Miss Piggy Gets Feminist Award From Gloria Steinem at Brooklyn Museum [Photos]
Gloria Steinem presented Miss Piggy with a Sackler Center First Award at the Brooklyn Museum last night.
Welcome to pig-wave feminism: Glamorous Muppet heroine Miss Piggy has joined Toni Morrison, Sandra Day-O’Connor, Julie Taymor and others in receiving the Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Gloria Steinem presented the award last night, cheered on by Kermit the Frog.
The feisty Miss Piggy is known for her adoration of fashion, Kermit, and her pet poodle, Foo-Foo. But she also karate chops ferociously when messed with. In her acceptance speech, Miss Piggy echoed Gloria Steinem’s much-quoted sentiment that “a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle,” saying, “If I wanted to be married to Kermit, I would. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t… He hasn’t asked me yet, but that doesn’t matter.” Kermit shifted in his seat and asked for directions to the “Little Frog’s Room.” The speech was followed by a video retrospective of the porcine diva’s 40-year career, and a conversation between Steinem and Piggy, in which they discovered a shared love of tap-dancing. Piggy said that she’d teach Steinem her signature “kick step,” which, in her mind, would be “perfect for when you’re debating chauvinists.” The duo’s glory shook the rafters of a building with a facade adorned with sculptures of dead white men.
“Moi is now and has always been an ardent feminist and champion of women’s rights,” Miss Piggy wrote in a Time editorial, “Why I Am a Feminist Pig.” “I believe that any woman who refuses to accept society’s preconceived notions of who or what they can be is a feminist. I believe any woman who is willing to struggle, strive–and if necessary learn karate–to make their mark in the world is a feminist. And, yes, I believe that any woman, who cares about her appearance, her star billing and most especially her percentage of the gross, is a feminist. Moi is all of these things.”
Miss Piggy accepts her award.
“She has spirit. She has determination. She has grit,” Elizabeth Sackler, an activist, historian, told USA Today of this Hollywood pig. “She has inspired children to be who you are–and this squares very directly with feminism.”
Miss Piggy closed her speech with her recipe for success: “If you believe in yourself, fooling everyone else is easy.”
Moi’s new award is SO SHINY and moi is SO HONORED! Thank you @feministart, @GloriaSteinem, and #sacklercenterfirsts! pic.twitter.com/s54nnaHNo8
— Miss Piggy (@RealMissPiggy) June 4, 2015
‘Twas an honor seeing @GloriaSteinem at the #sacklercenterfirsts tonight. She’s lovely and a fan of moi, naturally! pic.twitter.com/7ChGIXptz5
— Miss Piggy (@RealMissPiggy) June 5, 2015
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