Grabbing Back: The Form and Meaning of the Pussy Hat
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The first national meeting of textile and clothing professors took place in Madison, Wisconsin in June 1959. With a mission to advance excellence in education, scholarship and innovation, and their global applications, the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) is a professional and educational association of scholars, educators, and students in the textile, apparel, and merchandising disciplines in higher education.
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The purpose of this study was to understand motivations for participating in the Women's March. We used symbolic interaction theory, specifically, the essay "Appearance and the Self" as a guideline to analyze the data (Stone, 1962). We also interpreted the meaning of the pussy hats as symbols through the form, viewer, and context aesthetic analysis framework (DeLong, 1998). The study used an inductive approach with observations and audio recorded interviews of the event attendants 18 and older. Authors collected data in Washington, D.C., and in St. Paul. The goals of the ethnographic process were to observe dress as a tool of nonverbal communication and to understand referent meanings of the pussy hat. Pussy hats provided salient visual communication representing women's empowerment and support. The making of the hats became a form of activism, which mobilized supporters of the movement.