Children's book 'The Pink Hat' honors the Women's March for a new generation of activists
In 2017, a new symbol was added to the toolkit of social activism: the Pussyhat.
In anticipation of the inauguration of Donald Trump, The Pussyhat Project sought to provide a visual representation of women's solidarity by asking citizens to make pink Pussyhats and wear them to the Women's March on Washington. The March and the Pussyhats were both a form of protest against the incoming president and his comments about women (notably his infamous Access Hollywood tape where Trump proclaimed, "When you're a star they let you do it ... Grab them by the pussy").
The hats quickly became a symbol of resistance: pink yarn sold out in stores, they flooded the Women's March with the color pink, and they even landed on the cover of Time and The New Yorker.
Now the activist message of the Pussyhat Project and the Women's March is being memorialized for a younger generation of readers with a new picture book for kids: The Pink Hat by Andrew Joyner.
In the book, Joyner shares the story of a pink hat that was knitted by a woman and used by the members of a small community (the woman knits it and uses it to warm her feet, a kitten plays with it, and a mother uses it as a blanket for her baby), until it gets stolen by a dog. Fortunately, a young girl saves the hat and uses it to join a larger movement to march for equality.
"The initial spark for the book was a conversation with my 14-year-old son about masculinity and role models," Joyner says. "In fact, I first imagined the main character as a boy who finds a pink hat and joins the March. But clearly a girl belonged at the center of the story—and as soon as I drew that girl marching in her pink hat, the book started to take shape. She gave the story its power and its focus."
Though the hat featured in the book is a simply a pink hat (not necessarily the Pussyhat, with its distinctive pointed ears), the book's message of a girl finding a pink hat, which she uses to embark on adventures and stand up for justice, seeks to commemorate the Pussyhat movement and Women's March. (In the background of Joyner's illustrations, Pussyhats can also be seen among the crowd.)
"At a time when the world seemed to be spinning backward, the Women’s March gave me, and I’m sure many people around the world, hope for our future,” Joyner says. “Suddenly, all of these women and children and men had built a path forward that seemed impossible just a day before."
Check out a sneak peek at The Pink Hat below.
The Pink Hat by Andrew Joyner is out on Dec. 26 through Random House Children’s Books.
Topics Activism Books Social Good
