The Pussyhat Project--knit, crochet, sew for women's rights
January 8, 2017 9:14 AM   Subscribe

Currently over 111,000 people have pledged to attend the 2017 Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21. Meanwhile, thousands of crafters, some outside the US, are working to make sure there is a defiant sea of pink cat eared hats that day via The Pussyhat Project, which aims to reclaim the word pussy and make a bright visual statement about women's rights and strength in numbers--while keeping marchers' heads warm. You can download free patterns and knit or crochet a hat for yourself or to donate to others who will be marching. Hat donors can attach a personal note to the wearer describing a women's issue they are passionate about and contact info if they wish.

The Pussyhat Project was co-founded by Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman and the official hat patterns were designed by Kat Coyle, though other designers have also donated their versions to the cause, including a sewing pattern.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl (90 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
So I don't do pink, I don't do cute, my gender performance and identity veer way off the road from this even on my most compliant days, and my burning, righteous indignation will not be capped off with soft kitty ears. I want to look and feel like an intimidating force to be reckoned with, even if just part of mile long throng (especially as part of a mile wide throng) and wearing one of these won't work for me personally. I understand that's not the case at all for many other participants.

That being said, I'm incredibly touched and amazed and humbled and proud that sisters are at work on these--hooks and needles and creativity flying furiously--for women they may never meet in person but still know in the ways that are important for this march. The sea of pink hats, for me, will represent every woman that couldn't be there that still is. If I end up with one of these jammed in my hand despite myself and there is contact information attached I may not wear it but I will contact you and thank you and we will be fierce together. This is always what feminism has been about for me, no matter which wave.
posted by blue suede stockings at 9:24 AM on January 8, 2017 [40 favorites]


I love that they are so passionate. I love that they've done this. I love subversive knitting and crochet.
Here's the thing though. I hate vaginas. I mean, not literally, I have one and all. I just hate them as iconography. We're more than that, we're better than that. And yet, we need to defy this loathsome bloated creature and his particular vile remarks about them, so here we are.
I plan to attend a partner march, and I may yet swing a last minute trip to the big one. In either case I think I will wear my own hat.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:26 AM on January 8, 2017 [6 favorites]


Begins thinking of how to make raging lioness hat for blue suede stockings...
posted by chapps at 9:36 AM on January 8, 2017 [11 favorites]


Big crowds aren't my thing so I'm probably not going to a march, but I am knitting hats for two friends who are going. And I feel honored that they are letting me be a part of the march this way.
posted by mcduff at 9:38 AM on January 8, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'm betting about 3% of those unexpectedly handed one of these pussy eared caps ends up doing research on the furry fandom within a month after the march.
posted by hippybear at 9:40 AM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah...I appreciate the sentiment and effort, but everyone needs to begin to get through the next four years in their own way and personally I'm just not in a place right now where this feels empowering to me. To each her own...
posted by bookmammal at 9:43 AM on January 8, 2017 [8 favorites]


xoxo, chapps!

MeFi members--regardless of how you identify with regards to gender identity or protest-wear sartorial preferences--who are thinking of joining the Washington march should check out this IRL proposed meetup thread. (Thank you sciatrix for opening it up!)
posted by blue suede stockings at 9:43 AM on January 8, 2017 [7 favorites]


I think I'm just really also inspired by women working on networks for other women.
posted by corb at 9:46 AM on January 8, 2017 [31 favorites]


I don't do pink either, but I finished hat #5 yesterday afternoon, and I'll wear one to the march. It's given me something to work on when everything else is too overwhelming. It's gotten me back to knitting and making things. And since the yarn I'm using is donated or from the thrift store, it feels like taking something unwanted and making it useful. Basically, this has been very helpful for me and I'm looking forward to seeing a sea of silly hats at the march.
posted by Akhu at 9:48 AM on January 8, 2017 [11 favorites]


I just hope some significant fraction decides to write their representatives, write letters to the editor, run for office, etc.

That said, anything that builds enthusiasm to fight is a good thing, I guess. Looks less silly than the teabags.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:55 AM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm also one of those folks whose gender presentation is normally wholly incompatible with a simple bright pink beanie that folds over in the middle to create the impression of ears. (Psst: they don't actually look like vaginas, although my roomie is making one that will have felt vaginas in the places where an actual cat's earholes might go, because that's just how she rolls.) Every other march I've done in the past couple of months has been done while wearing another handknit red, white, and blue beanie from a friend of mine with a great big Captain America star on the top, because for me protesting is an act of patriotism, not the other way round, and I feel like being really angrily clear about that.

However. I am still absolutely eaten up with delight about this project, and I'm making one for myself (and at least one other MeFite) to march under. I have enough yarn to make about seven hats now and we'll see where I am by the end of the week, as I get going to actually leave for DC. And just yesterday, I was at a planning sign-making event for the March on Austin (with a bonus contingent of us who are going from Austin to DC) and I brought a bit of yarn in case I had some space to craft while I was there, because I'm pretty sure I am not going to be able to hustle a protest sign on the plane and I'm resigned to making mine after I land. I had at least four women come up to me and ask, wide-eyed, "Is that for hats? Can I have one? How do you make one? I can't craft but I want to wear one and I want to help!" or "I just cast on for the first time in years!" or "are there patterns if I hate yarn?" [there are] or, most terrifyingly, "You know how to make them? I will buy them all from you", from a pack of enthusiastic fellow DC marchers.

For me, it's like.... I've seen a couple of people already wearing bright pink beanies with the suggestion of ears on the bus, and that makes me brighten up at a sign of fellow resistance and gives me more energy to harass senators online and resist in other ways. When I was picking up the yarn I'm using yesterday at the local JoAnn's, one clerk came up to me wide-eyed and asked "Are you making hats?!?" and grinned hugely when I said I was. Another clerk checking me out fell all over herself to help me use all the coupons, including one I'm not entirely sure was legally supposed to be used on me, for teachers. I like that. I like the idea of projects that help people who cannot march--who are disabled, or can't take the time off work, or aren't emotionally capable of being present, or who hate crowds, or who can't afford the money to get to a march, or or or--I like the idea of projects that help people who cannot be part of a march or an act of visible resistance to still feel like they are part of that resistance and that they helped it happen, even if it's a small thing like making sure that some marcher kept their head warm and knew someone cared and was thankful they were there. I like projects that help people get involved in whatever capacity they can spare, and make them feel good about doing small things they can do instead of guilty for not doing the big things that are all that occur to them as "helping".

Plus it's been fucking cold here in Texas this week and I am no longer used to DC winter, so I was going to be wearing some kind of hat over my buzzed-short head while in town anyway. Might as well pick one that says how pissed off I am, and shows off my love for other folks who are traveling too.
posted by sciatrix at 9:59 AM on January 8, 2017 [46 favorites]


I just hope some significant fraction decides to write their representatives, write letters to the editor, run for office, etc

I don't know about running for office (does spending in-person time at your state capitol lobbying legislators count, for those of us who who can't quit or adapt our day jobs?) but the folks I know who are going are already doing these things, and this is about showing up not just to be seen, literally, but to be surrounded in a much more tangible way by allies to refuel and steel ourselves for the action ahead.
posted by blue suede stockings at 9:59 AM on January 8, 2017 [17 favorites]


Oh, ffs, leotrotsky--everyone I have seen who wasn't actively at their day job who has expressed interest in these things either to me or on social media is someone who is also actively engaged in calling reps, marching in protest, tracking policy, registering people to vote, and other forms of tangible action--usually, frankly, multiple forms of tangible action. And I've seen at least thirty women express some form of interest in this project, either by wearing a hat in a march or making one or, often, both at once.

It's this kind of pissing on visible signs of support and getting people involved no matter how small their contributions are that kills enthusiasm and makes people think they need to hide their support for liberal, democratic, and inclusive policies instead of wearing them proudly, and that actively hurts normalizing these ideas. It's not helpful even if it makes you feel all superior, I guess.
posted by sciatrix at 10:03 AM on January 8, 2017 [91 favorites]


I've been looking for one for the Sacramento march, actually, as my attempts to knit and crochet have been about as successful as my dogs attempts to catch squirrels (laughably terrible).

I love that this is happening. I love the unity, the strength in numbers. It makes my heart happy.
posted by routergirl at 10:13 AM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm sewing polar fleece versions today, starting with leftover fleece from a plush uterus crafting project!
posted by esoterrica at 10:15 AM on January 8, 2017 [11 favorites]


Do you think anyone would want a quilted pussyhat? I can't crochet or knit patterns for shit but it sounds like it'd be relatively simple to make a warm quilted one.
posted by corb at 10:16 AM on January 8, 2017 [15 favorites]


leftover fleece from a plush uterus crafting project!

I don't have any comment. I just wanted to quote this amazing string of words!
posted by hippybear at 10:18 AM on January 8, 2017 [14 favorites]


I bet someone would be happy to wear it, especially at the local march. My roomie keeps talking about putting together a tied no-sew fleece pattern version, actually, because she worked at fabric stores for years and knows damn well that something like that would be easy for a lot of folks to do.
posted by sciatrix at 10:19 AM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


routergirl, drop off and pick up points by state are here. I'm guessing you need to call ahead to verify they have them in "stock" (I don't know how many women are using regional drop offs and how many are sending them to DC direct--tracking for those mailed in from across the country to the capitol is here).
posted by blue suede stockings at 10:19 AM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


I think they would, corb! It would be nice and warm.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:19 AM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


I have been thinking about this. I have some visceral reactions. First, symbols of solidarity make people feel good, and symbols are important. Second, I'm not into symbols, T-shirts, signs, or any of those things. Third, anything cute can be mocked. We went through this with safety pins. I hate that people make fun of signs of solidarity; it's part of oppression to trivialize them. And we will be mocked anyway. Fourth, I don't like cute signs of solidarity, and often feel marginalized by them (had breast surgery once, find the Susan G. Komen sea-of-pink alienating rather than inclusive). Last, I used to knit and actually used to make pussy-cat hats for myself and for my daughter.

So I'm divided.

However, I was encouraged at a recent march meeting to see all the people there. I'm old enough to remember being on marches and thinking I was part of a wave of the future, only to find that everyone else got on with life and normalized injustice. I hope they're all there three months from now when the work has gotten hard and repetitive. I hope I'm there, too. Showing up is essential.
posted by Peach at 10:20 AM on January 8, 2017 [9 favorites]


I won't be making a hat like this as it's not my preferred way of demonstrating (though I must admit I've mentally planned a hypothetical pussy hat in an orange mohair-angora blend and cable detailing), but I am glad to see it as I think it builds bonds and helps keep people's spirits up, and I happily shared this to my knitting blog's Facebook page several days ago. The resulting thread took more moderating than I think I've done in the four years of the page's existence. Many of the comments were from knitters who quick to share news about how they are knitting hats for the march and to post pictures of their stacks of hats, but some other comments had me pinching the bridge of my nose, such as one from a woman who claimed that the major news network did nothing but lie about Trump, one man who claimed that Trump never said he grabbed pussies and the post was a "disappointing effort" on my part to "bring a good man down", or others who made libelous claims about Hillary Clinton (whom the post never mentioned), characterized the post as "anti-Trump bullshit" and "whining", and claimed that wearing these cat hats was "disgusting" because women were "objectifying themselves". Sigh. But of course... it's my page, and I have deletion powers. I went over the thread, deleting comments that were factually baseless, too far off-topic, or too rude, banning two people entirely, and posted my own responses to other comments that redirected the conversation somewhat.

This is a battle that will be fought on many fronts, and that is how one Canadian knitting blogger tried to do her bit on one particular day.
posted by orange swan at 10:24 AM on January 8, 2017 [20 favorites]


I've read multiple possibly hot but possibly not takes now about how the barrier to entry for activism is much lower in conservative spaces. They don't care if you are 100% ideologically pure, or that you've spent X number of hours doing the exact right sort of volunteer work at the exact right sort of approved of organizations. They just care that you're available to hold up a fetus sign in front of the women's clinic from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Anyway, I probably wouldn't turn a hat down if suddenly given one (I am attending the march) but I'm not going out of my way. It's also a bit out of line with my brand of dour hairy legged feminism, but I enjoy seeing a mass movement take hold, so rock on with the pussy hats.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:26 AM on January 8, 2017 [35 favorites]


I've read multiple possibly hot but possibly not takes now about how the barrier to entry for activism is much lower in conservative spaces. They don't care if you are 100% ideologically pure, or that you've spent X number of hours doing the exact right sort of volunteer work at the exact right sort of approved of organizations. They just care that your available to hold up a fetus sign in front of the women's clinic from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

This is 100% accurate from my experience, and it seems to work pretty well at moving people along the path to more activism.
posted by corb at 10:29 AM on January 8, 2017 [24 favorites]


From Peach's comment above-- "I'm old enough to remember being on marches and thinking I was part of a wave of the future, only to find that everyone else got on with life and normalized injustice. I hope they're all there three months from now when the work has gotten hard and repetitive. I hope I'm there, too."
I wish I could favorite this x1000.
Normalized injustice--that is my fear.
posted by bookmammal at 10:33 AM on January 8, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'll look for some red, white, and blue fleece too, for those who are not into excessive cuteness.

(Also, plush uterus.)
posted by esoterrica at 10:33 AM on January 8, 2017 [9 favorites]


I am just a little disappointed that the blog for The Pussycat Project isn't titled "What's New, Pussyhat" (whooaaa whoa whoaaa).
Cool project, though.
posted by rodlymight at 10:37 AM on January 8, 2017 [11 favorites]


I've read multiple possibly hot but possibly not takes now about how the barrier to entry for activism is much lower in conservative spaces. They don't care if you are 100% ideologically pure, or that you've spent X number of hours doing the exact right sort of volunteer work at the exact right sort of approved of organizations. They just care that your available to hold up a fetus sign in front of the women's clinic from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

QFT. I'm making hats for Kid Ruki and I. I've also been doing a shit ton of other stuff, which I was going to list, but you know, fuck it. I don't need to prove my cred over a symbolic hat. There's no one right way to perform activism. The hat doesn't work for a lot of people, and that's cool. It does work for a lot of people, and that's cool, too.
posted by Ruki at 10:40 AM on January 8, 2017 [23 favorites]



Oh, ffs, leotrotsky--everyone I have seen who wasn't actively at their day job who has expressed interest in these things either to me or on social media is someone who is also actively engaged in calling reps, marching in protest, tracking policy, registering people to vote, and other forms of tangible action--usually, frankly, multiple forms of tangible action. And I've seen at least thirty women express some form of interest in this project, either by wearing a hat in a march or making one or, often, both at once.

It's this kind of pissing on visible signs of support and getting people involved no matter how small their contributions are that kills enthusiasm and makes people think they need to hide their support for liberal, democratic, and inclusive policies instead of wearing them proudly, and that actively hurts normalizing these ideas. It's not helpful even if it makes you feel all superior, I guess.


Oh, ffs sciatic, please recalibrate your indignation. I'm not pissing on this (I'd knit one each for my girls if I could knit) I'm just hoping it isn't a physical manifestation of Facebook activism or Susan Komen-esque consumption activism, which are real issues. The only person bringing issues of 'feeling superior' into this is you. We need less circular firing squads, not more.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:40 AM on January 8, 2017 [6 favorites]


It gives me great joy to see all my facebook friends posting selfies of themselves in their hand-knitted pink pussyhats. I have to say, though, that they all look terrible. I've been working on my protest poster. I'm using the slogan used by Italian women protesting Berlusconi
posted by acrasis at 10:42 AM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


I love this. I'm not planning to make one, buy one, wear one or share one but if one shows up on my head when I march locally, I will wear it.

I look around at all our systems and I see the work of men. I see the generally narrow perspective of a long history of wealthy white males. From banking to corporations to labor to health to government spending to war, war, war. What thrills me right now is that we have a mass of people (not just women, not just white, not just able-bodied, not just rich) who are looking around and have the power and support to go: "What is this thing? I'm changing it." The symbol of the Pussyhat is like that. What is this march? Why do we organize this way? How can I express that this is a different thing? It's a small thing, these symbols, but they really can be incredibly powerful and make a statement: "This is a new thing, being done a different way."
posted by amanda at 10:43 AM on January 8, 2017 [9 favorites]


Anyone who is taking the time to go to a local march, or especially the national march in D.C., and who may or may not be wearing one of these hats, is already a light year beyond Facebook activism, as they have left their house and gone to a thing that is probably inconvenient and will likely be cold and which will require patience and resolve to be present at and be counted.
posted by hippybear at 10:44 AM on January 8, 2017 [27 favorites]


Dude, you came into a conversation about something people are doing and said "I hope they do something that matters..." How on earth is that not an expression of distaste for the project? I'm not making a firing squad. I'm saying that responding to people who are visibly trying to get involved with small things and assuming they are not also doing other things to be useful, and that they're somehow "fake" activists is actively harmful because it discourages people from good entry points to meaningful activism. I'm saying that you immediately assumed people doing this are not doing other things, and that was shitty.

Sorry to make you all defensive, I guess.
posted by sciatrix at 10:45 AM on January 8, 2017 [57 favorites]


I'm not pissing on this

I mean, immediately responding with "I just hope [people do something else]" kinda lands that way, is the thing. I appreciate that you're aiming more for do-all-the-things and I totally feel you there but I think it can be really easy to come off as essentially dismissive of Thing X when you respond to it primarily by jumping right into talking about how you wish people would do Thing Y, even if that's not what you're aiming for.

In any case, let's let this drop at this point.
posted by cortex at 10:46 AM on January 8, 2017 [17 favorites]


So I often feel caught between second wave and third wave or maybe even fourth wave feminism (and sometimes question the "waves" model of feminism entirely). When I started learning about feminism and taking women's studies courses, it was very much the second wave style of activism that was most common among my peer group--eschewing things that smacked of traditional femininity to show, e.g., that not all women like pink, or want to be seen as "soft," or do traditional womanly crafts like knitting.

Then, around the time I *taught* my first intro to women's studies course, I became aware of third wave feminism. Younger women were engaging with women's rights and feminism in ways that were quite foreign to me and sometimes kind of suspect: it looked to me like they were mistaking individual expressions of empowerment with doing something that would improve things for women in general. How would knitting and crafting and canning etc. make things better for women living with abuse or in poverty or needing abortion access?

But as I've watched the third and fourth wave feminists really work hard to make my community better--through focusing on environmental stuff or encouraging local development or just raising awareness of women's rights and promoting solidarity, I've changed my views considerably. There's a real grasp of intersectionality, too, that was not as present or sophisticated when I was starting out in my feminist education.

I'm still no more interested in empty gestures than I ever was, but I've realized to my shame that some things I used to dismiss as empty gestures were nothing of the kind. I just couldn't see them for what they were: effective means of engaging people with ideas and actions and lifelong movements they might not have embraced otherwise. I think the Pussyhat Project is one of those things.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:51 AM on January 8, 2017 [31 favorites]


We need less circular firing squads, not more and more circular knitting needles.

Fixed that for you!
posted by orange swan at 11:12 AM on January 8, 2017 [21 favorites]


I think the issue that I've seen that local activists have had with the Women's March is that it's taking a lot of this post-election energy and it's channeling it all into this one-time event. I know the national event, especially after it was taken over by WoC, have directed some energy into coalition building but once you get to the local level, those organizers don't seem to be reaching out so much as they're desperately trying to figure out how to organize a few thousand people. and I think a lot of that has to do with the initial women who had created the Facebook group who weren't involved in activist scenes and who were just reaching out to the first person who volunteered

the woman they had picked to organize the march in my city has come to a lot of the coalition building meetings lately but I don't think she ever was part of any local activist space. so she's reaching out to known entities, the established non-profits who have much more resources, most of whom are already largely connected to one another via a larger civic engagement fund they'd all started together years ago

meanwhile, the Resist J20 folks have been really great at finding PoC activist groups and trying to get them involved in every way possible. and, afaik, the people helming it here are the ones who have been in the trenches dealing with the most pressing, acute issues here that have to do with police brutality, gentrification, and a living wage, not the large number of non-profits here who are leashed by boards made up of corporate sponsors

which isn't to say that there aren't really amazing people at the head of the Women's March but just that there are much better groups to support if you want to support a durable, sustainable fight against the likes of racist, sexist, capitalist, conservative dogmatism and I don't know if you would find them via this very established channel. and it seems like such a missed opportunity for massive coalition building on a scale that hasn't happened in a decade. instead, we're going to go from crisis point to crisis point of interests if nothing is established here and now
posted by runt at 11:18 AM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


I tried the local brick and mortars mentioned, but they're only sending to D.C.
posted by routergirl at 11:21 AM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


Going to Austin would totally wear one if it kept my head warm. And I agree thay we need more local followup help.
posted by emjaybee at 11:28 AM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm currently willing my carpel-tunnel-afflicted hands to complete one of these and it totally sucks that people feel the need to dump all over what is a legitimate form of activism. This is just one of those things that I wish people would shut their traps about unless they can be supportive. What does one gain by that?
posted by otherwordlyglow at 11:30 AM on January 8, 2017 [12 favorites]


This is just one of those things that I wish people would shut their traps about unless they can be supportive. What does one gain by that?

I mean, it is absolutely 'legitimate activism' but the issue people are seeing, especially the often resource starved and largely PoC-led groups at the margins, is that it's not organized in a way for it to become a 'sustainable activism'
posted by runt at 11:36 AM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm saying that responding to people who are visibly trying to get involved with small things and assuming they are not also doing other things to be useful, and that they're somehow "fake" activists is actively harmful because it discourages people from good entry points to meaningful activism.

That's a fair point.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:41 AM on January 8, 2017 [5 favorites]


I mean, it is absolutely 'legitimate activism' but the issue people are seeing, especially the often resource starved and largely PoC-led groups at the margins, is that it's not organized in a way for it to become a 'sustainable activism'

The thing is, even if it's not organized to become sustainable activism, it does have the effect of producing sustainable activists. Spend ten hours doing something, and you're invested in that thing. If you knit a pussy hat, you're invested in the march on Washington. If it gets shut down, you feel as though you have been shut down. You are outraged as if you had been there. Maybe you do another thing.

Everyone's taking steps and everyone is broken. Let everyone participate at their own level.
posted by corb at 11:58 AM on January 8, 2017 [41 favorites]


Too much negativity here. If you don't want a bright pink hat or you think this is stupid, go start your own thread. This is like a post about a band where half the posters want to talk about how stupid they think the band is and how they don't like it.

Do your thing. Protest how you want. Make a sign, snarky or serious. Wrap yourself in the flag. Blow bubbles. Talk to your neighbors. Take food to the lonely. Volunteer at the animal shelter. Just don't rain on other people's parade. Except the fascists. Rain on them all you want.

Solidarity means we support each other, not that we judge each other's contribution.
posted by irisclara at 12:10 PM on January 8, 2017 [16 favorites]


Huh, runt. Over here, what I've been seeing from local folks and my local gateways into activism (including the Women's March, but especially as the DC march intersects with the local March on Austin) is less "let's go from interest point to interest point" and more "Here's what needs to be done, here's who is doing it, make sure you listen to what they have to say about how to be effective. Here's the Texas ACLU chapter link; make sure you listen to their advice on nonviolent action before you march and by god make sure you know your rights. Here are a couple of apps that you can use to watch legislation if you want; Countable has now emerged as the clear local favorite. Are you supporting the local Planned Parenthood chapters? They need you. Here's some meetings to organize people to combat local gerrymandering; here are reminders to support politicians who are doing well, and hey, do you know when your next local town hall is? Anyone want to march on that?"

I actually really value your perspective, because it's so totally different from what is going on in the places I'm paying attention to. That might easily just be a function of who my local organizers are on social media; like I keep saying, early on our state pantsuit nation chapter caught all the momentum that came out of that and forcibly directed it towards local action, and then focused quickly to reaching out to a lot of organizations and channeling that momentum towards local work. I have seen a lot of emphasis on doing small things, sustainable things, and making sure that you engage in enough self care not to burn out and you feel enough victory to keep motivating you. I am seeing a lot of women of all ages telling each other that they value each other's work, even if they're not very experienced yet, and trying to work out what skills and abilities they personally bring to the table. (In the groups I am following, men are much less common, and the ones who do post tend to be less helpfully focused on local activism and more raising questions like "but my daughter and wife are marching and how will they be safe?" which is... a bit... not really as helpful as I'd like.)

And part of that is probably my philosophy and the recruiting that I have done and the things I've been saying in public, which have meant that the connections I've been making since the elections disproportionately seem to be hitting people who feel like I do. I've been pretty focused on catching the terror that kicked off the momentum we have and guiding it towards action in whatever ways people think they can do: saying it's okay if you can't focus now but you can pick it up in the summer, because the rest of us will be so tired then and we'll need you; pointing out to my roomie that her not marching in DC is the only thing that's letting me go, because our animals gotta get fed and looked after and we do not have the money to board them; encouraging people to get in the habit of emailing if calling is too much to ask, even if calling is more useful, because emailing is still better than nothing and if you're used to emailing maybe calling in the future might be less scary because you know what you'd say if you did pick the phone up.

So... yeah. Among those circles, this project is very very popular. But maybe that's just Austin or just Texas.
posted by sciatrix at 12:10 PM on January 8, 2017 [13 favorites]


(And to clarify, because I think I missed saying it explicitly, one of those motifs of discussion I see is "let's not reinvent the wheel. Who is doing this already, and how can we reach out and either join their movement or support it?")
posted by sciatrix at 12:13 PM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


I figured I was out of service to march since I'm going out of town, but I just thought to check- there's doing one in St. Pete, FL! Talking to my Dad about going. I should make him a pussyhat and a GRANDPAS FOR EQUALITY shirt.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:30 PM on January 8, 2017 [7 favorites]


yeah, sciatrix, the issue here might just be who the local organizers are. the only communication I've gotten from the WMoW organizers here has been an e-mail asking us to help publicize them. otherwise, there hasn't been much contact between them and any other group as far as I'm aware. the Pantsuit folks here, too, only reached out to us at the last second and so we had this sudden swarm of members we were excited to work with but really didn't have the capacity for. it's causing some few months of severe stress for a lot of us especially considering we're really just doing this in our free time

and corb, of course there's space enough to reach out to folks who've never gotten involved in activism. that's one the two points of the spear for the group I'm helping to organize. people getting involved in their own way is important but you don't form durable connections by attending one rally; you do that by going to a meeting, working with others, and then pressing forward once you're drawn in. my pressing anxiety is that with each crisis point, our organization, which is wholly volunteer run, drops close to 40% in membership capacity in spite of our best efforts. and the only reason those folks came to us in the first place was because they had no other outlet. the folks we've retained are amazing and we love em but then the question for me is how many people at the local marchers are going to keep on keeping on if nobody is directing them towards local community organizing?
posted by runt at 12:30 PM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


As anticipation of and mobilization for these marches has ramped up this week, it's been very interesting to read about all the ways women are doing it wrong. Apparently it's quite a few!
posted by aaronetc at 12:33 PM on January 8, 2017 [9 favorites]


To be honest, I think the flat hat that sorta looks like ears design is... Not that great. I think I am gonna work on something more cattish for myself even though I have work on protest day. But that said, I made at least one hat that I plan on passing to a friend who is working on hats to pass on. May try to do more even though I dunno if I can get to a post office in time.
Maybe we should be shooting for "any little bit helps" as a goal, folks?
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:36 PM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


It's strange to me because I am a dedicated knitter, and knitting is one of my self-soothing creative activities that helps keep me sane, and I'm interested in liberal activism but yet I'm very removed from knitting activism.

I feel almost nothing about this project and I have friends who keep trying to get me into yarn bombing and I suppose many knitting is so personal for me, I don't want to mix it with my angry feels about society going into the shitter.

But I am conflicted over my "meh" so I carefully read the links and the comments here and I do want to go to my local march on the 21st, and I got kinda excited about making myself a black or purple hat so I feel a bit better. I really, really, really can't do pink in most situation and I'm not going to apologize for that.
posted by Squeak Attack at 12:38 PM on January 8, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yeah, that's annoying for sure! Sometimes I wonder how much of the difference in momentum from these local chapters in states or smaller communities comes from just randomness about who steps up first to pick up the organization and catch the interest. Like I said, the lady who runs my own personal home base for local activism is amazing, and I've loved how her thoughts and comments have shaped the enthusiasm and movements of the people who went looking for something they could do and found her group, and then fed off each other's enthusiasm. And I know she fell into that sort of by accident, and I know how that happened because I fell into something similar myself that got fairly big before I and the random dude from Georgia I was working with essentially fed the two or three hundred people we were organizing to the Hamilton Electors people because they seemed to have more energy than either of us did.

It's not all chance, but it's not that deterministic either. I find it fascinating and a little scary, especially when I'm as worn out as I am right now, because I'm not bad at keeping those things running but it is so, so energy intensive. On the other hand, I feel like someone in a leadership position who knows what they're doing but doesn't have the energy to actually follow through properly can be just as bad for killing momentum as someone who does have the energy but doesn't have either the skill or the basic ability to direct the group towards workable goals. So I wind up all conflicted about whether I should do more or just chill my tits and focus on the projects directly ahead of me.

(Also, I have exactly zero shits to give about yarn bombing, fwiw. I have seen too many ratty ignored remnants of yarn bombing projects to believe the rhetoric about their contributions to making life cheerful. Do street art that wears better, dammit.)
posted by sciatrix at 12:44 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm just going to comment that the people I know who are going to this march, or who are making hats for this march, are also using those weekly action lists all over the internet to make calls to legislators. They are also people who have been going to protests in my city (Chicago) since the election. They also have been going to political rallies at the neighborhood, city, and state level.

They're trying really hard to have each other's backs because this is a marathon, not a sprint, and it's already exhausting: the relentless attempts by the GOP-led Congress to thwart the will of the people; the lengthy call list every week; the constant email and twitter pleas to sign this petition, donate to that worthy group, care about this injustice you did not know was happening.

I think these hats, and this rally, are important. I think making those phone calls is important. I think going to local political meetings is important. I think it's important to challenge people to do more, if they can, but I worry very much about burnout and about people just losing interest because progress is tiny and incremental and holding the line here, until we are positioned to move it forward is not at all rewarding. And that's what the next two years, at a minimum, are.
posted by crush-onastick at 12:58 PM on January 8, 2017 [10 favorites]


Some notes from the Hat Tracker, from donated hats received so far:

Ardeana H.
Hampden, Maine
Description A women's issue I care about is: equal rights/ opportunity. Awareness of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Poverty. Healthcare/ Medicare. Social security benefits. The yarn for this hat was grown and produced in the Falkland Islands and was purchased in Great Britain during the era when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of UK, the first woman to hold that office. When Argentina threatened a takeover of the Falkland Islands, a British territory, Thatcher stood her ground, send troops and made Argentina back off.


Linda E.
Vestal, New York 13850
Description A women's issue I care about is: reproductive rights. My first attempt at crocheting.


Philadelphia Group
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
Description Enjoy your Pussyhat, made for you by a group of ladies in the Philadelphia area. We believe that we have come too far to allow this country to go backward! March proudly and know we are by your side! [This note came with a batch of 62 hats sent in]

Nichole L.
Roanoke, Virginia
Description Thank you for marching! I wish I could be there too! Stay strong. Be safe.

Kristen M.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Description Hello to you, marcher! Here is a hat for you, the wool came from a friend in Amsterdam, and then I spun, dyed, and knitted it up, hoping it will keep you warm. Being wool, it should be hand washed in cool water w/a bit of shampoo, cool rinse and lay flat to dry. If you get a chance, I would love to see a pic of the march... and of course maybe the hat in action?

Anne D.
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Description A child's hat. Please march for a disabled child! Thank you!

Polly
The Woodlands, Texas
Description A women's issue I care about is: Reproductive rights. I care about all gender issues, but this one is in the most immediate danger.


Judi S.
Vieques
Description Dear Proud Wearer of this Pink Pussyhat - I cannot be in Washington for the march, but I will be marching with women in Puerto Rico. It's too warm for these hats there. You Go Girl!!!

posted by blue suede stockings at 1:01 PM on January 8, 2017 [28 favorites]


that's a hell of an accidental stumble into organizing but it sounds super familiar, haha. the way this organizing world has worked for me is that once you think you're interested, you get slightly involved and then you're just sucked into one project after another because there's so much work that needs to be done but there just aren't people out there doing any of it. the news here is bad at reporting things beyond just press releases and so it's almost like you live in this segregated dystopia where you're seeing homeless shelters being torn down in order to build 'Terrorist Response Units' and sections of the downtown, including the streets, are being auctioned off to private developers but only you and a small group are aware of it. and when you try to get people involved they don't understand that this is happening every week, that it's pressing, and it's happening because there's no broad accountability. and by the time you're seeing stuff this way, you're already spending a part-time job's worth of hours doing this stressful thing of managing projects, wishing and hoping you'd just had a little bit more help

and I think the leaders here know what they're doing, they're just not great at messaging and they're not great about messaging in the modern way people receive information now through social media or news cycles. so the things that pick up steam are national events like the elections. if I had a wishlist of things I'd wish the WMoW ATL would do it'd be, namely, to host as many teach-ins for their members as they could possibly fit in between now and the march where local activist groups get an hour to just talk about the issues they're fighting for, how they're doing it, and where they could use the help. we do that already with our organizing group but it's a monthly endeavor and we most definitely do not have the corporate sponsorships the WMoW ATL group has already picked up :/
posted by runt at 1:04 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


Mrs. Example has already knitted hers for the London march. She tried it on yesterday, and I am simultaneously pleased and a little guilty that it freaks the cats right the hell out.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:28 PM on January 8, 2017 [11 favorites]


Thanks for posting those Hat Tracker notes, blue suede stockings. Till I read them, I was all meh about wearing a pink hat in Washington. Now-- it'd be an honor.
posted by seacats at 1:31 PM on January 8, 2017 [8 favorites]


All I know is I can't keep enough pink yarn in stock. And this is not an end point for people, it's a way in. Knitters are mad as fuck.
posted by rikschell at 1:32 PM on January 8, 2017 [29 favorites]


In the couple projects I've been involved with via local pantsuit spin off, it's been a pretty good mix of experienced activists and newbies. I think the thing h that especially the newbies but also busy middle aged people with jobs and families need to get the ball rolling is just concrete actions. Not vague "get involved with anti-racism" exhortations but concrete "get involved with this local group that has a good reputation and meets every second Monday at 6pm." If experienced local activists can make that message come through on a regular basis, people do show up. Or even just set up a Slack team like local Tuesdays With Toomey (PA Republican senator, cowardly shitbird) people did, immediately so that people have an action they can take as soon as the info comes across their timeline, that results in them getting plugged in with the activists that are already working. And this march is a very concrete thing--there's a date, a time, a location, a central message. For people who are having trouble with or just beginning to put a toe into local activism, the bus organizing and the pre-march meet ups are making connections. (Someone in the Tuesdays With Toomey Slack went to a march meet-up and found no one there had heard of it yet so she made those contacts and got folks signed up then and there.) People do need a way in. Those ways in are surprisingly hard to find if you're not already around a lot of people doing that work. I think the buses rolling to this march, with 50 people committed enough to spend the money and take the time and sit on a bus for ten hours, are going to result in a lot of personal connections that help more people find that way in.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:42 PM on January 8, 2017 [6 favorites]


Gonna try even though to me knitting patterns have always been inscrutable. I just don't get the asterisk thing, and it makes me feel stupid. But I am gonna try.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 1:46 PM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


Thanks for posting those Hat Tracker notes, blue suede stockings. Till I read them, I was all meh about wearing a pink hat in Washington. Now-- it'd be an honor.

Yeah--these notes ought to be required reading for anyone doubting there's more to this than an easy visual punchline, regardless of whether or not you make an individual choice to wear one yourself: a non-negligible amount of heart and investment and presence and camaraderie and defiance is going into each one of those hats that will bobbing through the streets on the 21st.

All I know is I can't keep enough pink yarn in stock. And this is not an end point for people, it's a way in. Knitters are mad as fuck.


This cheers me greatly. I know serious knitters and they are not to be messed with.
posted by blue suede stockings at 1:53 PM on January 8, 2017 [10 favorites]


I_Love_Bananas: Maybe this will make the pattern easier for you?

-- You want to end up with a rectangle that is about 11 inches wide and 17 inches long.
-- Cast on enough stitches to make 11 inches (you can do a swatch to figure out how many stitches per inch you are getting with your needles and your yarn)
-- Knit 2x2 rib (so, knit two stitches, then purl two stitches and repeat this until you get to the end of the row) until you've got 4 inches of ribbing done.
-- Then knit stockinette (so one row is all knit stitches and the next row is all purl stitches, repeat these two rows over and over again) until you have a total of 13 inches (so the 4 inches of ribbing and 9 inches of stockinette)
-- Then do 2x2 rib again until you've got a total of 17 inches (so you'll do 4 inches of ribbing this time again)
-- Cast off

Then fold your hat in half, sew up the sides and you've got yourself a hat!
posted by mcduff at 1:54 PM on January 8, 2017 [5 favorites]


I just don't get the asterisk thing, and it makes me feel stupid.
Don't feel stupid! The asterisks just mean that you repeat everything between the two asterisks. So in the original pussyhat pattern, where it says K1 *kn2,p2; rep. from *, end P1, all that means is that first, you're going to knit one stitch. Then you're going to knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches, and keep alternating knitting 2 and purling 2 for as long as you can. Then when you get to the point where you have 1 stitch left, purl it. Then you're done. Flip it over and do exactly the same thing on the other side.

I just got back from a pussyhat-knitting event. I don't know that it's the most meaningful activism known to man, but I don't think it's useless. I think that knitting is a good, low-stakes way to get people together and talking to each other. I also know some people going to the march in DC who appreciate a way to distinguish themselves from pro-Trump people who will be there for the inauguration.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:00 PM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


Not vague "get involved with anti-racism" exhortations but concrete "get involved with this local group that has a good reputation and meets every second Monday at 6pm.

uh maybe you're confusing social media slacktivism/affinity groups with actual on-the-ground activism? the groups I know and work with plan memberships meetings months in advance and blast it to as many people as they can. we're on Slack, Group.me, Whatsapp, and Signal. we conduct e-mail campaigns, we post flyers, we reach out to student orgs, and more

it isn't a lack of effort or coordination here on our part. it's folks willing to step just a little bit outside of their comfort zones and brave the dangers of engaging with dreaded PoCs who may 'thug' at them a lil too hard
posted by runt at 2:01 PM on January 8, 2017


There's actually a knitting circle going on right now that was organized on my local PSN (former) affiliate group. (We changed our name because we decided that, unlike the main group, we want to be politically active.) The networking going on is amazing. Tomorrow night, Kid Ruki and I are going to a workshop about non-violent protest, where experienced activists will talk about best practices for us marchers. I found out about this workshop through a local group recommended to me by doctor, because she's a part of it. I'm involved with reviving the Women's Caucus, and I've received indications of interest from women who were never activists and are now ready to make a huge commitment to politics. And that's what the pussyhat represents to me. All these women mobilizing and fighting back and uniting for common cause. I lived through the riot grrl 90s, but I've never felt so surrounded by female empowerment. And I don't judge if they're only just getting active, because all that really matters is that they're here now.
posted by Ruki at 2:02 PM on January 8, 2017 [6 favorites]


Meanwhile, I don't know if this has been linked yet on the blue, but here's one brass-tacks primer/guide to the work beyond the march, written by folks who have worked in Congressional offices. It includes lessons learned from the success of the Tea Party: How Grassroots Advocacy Worked to Stop Obama.

[Their apologia for this chapter:

SHOULDN'T WE PUT FORWARD AN ALTERNATE, POSITIVE AGENDA?

A defensive strategy does not mean dropping your own policy priorities or staying silent on an alternate vision for our country over the next four years. What it means is that, when you’re trying to influence your MoC, you will have the most leverage when you are focused on whatever the current legislative priority is.

You may not like the idea of being purely defensive; we certainly don’t. As progressives, our natural inclination is to talk about the things we’re for — a clean climate, economic justice, health care for all, racial equality, gender and sexual equality, and peace and human rights. These are the things that move us. But the hard truth of the next four years is that we’re not going to set the agenda; Trump and congressional Republicans will, and we’ll have to respond. The best way to stand up for the progressive values and policies we cherish is to stand together, indivisible — to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.
]
posted by blue suede stockings at 2:12 PM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm not saying there aren't groups putting concrete shit out on blast, I'm saying that here at least groups that do do that get people showing up (already been to a couple anti-racism meetings that had to doublequick find a bigger room because three times as many people showed up than anticipated). And this march also did that, which is why people are showing up.
posted by soren_lorensen at 2:23 PM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


So, because knitting is a compulsion with me, once I decided on a black kitty hat I needed yarn and pattern that would be more interesting for me to knit.

So I picked this pattern:
Cabled Cat Ears Hat on Ravelry (pattern just cleaned up this month) (free on Ravelry this month in solidarity with Pussyhat knitters.)
Same pattern on Craftsy

and I joined my husband on big box store errands so I could pick up some super bulky yarn in black and a purple color called Fig. I'm hoping to cast on tonight.
posted by Squeak Attack at 4:45 PM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


In on this late, but here's a somewhat refined but still simple kittycat hat pattern I developed. Please note, it doesn't have to be pink for the pattern to work or for the hat to be noticed.

Use a super bulky yarn like (or exactly) Lion Brand Thick and Quick; it's widely available and good quality for the cost with enough wool to be warm but no so much that it's itchy. For an adult hat, cast on 48 stitches on size 10-1/2 or 11 short (16") circular or use dp needles. K1P1 for 8 rows, then switch to size 13 needles and knit in straight stitch for 9 more rows. On row 10, purl 2 stitches at 12-13 and 36-37 and continue purling these 2 stitches 7 more rows (for 16 rows straight stitch total). The starting point of the round becomes the center back of the hat.

Cast off in purl, handstitch middle top together stopping an inch or two toward the "ears" where the purled stitches make folds, weave in ends, DONE!
posted by vers at 6:12 PM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


The pattern I always made was Paton's Beehive Pussy Cat balaclava. If you make it with worsted weight yarn in the 8-year-old size, it's big enough for an adult. The advantage is (a) warmth and (b) cute as hell.
posted by Peach at 6:20 PM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah...I appreciate the sentiment and effort, but everyone needs to begin to get through the next four years in their own way and personally I'm just not in a place right now where this feels empowering to me. To each her own...

I have been making these since Christmas (done with 10 so far and will get up to at least 16 before I'm finished, including one for me). Shortly after I got into it I heard from a friend--my friend who taught me to knit, in fact--that she was all for it, and bringing a knitting friend of hers in; she has done at least 15 so far. I was honestly surprised--primarily because of all my friends, this is the one I could least imagine even saying "pussy," let alone throwing herself wholeheartedly into pussy hats. But she said it struck a chord with her because it's funny and creative and she really needed that after the election. I think that's what worked for me, too. Indeed, to each her own, and you never know whose own that might be.
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:03 PM on January 8, 2017 [7 favorites]


I cannot knit worth a darn, but I will be wearing a pink hat of some sort at the March, in solidarity with all my sisters and brothers who are there in body or in spirit. (The fact that the hat pisses off conservative snowflakes like Rod Dreher is a sweet side bonus.)
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:55 PM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm two inches into Hat 1 now, done in the round. I hope to finish it tomorrow and maybe wrap up the ribbing (always my least favorite part) tonight. I've got a hour and half commute ahead of me tomorrow, so we'll see how far I get with it then. It's... satisfying, seeing love and hands and time transform a pile of glorified string into something useful. And if I finish this one soon, well, that means I can wear it around while I work on others. I can tell strangers in my community that I am grieving too, and that I am angry, and that I am looking for ways to fight back. You get some good conversations that way.
posted by sciatrix at 9:01 PM on January 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


I'm a terrible knitter but three out of the 8 ladies at my once-we-were-a-book-club-now-we-just-hang club were making them this morning and I have been galvanized into trying. It took me forever to cast on properly but I have done it by golly. My sister is going to the D.C. March and I think she's making one, but I will probably wear mine to a local march if I manage to finish.
posted by PussKillian at 9:08 PM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


You can do it! Cast on was always the hardest part for me. I swear I wind up having to go look up my preferred cast on method every time I start any project at all.
posted by sciatrix at 9:18 PM on January 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


Count me among those who are more psyched to protest now that these are a thing.
posted by benadryl at 12:59 AM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


I have a knitting machine so I made a couple of pussyhats yesterday after reading this thread. However, there are no participating yarn stores in San Francisco (WTFSF?) so can any MeFites use them? I can drop off anywhere in SF this week, or mail them. If you're OK with crappy cotton yarn and slapdash construction, MeMail me. I can make more, if anyone wants.
posted by Quietgal at 8:34 AM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


routergirl, maybe?
posted by sciatrix at 8:48 AM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


On track to finish up hat #3 tonight. As I've been talking about it more, I've found some folks in my life who have requested hats be made for them even after the March, if I can't complete them all before, so they can wear them to other protest events in the future and/or just around town to try to signal to their people. I may be making these hats straight through until spring. Which is excellent.

BRB, buying still more pink yarn.
posted by Stacey at 8:50 AM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


I finally finished mine! I hope it keeps someone's head warm while they march.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:02 AM on January 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


As a transman, I can't wait to start knitting my blue pussy hat this weekend.

I shall twist gender norms to do my bidding against Trump!
posted by spinifex23 at 9:31 PM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]


I finished my first Cabled Cat Ears Hat in dark purple last night (I am a slow knitter) and started my second in black. It's a cute pattern and the ears turn out really 3-D and nice.

I would recommend doing more than 6 rows of ribbing, maybe 8 or so, but I like a little slouch in my knitted hats.
posted by Squeak Attack at 12:50 PM on January 13, 2017 [4 favorites]


For anybody doubting the power of knitting: Story about my LYS supporting the march. I cannot stress enough that these are not normally political women, at least with their business. They are located in a very small town surrounded by rural Michigan and the fact that they are taking this risk really means something to me and others. It's also heartening to see women I know as fellow customers take up the cause. There's a real feeling of solidarity brewing. They're also going to be holding a knit in during the march and live stream it so we can log in to get shouts of encouragement.

Personal hat count: One each for myself, my husband and three others on my bus. I modified the 1898 Hat (PDF warning) for mine to make it a tad warmer. Though now it looks like it was downright balmy in DC.
posted by MaritaCov at 4:35 AM on January 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


> Some notes from the Hat Tracker, from donated hats received so far:

Ardeana H.
Hampden, Maine
Description A women's issue I care about is: equal rights/ opportunity. Awareness of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Poverty. Healthcare/ Medicare. Social security benefits. The yarn for this hat was grown and produced in the Falkland Islands and was purchased in Great Britain during the era when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of UK, the first woman to hold that office. When Argentina threatened a takeover of the Falkland Islands, a British territory, Thatcher stood her ground, send troops and made Argentina back off.

--------------------------------------------------


As a Brit, I find it extremely peculiar and distasteful that this hat intended for a march of female solidarity was apparently constructed in honour of a person who caused untold misery to women and men in the UK for years, claimed "I owe nothing to women's lib", asserted that "I hate feminism. It is poison", eviscerated social security benefits, criticised other working mothers for creating a "creche generation", planned to dismantle the welfare state (including the NHS), and whose rule saw a massive rise in poverty and inequality.

Thatcher was not a Friend Of Women. "Far from "smashing the glass ceiling", she was the aberration, the one who got through and then pulled the ladder up right after her."
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 5:08 AM on January 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


[Thanks for this context, Morfil Ffyrnig. I don't know how much of this awareness made it over to this side of the pond for many people except for the "first woman to...." symbolism of "Here's a woman who actually got to rule a powerful nation in the 80s, back when this seemed especially impossible in the USA because women's emotions and natural submissiveness and PMS were supposed to make them unsuitable to sit at the Cold War governance/diplomacy/military table with the alpha males" (and in fact, nearly 40 years later......).]
posted by blue suede stockings at 7:30 AM on January 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


[blue suede stockings - Thanks for explaining why there might be a limited awareness of Thatcher (bar her status as first woman UK PM) across the Atlantic, and I apologise sincerely if I was unnecessarily brusque there (which, on re-reading, I think I was). On reflection, I should have preceded my rant with "I don't know if the poster or the hat-maker is aware of this, but..."]
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 7:43 AM on January 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Resist hat.

I think I'm gonna redo the hat I did for myself and put this word in. (I'm not happy with how my experimental kitty hat is going anyway...)
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:43 AM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


First try! It's really too small for an adult but my son will love it.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:57 PM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Link to MeFi thread with photos of Jan. 21 Women's Marches all over the world, complete with tens (hundreds?) of thousands of Pussyhats.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:58 PM on January 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


And a Pussyhat made it onto the SNL cold open, on the head of Kate McKinnon!! (This link viewable outside the US, unlike the official NBC video...)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:20 AM on January 25, 2017


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