The New Yorker’s Cover This Week Was a Cold Pitch

An artist and activist named Abigail Gray Swartz sent her rendition of ‘Rosie The Riveter” to The New Yorker and she’s wearing a ‘Pussy Hat’

The New Yorker recently teased readers with the cover of their February Issue. And, its Abigail Gray Swartz’ artwork inspired by the Women’s March which attracted over 3 million people globally.

You should recognize the cover which features ‘Rosie the Riveter’, a cultural icon of the United States. She represented the American women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. Except this Rosie looks like me. She’s a black woman wearing a buttoned-up, collared shirt and a 21st century “pussy hat”. 

Swartz is from Maine and created the image after attending a march in Augusta. Being the talented creative that she is, Swartz wore a hand-painted cape decorated with the words “Equality for Womankind.” The very next week, Swartz sent her re-imagined Rosie to The New Yorker without expecting a response. It was always her dream to have her work accepted by the popular magazine but she never knew it would become a reality.

The New Yorker’s art editor, Françoise Mouly, was so impressed by Swartz’ new intersectional, feminist icon that she agreed to place Rosie on the cover. The entire exchange only took 3 days to confirm.

A New Feminist Icon Emerges

In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Swartz talked about her inspiration for the artwork and explained how her dream came true.

"So on the Monday following the march, I sat down and started thinking about the art I wanted to make in response to my own experience on Saturday as well as the collective experience of women nationally and worldwide. I adored seeing the images flooding in of the sea of women (and men) in pink hats. So much pink! I saw a headline from a newspaper that read “She the People” and I thought, “She The People: The revolution will be handmade.” I started thinking how there was this effort on the part of women to create a symbol for the march. It felt reminiscent of World War II when women rationed silk stockings in order to have enough material for the soldiers’ parachutes. How women knit for the soldiers and filled in at the factories while the men were away at war. Just like how we are reclaiming the word “pussy,” the hat is also a symbol of our history in our country ― we are knitting something for the new “war effort” to fight for our rights as women. We are knitting for ourselves."

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Head to her Etsy shop or website to see more of Swartz’ recent masterpieces. You can also follow her work on Instagram!