Sunday, May 22, 2005

 

Pink Hats

I've noticed that a lot of female sports bloggers have a huge problem with pink hats. I don't know what the big deal is; what about the green and the yellow and the sky blue, too? Fashion hats are all the rage, fueled by the creators, who obviously want to sell lots of extra apparel. Personally I prefer the classic, but it is fun to have something else for occasional use. I just don't feel that whether or not you like the color pink has much to do with how much you know or how much you are interested in sports. Oh yes, I see the equation:
Pink = Girly = Knows Nothing About Sports
I just don't buy it. Maybe people assume that I'm girly because I write in purple (i guess that's a pretty girly color, too.) Then you'd never guess, would you, that my "daily beauty routine" consists of applying lip balm while driving, and I know how to do almost nothing with my hair... Just not interested - but I am really interested in sports. And I am even a little encouraged by the ever-widening selection (including pink hats and other apparel,) of women's gear, since it indicates that an awful lot of women have at least a mild interest in sports.
I used to hate pink quite violently. At ten, I had some pink items of clothing, which I never wore... When questioned, I realized that looking at them in the morning actually made me rather nauseous. I had never been much of a pink girl before then, but after that I avoided pink in all facets of life for about eighteen years. In college I designed a t-shirt, in fact, with the slogan "nothing cute, nothing pink." I really don't keep track of these things, but I'll estimate that pink got huge in the fashion industry about five years ago (and still hasn't shown signs of going away.) I eventually got used to seeing my sisters in pink, and I guess it's kindof grown on me.
You probably noticed that my niece Elle's Red Sox onesie is pink. My sister Beth dresses her in pink most of the time, mostly to save people the trouble of wondering if she's a girl or a boy. I used to think it was cheesy for people to do that, but I see her point... And if you've ever encountered a baby in ambiguous clothing, maybe you can, too. But I digress...
I have a pink sox hat. It's a visor, and I hardly ever wear it, but if I were going to a game on a hot summer day, I would wear it. (But mostly I wear my classic navy baseball cap.) I also have a pink pats hat. The logo itself is the same color pink as the hat, which I like the subtlety of, since I almost feel guilty about their absolute greatness. Baseball caps are not that practical for football season, and I mostly wear my black knit cap with pats logo.
I also have two pink sox t-shirts. One is an ALCS Championship t-shirt, which I wore to the hospital to see my niece (ahem) the day the Red Sox won the World Series. The other is long-sleeved, and it's my favorite.


my favorite sox t-shirt Posted by Hello

I wear pink, and I also know a lot about sports. I actually don't know the difference between a two-seam and a four seam fastball - yikes - but people sure do look at me funny when I explain why the National League rules change the way the game is managed and strategized, particularly in the area of pinch hitting... and somehow I get the feeling that it's not the pink hat.

Everyone has their little prejudices... Some are just assumptions or hearsay. Others are more ingrained in us because we have adopted them through experience. Some of you may know that I think Latino men cheat on their wives and girlfriends, for example. That is because every Latino man who has ever hit on me I either knew or found out later to have a wife or girlfriend. I also have learned from experience that women in general can be catty, judgmental, and cliquey. This does not mean that I assume every Latino man I meet is a cheater, nor can I expect every woman I encounter to be a catty bitch to me. It is a bit ironic when girls bitch about not being taken seriously by guys, then in the same breath refuse to take other girls seriously because of the color of their hats (which does seem to support my women are cliquey and critical experience,) but I guess I can understand prejudice about pink hats if you're repeated experience has been:
pink hat + overheard comments indicating that she had no clue what was going on=
knows & cares nothing for sports.
Sometimes when I'm driving three cars behind a painfully slow vehicle and trying not to get pissed, I realize that everyone I am passing has a story, and most likely one I will never know anything of. We never really know why someone else behaves as they do, but much of our personalities are because of our own unique experiences. You really never know with people, so don't be surprised if someday you meet someone in a pink hat who actually knows what she is talking about. Yes, about baseball.


That being said, I saw a woman wearing a pink hat during the ninth. Her man was talking on his cell, and she was looking around, eyes glazed over, as if she had no way to interpret what she was seeing. Her hat, that nasty-brite bubble gum pink, was the fuckin' ugliest "accessory" I have ever seen in my life; there is no accounting for taste.

# posted by Rebecca @ 2:34 AM
Comments:
Thank you, Rebecca, for having the balls to post this. I'd like to think that I know a thing or two about baseball. I even engage in sports. I have a sweet ass bruise on my left shin from stopping a hard grounder on Sunday hit quite well by a rather large man. And guess what - that shiny purple bruise goes well with MY PINK HAT. What? A pink hat? Playing sports? Does not compute. Does not compute. I recognize that we are not going to make a lot of friends with our opinion on this matter, but isn't it a little presumptuous to paint every pink hat wearing gal with the same fru-fru brush? Like you, I prefer to wear my beat down blue traditional hat. It just feels better. My mom actually gave me the pink hat. What was I going to do? Throw it back at her? Here, mom! Take it back to Modells!

I don't care what the fans wear in Fenway, so long as it supports our team. (I draw the line, though, at Red Sox lingerie ... and Red Sox boxers are definitely out... )
# posted by Blogger Kim : 2:06 PM
 
And my deal is, why is a pink hat any worse than watching the games for the muscular butts or whatever?

But WCSG, I also say, if she has balls to post this, doesn't that imply that to be brave is a male-only trait? I never understand why this term caught on. (Oh, right, it's a male dominated society. Terrible job.) That's why I say gonads, because ovaries and testicles are both gonads. I think.

But that's just me.
# posted by Blogger Jere : 12:16 AM
 
That was my poor attempt at irony (perception being balls = masculine; pink hat = not so much). As you might say, Jere: Terrible job, Kim.

I’m not gung-ho, full-on pink hat. I guess I’m a little disturbed by the generalizations and assumptions. I recognize the “type” of female fan that is the target of this particular criticism, but I wouldn’t want to be confused with “one of them” the next time I’m taking out the trash, sporting ye old pink hat.

Muscular butts are a bonus, but I am so used to seeing them now, it’s hardly what it used to be. Troy O’Leary had a nice one.
# posted by Blogger Kim : 9:37 AM
 
Balls? Who needs 'em? they short circuit the brain, from what I've heard.

I must admit, the color pink that they are using this year looks like pepto bismol - not attractive, in my opinion. Why people would layer multiple items of this color is beyond me. It may hurt my eyes, but I draw the line at judging them.
I really hate hearing fans scream "I LOVE YOU, (INSERT ANY PLAYER'S NAME HERE.)" *oh, cool, I was going to join Harmony.com, but YOU love me, so watcha doin' tonight?* As you can see from my sarcasm, I feel it's pretty tacky & reminiscent of how some of my friends in jr. high acted about the New Kids on the Block. But I don't think it's fair to assess someone's knowledge of baseball based on superficial things like that.

The whole arguement of "girls like baseball, too" loses some steam when one says it's only a certain type of girl... the type that doesn't wear pink. I'd like to think that women feel free to express themselves in both areas without worrying about a conflict.

As for the hot asses, any girl can appreciate an attractive man when she sees one, but the amount of drool varies substantially. I find that the attractiveness of a player, for me, is the sum of his looks & attitude, and also related to performance. I know I'm pulling harder am more attentive to the screen for the hot guys, but there's never so much drool that my brain doesn't function properly.

WCSG- my boyfriend would laugh his ass off if I wore sox lingerie! But I bet jere would like it.
# posted by Blogger Rebecca : 10:35 AM
 
What really messes with me is when the hot guy is on the opposing team. I call this: The Andy Pettitte Phenomenon. Similar to watching Bush pitch last night. The enemy hottie is the type of guy you would sleep with but not tell anyone, ever. Completely covert. Not that I've ever had such an opportunity or ever will. But you see where I'm taking this.

I think the industry term for the woman you describe (I love you _______!) is "Jeter Girl."

My husband is so passive about baseball, I think he would be offended if I ever slipped into Red Sox lingerie. Or confused. I might be lectured about wasting money. Again.
# posted by Blogger Kim : 12:54 PM
 
Rebecca requested the pink Sox visor for her birthday last year, so I got it for her. I happened to also be buying a pink Yankees tank for myself at the same time. That took some explaining...

When you're as petit as I am, you start to learn some shopping strategies like, this is pink, it might actually fit me. So if I'm guilty, at least I'm saving time.
# posted by Blogger Barb : 7:02 PM
 
Forgot to mention something Adam says...
What's with all the fat women wearing pink? They look like pigs. They don't see that?

lmao
# posted by Blogger Barb : 7:04 PM
 
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