Outraged at The Outrage: 

Feminist shop falls short of political activism promises

Located in the heart of 14th Street, this shop displays Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg themed water bottles, action figures and holiday sweaters. Also available for purchase are a piñata of president Donald Trump’s head and impeachment themed mints.

Upon entering, customers are greeted by a neon green light that reads, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

This is The Outrage: a self-proclaimed hub for activism and feminist apparel.

Its website and in-store signage advertise that a portion of every single purchase is donated to a progressive non-profit like Planned Parenthood or The American Civil Liberties Union. Another one of its selling points is that shoppers can register to vote at checkout.

But as a recent customer approached the clerk holding a two-inch, twelve-dollar keychain with a message to end toxic masculinity, she had to request for information regarding the voter registration process she read about online. 

The cashier dug into a cabinet to find a District of Columbia form, which they said should be completed and submitted independently at home. After the customer stated that she is from California, the cashier simply handed over a sticker with a link to an online registration service.

This paper system only catered to District residents disregards potential visitors from the surrounding areas of Virginia or Maryland, and the pool of people who will actually fill out and mail in the form is predictably slim, but impossible to track. 

Additionally, the process does not take into account students, workers and other citizens from all over the country who may need to register to vote absentee.

Kathy Chiron, president of the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia, says The Outrage’s process does not have to be this way. She is unsure why the shop has stuck to a paper system, but acknowledges there is a national form it could be providing as well.

“Almost all the states accept that form,” Chiron said. “There are different instructions from different states, so it’s a little bit more complicated, but it’s not rocket science.”

The League is a nonpartisan organization, so while they do not endorse The Outrage’s political sentiments, they do support voter registration in any venue.

“I want people to register to vote,” Chiron said. “However, we can make it easy, I am all for it, regardless of what kind of business it is.”

In 2006, The League of Women Voters Education Fund launched Vote411, an online resource that allows voters nationwide to register, view their polling location, change their party affiliation or address and view a sample ballot. Closer to the election day, users can view statements from candidates about their platforms and policy positions.

Chiron believes using this system would be much more “efficient and helpful” to a consumer and potential voter at a shop like The Outrage.

However, Chloe Wagner, an intern at Emily’s List, an American political action committee that aims to help elect pro-choice Democratic female candidates to office, thinks the store’s lack of an online process is a deliberate decision.

“The Outrage could have the voter registration process be more accessible through QR codes or by handing over an iPad that has TurboVote or Rock The Vote up,” Wagner said. “The fact that a customer might have to ask for a form shows The Outrage’s apathy for the cause. But as long as they’re making money, I don’t think they care.”

A recent study from the D.C. State Data Center Visualization Portal shows that Ward 2, where The Outrage is located, is one of the most affluent areas in the District. Home to an expansive region that includes the National Mall, the White House, George Washington University and Georgetown University, Ward 2 boasts some of the lowest unemployment rates and highest income and education levels. 

However, when it comes to Ward 2 voter registration and turnout, the area’s numbers are not as high-ranking. In the 2018 General Election, the amount of registered voters totaled 49,772, and the amount of ballots cast fell at 23,060 —  making it the zone with the third lowest turnout percentage after Ward 7 and 8. 

According to the D.C. Board of Election’s monthly report of voter statistics, as of Nov. 30, 2019, Ward 2 currently has the least amount of voters registered in the entire District with 49,203 registered voters out of its approximately 77,940 residents. 

“Given where The Outrage is situated in D.C., they could be doing so much more to get people actively involved and engaged in our democracy and in our democratic process,” Wagner said. “If they were really dedicated to their mission of activism and social change, they would be more invested in really getting people registered to vote and getting them to vote, as well.”

According to an interview with Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, founder and CEO Rebecca Lee Funk started The Outrage in 2016 as an online feminist apparel brand to celebrate the election of the first female president. But when President Donald Trump won instead, Funk saw that the demand for a shop of its nature was higher than ever. 

Funk and The Outrage’s media team did not return multiple attempts to discuss their business.

What began as e-commerce, then developed into a pop-up shop, and now the company has two brick-and-mortar stores in both D.C. and Philadelphia. Funk states that during the first Women’s March in 2017, they raised 26,000 dollars for Planned Parenthood simply by placing a tip jar on the counter. 

There is a long history of American companies being wary of mixing business and politics. In a 2017 interview with the Stanford Business Graduate School, Steven Callendar, a professor of political economy who researches the intersection of business and politics, discusses how large corporations have typically refrained from taking political stands.

 “...In a political situation where you’re taking a stand and pleasing half the population while angering the other half, that is going to be a net losing equation for your reputation,” Callendar said. “With this election, because of the increasing polarization of parties, it just becomes more stark and more costly. You’re not getting as much benefit and you’re getting a lot more pain.”

Callendar notes that if corporations do dabble in politics, they are usually either spreading a progressive opinion widely accepted by the public or wanting to attract attention.

“It obviously depends on where your customers are, but on the margins, national retailers seem to have decided that the progressive pressures are the safer option,” he said. “...Activists know that applying pressure to take a stand one way or another on an issue is a great way to attract attention.”

Stores like The Outrage, where taking a political stance is at the core of their business, are a new concept, but Funk contributes this to their success.

“Millennial consumers, who like to integrate their core values into their purchasing decisions, have helped drive this move toward political activism,” Funk said in an interview with Forbes. “They expect the businesses they support to have a social mission.”

Given their social mission of increasing political activism, it is unclear why The Outrage has stuck to the voter registration system that they have. Although customers might feel motivated while in the shop, the chances that they will take action once they get home are low. Chiron states that there are countless opportunities for The Outrage to encourage more political involvement once the customer leaves the store. 

“Businesses like The Outrage certainly should be doing their part to advertise voter registration whether it is putting it on bags or links on receipts,” Chiron said. “Businesses can impact social change… And this could be a way to engender positive feelings towards businesses.”

The store’s claim to fame has indeed been their position as a local mission-driven shop selling shirts with trendy slogans, but this business model also prompts many questions about its true ability to increase political activism.

Apart from their analog voter registration process, other aspects left Wagner feeling outraged at The Outrage and other businesses like it.

“I appreciate the sentiment behind the store,” Wagner said, “Especially in a young, affluent, pretty liberal neighborhood, I can see why it would be so popular. But I also think that it comes with this larger culture of people outwardly expressing their feminist and liberal ideals without actually following up on it with action and actual support.”

In The Outrage’s physical storefront and online shop, customers can choose from a plethora of t-shirts, sweaters, hats, accessories, buttons and more magnets displaying some form of political or social statement such as “badass feminist” or “resist.” There is merchandise made for all members of the family, including adults, babies, and even dogs.

The mainstream commercialization of feminism is a concern among many young people nowadays. Activism director of the George Washington University’s Feminist Student Union Betsy Bezuneh believes that stores like The Outrage may be providing a false sense of activism and feminism.

“Just because you buy a shirt that says ‘Yes She Can!’ doesn't mean that you are a feminist,” Bezuneh said. “On one hand, you're getting out the message out more, which is good that you are spreading that knowledge. But on the other hand, it becomes a sort of exclusionary, especially when the shirts are thirty dollars minimum. When that is the price tag to be seen as a feminist, that becomes really exclusionary for a lot of people.”

Sara Matthiesen, assistant professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at George Washington University, shares Bezuneh’s belief about the danger that capitalism has on feminist ideals and about the unclear consequences of commercialization. 

“I think that capitalism is incredibly skilled at taking the power out of ideas, symbols and movements by commodifying them and selling them back to us for a price,” Matthiesen said. “But perhaps that is overly cynical. Is it also positive that feminism gets more traction once it is commercialized simply by virtue of greater exposure? Maybe. But it is hard to measure what this actually changes.”

When it comes to showing support using her income, Wagner’s personal philosophy is to skip the middleman altogether.

“If I want to give my money to Planned Parenthood, that is how I would spend my money,” Wagner said. “I'm not sure that I need an incentive of a t-shirt or something related to Ruth Bader Ginsberg to make me donate to a progressive organization that I support.”

However, for Wagner, the shop’s redeeming feature is its interactive elements, like a phonebooth station to call one’s representatives, and its community space, where she recently attended a leadership training for women in politics.

“It's really important that they have that space or else it would seem very capitalistic — even more so than it already does,” Wagner said.

In April 2019, the shop opened a community space made exclusively for paying members with internet access, couches, tables, a coffee shop and bar. A membership also grants access to weekly networking events and seminars. In the same interview with Amy’s Smart Girls, Funk explained her logic behind developing the community area.  

“When customers asked if they could sit on the couches in the back of the store and talk, I was struck with just how important it was for people to connect with each other beyond the digital world, in a real, physical safe space,” she said. “So, we created dedicated community spaces in our Washington D.C. and Philadelphia retail stores where we educate and empower with activities such as writing postcards or coaching on how to call your congressperson.”

Wagner says this space is “a step in the right direction,” but overall the store could be doing even more to live up to its mission of spreading social change and encouraging activism. 

“The networking events in this space are amazing, but I would love to see them updating their voter registration process and finding a way to encourage people to be more politically involved once they leave the space,” Wagner said. “It would be great if The Outrage could do a big push to increase Ward 2’s voter registration and turnout numbers, and maybe they could also start a campaign to help with the upcoming census.”

With the 2020 Census on the horizon, Chiron also says The Outrage and other organizations could also be doing their part to help residents to fill out the survey.

“The census is equally as important as voting,” she said. “It is from the census that all the data is derived for redistricting, how money is distributed, how your transportation dollars are used and for Medicare and Medicaid funding. There is not one thing that is not impacted by data driven by the census.”

Two of the Outrage’s best-selling items are a pin with the quote, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention,” and a shirt reading “We are better than this.”

“I think it’s time The Outrage paid attention,” Wagner said, “and took their own advice.”