Pussyhat

The creators state that the name refers to the resemblance of the top corners of the hats to cat ears while also attempting to reclaim the term "pussy", a play on Trump's widely reported 2005 remarks that women would let him "grab them by the pussy."[6][7] Many of the hats worn by marchers in Washington, D.C., were created by crafters who were unable to attend and wished them to be worn by those who could, to represent their presence. Those hats optionally contained notes from the crafters to the wearers, expressing support. They were distributed by the crafters, by yarn stores at the points of origin, carried to the event by marchers, and also distributed at the destination.[8] The production of the hats caused reported shortages of pink knitting yarn across the United States.[9][10][11][12] On the day of the march, NPR compared the hats to the "Make America Great Again" hats worn by Trump supporters, in that both represented groups that had at one point been politically marginalized; both sent "simultaneously unifying and antagonistic" messages; and both were simple in their messages.[13]

Critics have stated that the pink color of the pussyhats does not represent transgender women, or women of color whose "genitals are more likely to be brown than pink".[14] The creators claim that the color pink actually represents the strong association of pink with femininity, as well as "caring, compassion, and love",[15] not a representation of anatomy.

Professor Cáel Keegan, who teaches Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, said the hat's reference to pink vulvas is suspect: "We know that any time feminism starts centering people based on anatomy, that gets kind of dangerous for trans people." He also stated that both cisgender women and transgender women are fighting for autonomy over their own bodies. The hat's allusion to the vulvas also ignores the fact that some transgender women opt against undergoing gender-affirmation surgery. Keegan said that the pussyhat can promote the unconscious suggestion that only cisgender women are sexually assaulted, which is untrue. He further explained, "A lot of the reasons [transgender women] are attacked is because they do not possess that piece of anatomy."[16]

Pussyhats were featured months after the 2017 march on the Missoni fashion runway.[17] Models were outfitted with pink hats combined with zigzag-striped ribbing as they walked the runway, and at the end of the show, Angela Missoni and celebrities wore the hats as well. She called the collection "pink is the new black" and donated some of the proceeds from the collection to the American Civil Liberties Union and the UN Refugee Agency.[18]

The hats appeared on the covers of Time magazine and The New Yorker.[19] The New Yorker had a painting of an African-American woman wearing a knit pussyhat, flexing her bared arm on its February 6, 2017 cover, in the style of the woman on the 1943 We Can Do It! poster (often mistakenly referred to as Rosie the Riveter). The painting, named "The March", was created by Abigail Gray Swartz, who marched in Augusta, Maine. The image was subsequently made available for sale on prints, mugs, t-shirts and other items.[20]

Saturday Night Live had several skits in which pussyhats appeared. Its January 21, 2017, episode showed a distressed Russian woman putting on a hat and tiptoeing behind Vladimir Putin as he talked about Russia's recent "purchase" of the United States via the election.[21] Another episode, hosted by Jessica Chastain, showed Aidy Bryant in the audience wearing a pussyhat.[22]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pussyhats.

• Official website