Pink Hat Nation Article
by birdman on Jun 27, 2008 1:13 PM EDT
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Printhttp://www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/articles/2008/06/26/why_is_this_pink_hat_so_hated/?page=full
Next to Yankees caps and Giants jerseys, the pink Red Sox cap has become the most polarizing piece of clothing a Bostonian can wear. Fans of the hats think they're simply a cute way to show their love for the Sox. Haters say pink-hat owners are latecomers who only support the Sox because it's suddenly cool - even fashionable - to do so. Pink-hat wearers haven't suffered sufficiently, they reason. No one suffers in pink.
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Thought this article was amusing. I was hoping to find a picture of Curt Schilling, or even AMA would do :), in a pink but I had no such luck.
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Is it safe to make fun of that picture?
Because, uh, I think the woman in that picture typifies the type of person who would wear a pink hat.
That woman
looks like she would chase her tail if she had one.
"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones
+1
I always say follow your dreams...even if they're about a giant spider with your father's head, and he keeps stealing your p*nis!
by Ghost of Floyd Rayford on Jun 27, 2008 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Pink Hat Backlash
I live in MA, and the backlash against pink hats around here is really starting to heat up….there is a stronghold of women who still feel “we should be able to root for our favorite team and still wear something cute and feminine!”, but the real diehards bitch about them more and more every day, and it sounds like pretty soon, the bandwagon fans are going to realize that they’ll have to wear standard team colors in order to appear less poseur-ish. This was the subject of debate on WEEI for about 3 solid hours yesterday afternoon, some of the anti-pink hat phone calls were hilarious. Dudes were FIRED UP
I think the pink hat gets at the deeper issue
of feminism. The pink hats are being made and marketed toward the fairweather fan, which is often female/girlfriend of a Red Sox fan because the assumption is that girls like cute things. I have nothing against pink - I own and wear a few pink shirts, but I don’t think Boston’s official colors include pink. Baseball is a sport of tradition - you wear your team’s colors and that’s it. Get over it.
"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones
Pink Hats
I’m probably in the minority but I don’t mind the pink hats. The objections seems to folow under a few different levels. 1) I get that that baseball is a sport of tradition but I’m not particularly slavish about it either. I like wood bats but I also like the DH, the wild card, and interleague play. Players should have to wear traditonal teams colors for games, but fans? Wear whatever you what as far as I’m concerned. 2) “You’re not a true fan if you wear a pink hat, you’re instead a fairweather fan” Exremely snobbish and I hate this type of thinking. 3) Feminism angle (the pink hats reinforce gender stereotypes of women as non-serious fans, more concerned about fashion), I don’t have a problem with angle. At the same time though, some women aren’t concerned about making “the personal is political” type statements. They may like to wear pink stuff or become house wives and I don’t have a problem with that if that’s their choice. I don’t know… I really don’t want touch this issue too much because I know feminists tend to view these type of women as under a false consciousness. Overall, I like the what the sociologist said in the article, “The pink hats are simply another way of expressing one’s devotion to the team, not a lesser devotion to the team,” he said. “They’re an article of faith, like the green hats for St. Patrick’s Day, or the Puerto Rican or Dominican flags worn on some hats. All fans are different, so it makes sense that not everyone worships in the same way.” Right on, there’s isn’t one correct way to express fandom as far as I’m concerned.
Wolf, wolf, wolf.
The problem with that argument
Is that the steryotypes are true a lot of the time. There are more men that follow baseball religiously than women, and that is a very generous statement. I have met many women who follow baseball closely, but it is a man’s game, played by male players and owned by old men. You just are not going to go to a Red Sox game, Fenway or not, and find a “real” Boston fan wearing pink memorabillia. I go to around 25 O’s games a year, and about 10 or so in Philly, and most of the guys who bring their book to score the game and/or are season ticket holders do not wear anything more than a hat. Most of the people here can be considered diehard and we all know that the people who go decked in a George Sherrill jersey with the tag hanging off with their face painted for a baseball game probably don’t know too much about their team. That is a sweeping generalization, but back to the point I think that it does hold true that most people wearing pink hats are not “real” fans of the Red Sox. It is a romantic idea to think that wearing a pink hat can simply symbolize a love for the team and not a beacon to point out the fairweather fans, but most of the time they are just that.
My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver
That is a sweeping generalization, but back to the point I think that it does hold true that most people wearing pink hats are not "real" fans of the Red Sox.
And I guess my pont is that the people who wear pink hats, go to 1-3 games a year, and can barely name more than 3 relievers are just as much “real” fans. Your point seems to be that pink hats mark a newbie, a fan who is not as devoted who wears face paint. Fine. I’m sure that’s true. But a newbie is a “real” fan too. And for them, wearing their pink hat is “simply another way of expressing one’s devotion to the team, not a lesser devotion to the team." I casually follow golf and the Redskins. But because I don’t folow them closely or paint myself with team colors when I go to live sporting events doesn’t make me a “fake” fan, just a different type of fan.
Wolf, wolf, wolf.
sure, we have diffferent typologies though.
The casual fans are cool by me. They allow me to feel smug and superior. :)
Wolf, wolf, wolf.
No you are right
The only thing I disagree with is that not all of the pink hat guys are necessarily newbies. I think that a lot of the people who wear pink hats went to Fenway pre 2004, but only because going to Fenway is more of an event rather than a baseball game for many people as they get the opportunity to see a visually appealing ballpark, sing Sweet Caroline, and the atmosphere is great. Those who went to a game or two a year and didn’t watch anything on TV now have transitioned into wearing pink hats.
My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver
And
“I don’t want us to become like the Yankees,” said Matt Trocchio, 27, of Brighton. “When they were winning, you’d see people all over the country wearing Yankees hats and shirts. That’s what I think about when I see pink hats. I hate that.”
You guys already are the Yankees. Every day some jackass makes a comment about one of my O’s hats.
"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones
The famed Kristen
told it like it is in her denunciation of PHN in the Boston Globe:
Sports apparel is not about fashion. It’s about supporting your team. Just as you can’t pick your team, you can’t pick your team’s colors. Do you think people in Cincinnati are thrilled to walk around dressed like candy corn because their football team does? Probably not. But that’s the hand you’re dealt.
Words of wisdom.
Correct
Rah Rah Rasputin / Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that / Really loved Birds. -- Boney M
Exactly
We discussed this at length back when Kristen’s article was posted, but I agree with her 100%. I said it before, I’ll say it again. I LOVE PINK. I love it. I love a bunch of girly stuff. But to the O’s game, I wear orange. And if you want to stll look feminine, there are a ton of ways to go about it. Every fan shop has women’s sizing these days, and there is always the kids section for smaller tees on the smaller women.
I think Pink Hats as a Red Sox phenomenon has become so symbolic with bandwagons that I don’t really have the energy or desire to address it.
"We’re not concerned about what other teams think. I know teams come in here thinking we’re playing the Orioles. And then 9 innings later, they got the loss, they know what we’re about." ~Adam Jones
does that mean you don't mind wearing a pink hat (!)?
I’ll personally buy you one and mail it to you.
Wolf, wolf, wolf.
No
I wouldn’t wear a pink hat because they’re lame. I also don’t give a shit what the f kind of hat another person wears. Not enough to write an article or call a radio station about it. They are STILL talking about this on WEEI and I just cannot believe it.
The whole “debate” conflates two issues: female fans (hence the name “pink hats”) and bandwagon fans. Frankly I could not care less about either. So moms and little girls wear pink hats??? Stop the freakin presses. So a winning team acquires more fans? Unheard of. I’m fine with having these dopes around because it means we won some shit. If the Orioles ever win again you bet you’ll have some of these people hanging around Camden Yards. All it is is yet another excuse to talk about anything but the game on the goddamn field.
by Awesome Mike Awesome on Jun 27, 2008 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree...
who gives a shit if the girl, or guy, sitting next to me is wearing a pink hat. I’m sure when the O’s start winning again there’ll be some dipshit ex-MFY/PHN fans… some who wear whatever the “new” thing is that year and some who dress “normally” and just decided they like to follow winners. That’s what pisses me off more than anything-not what they wear.
"Chickens are hard to catch." Jennifer Scott (Luuuuuuuke's Mom)
I agree who gives a shit if the girl, or guy, sitting next to me is wearing a pink hat.
The fashion police apparently.
Wolf, wolf, wolf.
The fashion police
do an important job. I don’t want to sit next to someone that doesn’t know how to dress.
"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones
I did volunteer to see the Sex & the City movie with my gf....
"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones
Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh...You realize what this means if words gets out...
Rah Rah Rasputin / Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that / Really loved Birds. -- Boney M
"They are STILL talking about this on WEEI and I just cannot believe it."
Wow, you can get WEEI’s signal in NoVa? That’s a hell of a radio you have…
"I wasn't here for the losing years. But it feels a little like the days with Earl in charge and John Lowenstein smashing birthday cakes in the middle of the clubhouse with a bat." - John "T-Bone" Shelby
I
won’t allow my wife to wear a pink OU hat to any of the games. Same principle, smaller scale.
Always trust you cape. -Guy Clark
When it comes to OU football
it isn’t THAT much of a smaller scale…
"I wasn't here for the losing years. But it feels a little like the days with Earl in charge and John Lowenstein smashing birthday cakes in the middle of the clubhouse with a bat." - John "T-Bone" Shelby
I'm going to go out on a limb
and say that not only can I not stand people who wear “pink hats,” I also get really annoyed at people who wear the other trendy hats… such as:
- Solid color hats (such as they all black caps where even the logo is black)
- The “cute” hats (the one that sticks out in my mind is solid white with an orangs “O”.... it’s the orioles equivalent of the pink hat, though better to a degree because it is still team colors)
- Those “authentic” style hats that have the strange patterns or designs, typically associated with hip hop culture. I can’t stand those things.
Baseball apparel is not supposed to be about fashion. It can be fashionable, but it shouldn’t contort and manipulate the team’s colors, logo, or identity away from what it is. It’s not a black/white issue… there are many shades of gray. It’s kind of like pornography: you can’t easily define it but you know it when you see it.
what a fun thread
1. I like making fun of pink hats. All pink hats.
2. The pink hats are different than the “hip hop”-styled hats because you know that generally the guys in the hip hop hats are straight up wearing them for fashion and there’s nothing compelling you to fuck with them about the cap. Those are just caps to me. The pink caps are worn by people that will say, loudly, things about the team. Most times something stupid. BIG PAPI’S MY FAVORITE. Great! TEK IS COOL. Awesome!
3. At the end of the day, I really don’t give a shit about the pink caps. BFD.
4. The Red Sox have lots of them. There are pink caps for every team and every single team has a good chunk of fans wearing these goddamned things. Fans like the fans on CC or other blogs are not your everyday fans. We are not the norm. We are further from the norm than the pink cappers. That’s why on a bad day 15,000 or so show up to Camden Yards, and 6,000 or so leave before it’s over. Baseball is literally a pastime for most fans. It will take most of them a month to figure out that Albers is injured.
I hate most caps, to be honest. So many of them try to do too much in what is a pretty small space. Hey let’s put some lines on this corner of the bill! Let’s write ORIOLES across the back. I can’t wear anything but the caps that look like team caps, really.
"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum
Nationals fans are giving the Red Sox a run for their money
for the title of pink hat nation. Its at least pink hat nation south.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey
Expos!
Yay! Finally, I don’t have to drive to shudder Baltimore to watch baseball! We’ll take your Expos, Montreal, gladly!
The Nationals are nothing but a sideshow that lets politicians and lobbyists hand off season tickets to clients who are in town and would be put upon to have to drive to Baltimore.
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