Miss Piggy has always been a pig without peer, and now she’s been recognized for it.
On Thursday, the Muppets’ queen bee (do pigs have queens?) received a feminism award from the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.
Prior to the event, Miss Piggy couldn’t resist squealing to her Twitter followers that she was in the Big Apple to be honored.
Likewise, the Brooklyn Museum seemed pretty excited to tweet that the pig was going to be feted. According to its website, the Sackler Center First Awards “is an annual event honoring extraordinary women who are first in their fields.”
Miss Piggy was chosen “for more than forty years of blazing feminist trails with determination and humor, and for her groundbreaking role inspiring generations the world over.” And although she is known more for her love of fashion and a certain frog, Elizabeth Sackler, the founder of the center, told USA Today that the spectacular sow is deserving.
“She has spirit, she has determination, she has grit,” Sackler said. “She has inspired children to be who you are — and this squares very directly with feminism.”
Past honorees have included now-retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writer Toni Morrison and director Julie Taymor.
In an essay headlined “Miss Piggy: Why I Am a Feminist Pig” published by Time this week, the pork princess counted herself worthy of joining such a coveted group and explained why she’s a feminist.
“I believe that any woman who refuses to accept society’s preconceived notions of who or what they can be is a feminist,” she wrote. “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.”
Lest the world forget, she wrote, she is a pig who went from growing up on a farm, where she was told her life would be nothing “but mud, sweat and tears … and the occasional trip to the 4-H fair,” to becoming an international star and published writer.
“Thanks to grit, fortitude, perseverance, the inspiration of other great feminists and the aforementioned karate, I did in fact achieve those dreams,” Miss Piggy wrote. “Today, I live in Hollywood, where there is still a lot of mud, sweat and tears, but the hours and compensation are much more attractive.”
After the ceremony, she tweeted a picture of her award as well as a picture with one of the world’s most famous feminists, Gloria Steinem, who the ever-modest pig noted is a Miss Piggy fan.