Editor,

On a recent Sunday afternoon, knitting needles clicked and sewing machines whirred softly as two dozen or more Whidbey women gathered in The Hub at Bayview Corner. There they chatted about the meaning of “Pussyhats,” pink accessories they were crafting for the Jan. 21, 2017, Women’s March on Washington. And while none of these women were traveling to America’s capital, most of them would be gathering in solidarity for a huge march in Seattle, and smaller marches in villages like Langley and Coupeville, all planned for the day following Inauguration Day.

They would wear their pink pussyhats. They would knit extra hats and give them to others.

Givers.

Because that’s what women are.

As they chatted, the women realized that they shared many feelings, the most profound of which was a deep revulsion for the language that was used by the man who would be our next president. So they planned to resist. To march, wearing their handcrafted pussy-earred caps, which to them was a kind of tribal war paint. Donning their hats — pink ears up, backs arched — these women prepared for war: War against racism. War against misogyny. War against exclusivity and inequality… against vulgarity and hatred, against rudeness, recklessness and irresponsibility.

They would march in solidarity, advocating for feminine virtues of civility, empathy, compassion, charity, equality, kindness, fair play, inclusion, stability, and for an America that would rise to meet and embrace these virtues.

And knowing women, they would get this done.

Sincerely,

SHAREN HEATH

Langley