The Stereotype Sweater started as an idea in 2016 when our president used inappropriate language to describe women. I wrote the word "NASTY" down in my journal and then slowly started adding to the list of negative words I saw in the media being used to describe strong women. In 2020 I conducted an Instagram survey asking women to share negative words that had been used to describe them, and the response was overwhelming. The Stereotype Sweater features just a handful of the words and stories that were shared with me, as the sweater is not big enough to hold them all. My hope is that the sweater raises awareness of the physical weight and psychological toll our words have on people.