It’s Not About The Hat
Okay, it’s kind of about the hat, but really, it’s about us.
I’ve spent the past few weeks intensely engaged in discussions of pink pussy hats. Honestly, this is just part of my job; I’m a fiber arts educator and textile evangelist, and my mission in life is to get as many human beings as possible to do yarn-related pursuits. So it’s always part of my job to look at, and think about, and discuss the things people are making with yarn.
There are plenty of thinkpieces making the rounds already about these hats and the Women’s March movement, and there have been since the moment the Pussyhat Project launched. There has also been plenty of discussion and debate about the hats, and last year — as you can see in the photo above — some people who went to march made and/or wore these hats, and others didn’t.
I was among those who opted not to make a hat, even as it became clear that what was going on was the largest single moment of craftivism I can recall seeing in my life. I had personal, individual reasons for not making one, and I also had lots of friends and colleagues who felt uncomfortable with the hat, just like they’d felt dubious about safety pins, or other efforts to find a symbol that could be worn to show one’s leanings on the social justice front.
