a protest” the new “Instagramming yourself on holiday”. It’s cheaper and only marginally less annoying.
