All the symbols depicted in the hate symbols database must be evaluated in the context in which they appear. Few symbols represent just one idea or are used exclusively by one group. For example, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white." Similarly, other symbols in this database may be significant to people who are not extreme or racist. The descriptions here point out significant multiple meanings but may not be able to relay every possible meaning of a particular symbol.
The term "featherwood" derives from the related term "peckerwood," a word that evolved from an old racial epithet directed at whites to a term used to refer to people associated with the racist prison gang subculture. A featherwood is the female equivalent of a (male) peckerwood. Featherwoods can sometimes be members of racist prison gangs (and, in California, of related peckerwood street gangs) but are more often associates of such gangs, often girlfriends or wives of gang members. The term featherwood is most common in California and Texas, less common elsewhere in the West, and considerably less common in other regions.
The most common featherwood symbol is simply the word "featherwood" itself, often used in conjunction with a feather. Sometimes a feather by itself is also used as a symbol.
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