We are the women in the red & pink hats. We are the mothers, grandmothers, and daughters of society. Little girls grow up, but they're never too old to play dress-up and have tea parties.
The standard answer to the question, "What do you do?" is... Nothing.
Our main responsibility is to have fun! We see this group as an opportunity for those who have shouldered various responsibilities at home and in the community their whole lives, to say goodbye to burdensome responsibilities and obligations for a little while. This is the place to have fun and enjoy yourself. The refrain of the popular Red Hat Society theme song by Mike Harline puts it rather bluntly: "All my life, I've done for you. Now it's my turn to do for me."
We feel like we have all been so dutiful and so "busy" for so long that we deserve a break. The Red Hat Society calls itself a "dis-organization," and we are proud of our lack of rules and by-laws. We are all helping to develop an enormous nurturing network or women over 50 (and under), by joining red-gloved hands and spreading the joy and companionship we are finding within and among the chapters. We have also discovered a "mission" of sorts: to gain higher visibility for women in our age group and to reshape the way we are viewed by today's culture. We are all familiar with groups of the past, which stridently sought to achieve their agendas. Well, we are decidedly UN-strident, but we hope to advance our agenda with good humor and laughter. If we do not join together under the banner of The Red Hat Society, but rather remain isolated, in unconnected groups, that will not happen. Therefore, we are working to build a dis-organization within which we can all connect and eventually take over the world!
Are there any rules?The spirit of the Red Hat Society forbids rules, per se. There is, however, ONE inflexible guideline that we must insist upon:
You must be a woman of 50 or over (or you may be a Pink Hatter under 50), and you must attend functions in full regalia, (red hat, purple outfit for women 50 and over, or pink hat and lavender outfit for women under 50).
Ladies are strongly encouraged to follow these color guidelines, and to NOT wear purple/red until they have reached THE BIRTHDAY. This adds an element of fun to aging, which we think is invaluable to women in our society who have learned to dread aging and avoid it at all costs. We believe that aging should be something anticipated with excitement, not something to dread.