Pussyhats bring passion and purpose to the Women’s March on January 21st

Pussyhats bring passion and purpose to the Women’s March on January 21st
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Pussyhats are everywhere! What began as a stress-relieving, thumb-nosing project has quickly turned into a nation-wide, and even world-wide, obsession. People from all walks of life are knitting, crocheting, and sewing pink square hats with ear-shaped tips in anticipation of the Women’s March on January 21st. Why are these hats getting so much attention? Will they make a visual statement at marches across the globe? Can knitting in pink actually make a difference?

Basket of pink yarn at The Kitty City

Basket of pink yarn at The Kitty City

I recently read an article by Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post entitled The Women’s March needs passion and purpose, not pink pussycat hats. Her disdain for pussyhats was clear from her comment on “she-power frippery” to her vision of “an unruly river of Pepto-Bismol roiling through the street.” Ok, I’ll admit the Pepto-Bismol was a funny line and probably not too far off. But the rest of her article missed the point entirely.

“The Women’s March needs grit, not gimmicks,” she says. Here is where Petula, and other pussyhat detractors, are wrong. The Pussyhat Project is an absolutely phenomenal example of craftivism at work because it is accomplishing the following five things:

  1. It’s sending a powerful and cheeky message in support of women, reclaiming a derogatory term while staying unapologetically female.
  1. It’s leveraging traditional domestic arts, which have been primarily associated with women and often marginalized, in an empowering way.
  1. It’s facilitating the healing process — for those who make hats and for those who receive them.
  1. It’s building community by getting people involved, connecting strangers, and opening pathways of conversation, generosity, shared emotion, and common ground.
  1. It’s laying the groundwork for future organized, sustainable rebellion.

My neighborhood has a well-known knitting store called Knitty City. I dropped by yesterday to speak with the owner, Pearl Chin. The store was packed with women of various levels of knitting expertise, all trying to make their own pussyhats. Piles of pink yarn were peeking out from corners. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, sharing knitting tips, discussing politics, tallying their completed hats. The atmosphere was charged: warm and welcoming, but purposeful.

I had a chance to ask Pearl some questions as she was darting around the store. How is the Pussyhat project impacting her business? Is she running out of pink yarn? And, most importantly, does she think the pussyhats are a gimmick?

Cecile Richards stopped by yesterday,” she said, referencing the president of Planned Parenthood as we discussed the effect the Pussyhat movement was having on her clientele.

Pearl believes that many people are frustrated with the current political climate and don’t know what to do. Knitting helps them “work it out” and galvanizes them in a personal way.

“You need good feelings and a safe place for dialogue,” Pearl said. “We offer a place where people can come.” Customers stay sometimes three or four hours in the shop, knitting and networking. Pearl believes strongly in the power of knitting to heal, connect, and invigorate and calls her suppliers every day to order pink yarn and ensure it stays in stock.

Pearl’s words resonate with me, as I am a life-long crafter. Since I was a child, I have worked with my hands, picking up various skills and “making” my way through my problems. Any crafter will tell you of the special connection between hand, medium, and recipient. The energy that flows between you and your materials is a dialogue, and its resolution transfers to the person who uses what you have made. Conversations are facilitated through objects that hold the vibrational message of their makers. This is a communion as ancient as time.

Imagine the knitting groups getting together in living rooms and cozy shops like The Knitty City to discuss their lives, their fears, and their agendas while building a rapport across table and country. Now think of each of these women making two, five, ten, even twenty hats filled with vibrant pink energy to send to sisters they have never met, all across the country, to wear together on January 21.

Sorry, Petula, there is no gimmick here. Pussyhatters are sending a very clear message. And that message is: We are women. We are united. And we are ready grab back.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot