Keep Your P***y Hats Out of My Feminism: Why Genital Focus Isn't "Cute", Just Exclusionary

CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions but does not go into detail about sexual assault, transphobia, menstruation and racism

The women's marches on the anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration brought women from all around America to protest the patriarchy. The idea of different women from all walks of life gathering together in major cities is mostly a positive example of how far the feminist movement has come. A century ago, suffragettes argued that their vote could cancel out black men, and while nothing this extreme happens as often today, similar sentiments are still felt.

During the 2016 presidential election, video footage was released of the then presidential candidate saying it was alright to grab women by “the p***y”. This rightfully shocked women all over the world. The idea that someone who encouraged sexual assault was a presidential nominee horrified many. His eventual election was even more heartbreaking.

In order to reclaim the “p word” and empower fellow feminists, some women took to knitting pink hats with cat ears—literally p***y hats. These hats have become iconic staples of feminist activism in the Trump administration but the messages they create may be far worse than intended.

P***y hats are meant for women to be proud of what they were born with. While that idea seems powerful, it really just congratulates women for something they had no choice in. Why celebrate something we can’t control instead of celebrating actual things women have overcome?

There’s also something extremely transphobic about making sure cisgender women feel happy about having a vagina. Transgender and intersex women were not born with and in many cases, do not have, female genitals. P***y hats and the general decision to put private parts at the front of our movement make it seem like genderqueer women aren’t women. Sexual assault and harassment still happens to trans women all the time, sometimes due to their lack of a “p***y”.

The cissexist assumptions that feminists make stretch beyond the hat. Some cis women often throw trans women under the bus, calling them fake. They treat menstruation like the most relatable issue for all women feminists. In order to truly be intersectional, these references need to stop.

The color of the hat has also stirred up controversy. While people originally got mad since the color pink for the hat seemed to represent a skin color closest to white women, supporters of the hat clarified that it represented femininity (and I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt there). The idea that the hat needs to represent femininity is in itself problematic as well. While I agree that misogynists try to treat femininity like it’s bad, which is clearly not a good thing, making it the symbol of your movement doesn’t help. Reclaiming femininity can be powerful if you’re feminine but some women don’t feel that way. Those ideals cannot represent anyone. Why not just combat the idea that everything has to be sorted into masculine and feminine categories?

Also, even if they tried to sidestep the race issue, pink as a feminine color is more western than anything else. It’s really a capitalist tactic to sell more toys to rich girls by making them want everything in pink. Unless you are a wealthy Westerner, you may not relate as much to the color pink.

So now that I have fully dissected a hat, many may be wondering what the point of this article is. The p***y hat is not just a hat. It’s a symbol of the upper class cis, straight, white feminists whose voices are heard the most. Women of color and queer women are always on the sidelines. If their ideas are going to be heard and their problems are going to be solved, we shouldn’t make feminism about reclaiming ideals but tearing them down.

Say it with me now.

ALL FEMINISM SHOULD BE INTERSECTIONAL.

by RIA BHANDARKAR