Krista Suh ’09 spoke at an evening event in the Diana Center Event Oval about the inspiration for and symbolism of the Pussyhat Project. The simple hat-knitting initiative resulted in a sea of hand-made, hot pink cat ears flooding Washington, D.C., and many of the sister marches in cities around the world on January 21. (Before the event, Suh visited an Art History class taught by her mentor Prof. Joan Snitzer, knitting hats with students and sharing stories and advice.) Suh shared pictures and videos from the early days of the project, emphasizing the importance of nurturing one’s creative instincts and squelching the negative thoughts of self-doubt that often stymie ideas in their infancy. 她对近400名观众说, and many wearing the distinctive pink knit hats—that to her, the hats mean solidarity and sufficiency. She said that "I Got You" and "You Are Enough" are empowering messages that every woman can find when they see others wearing a “pussy hat.”
Suh then joined a panel with Knitty City founder Pearl Chin, Purl Soho经理Brittney Bailey说, and Prof. Snitzer. 艺术史教授 Anne Higonnet 主持讨论. Chin and Bailey shared their experiences from their stores as Suh's movement began to pick up steam and knitters began pouring in to buy yarn and join the knit-ins, 为自己制作帽子, friends, family, 甚至是陌生人. Prof. 斯尼策解释说，一个小, tangible item can become a powerful symbol because the act of creating something with one's own hands is powerful, and that the humor inherent in the hats helped soften a strong message. The evening concluded with a final word from Suh: Reclaiming the word "pussy" is an inclusive act that also reclaims the concept of femininity, which has been long associated with weakness, and has helped to pave the way for a new grassroots movement to effect lasting change.
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Leading up to and following the Women's March in January, the Pussyhat Project drew dozens of national headlines for Suh and co-creator Jayna Zweiman.
Suh told the 洛杉矶时报 that the idea was born as she remembered her Barnard professors’ advice to incorporate a visual element to her work. “How can I visually show someone what’s going on? […] I realized as a California girl, I would be really cold in D.C.—it’s not tank-top weather year-round. So I thought maybe I could knit myself a hat.” She echoed this sentiment in an interview with the Boston Globe, noting that her art history degree from Barnard inspired her to think of herself as a performance artist, expressing her beliefs in in a manner that can have an impact on other people. Even the project’s name has significance: Suh told CBS News that the Pussyhat Project seeks to “reclaim that word [pussy]—it’s not just about trolling [Trump].”
A common thread in the media coverage is the role the hats play as conversation starters. The act of knitting the hats was also a method of stress relief for many. 徐薰在一篇文章中被引用 Cosmopolitan “就在选举之后, 这是一种全国性的悲痛, 编织是非常有益的. It's something for people to actually do with their hands.” A Huffington Post piece highlighted the often-communal nature of knitting and the avenue that Suh and Zweiman had created for knitters to embrace community organizing, noting that many hats had been created specifically to be donated to marchers.
Suh encapsulated her vision for the Pussyhat Project in an interview with Hello Giggles:
It’s another way of uniting women all over the country, 跨越地理障碍, age, race, class, 性取向, etc. [...] It’s almost like 2 million women are there, 1 million marchers and 1 million pussyhat makers, all who care about women’s rights and want to be heard and demand to be heard.
Related Content: All Eyes on D.C.: Professors Respond to the Women’s March on Washington
