Pantsuit Nation

Pantsuit Nation's Logo

Pantsuit Nation's Logo (enlarged)

Pantsuit Nation is a private Facebook group and Twitter hashtag used to rally Hillary Clinton supporters during her 2016 presidential campaign. The group is not affiliated with a political party but its symbol, the pantsuit, was used as a metonym for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign similar to how red-colored hats were used for the campaign of her opponent, Donald Trump. Members of the group focus on immigration reform, racial justice, religious freedom, and women's reproductive rights. At the time of the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, the group had 2.9 million members and had raised $170,000 for the Clinton campaign. Currently, the group has nearly 4 million active members.

Background

On October 20, 2016, Libby Chamberlain, a private resident of Brooklin, Maine, created Pantsuit Nation, an invite-only Facebook page after the third presidential debate. Chamberlain graduated from Yale University in 2006. She is a mother of two, and formerly worked for an environmental non-profit and as a College and Career Counselor at a local high school in Maine. Chamberlain originally started Pantsuit Nation in an effort to encourage some of her Facebook friends to wear Clinton's trademark pantsuits to the voting polls in support of the nation's first female presidential candidate nominated by a major party. She considered Clinton and her pantsuit to be emblematic of the historic effort towards equal rights for women. The invitation-only group originally started with only 30 members, but gained traction fast, growing to 24,000 members overnight and to 2.9 million by November 8, 2016.. She felt that through the collective efforts of people sharing their stories on Facebook, people could truly change the course of history.

Early on Tuesday, November 8, the Clinton campaign's digital manager personally thanked the group for its support. When Clinton did not win the 2016 Presidential Election, she too thanked the group's army of supporters in her concession speech and encouraged them to voice their opinions proudly and publicly, outside the realm of a secret group. After the election, Pantsuit Nation inspired spinoffs across the country, including Alabama Together, a group in Auburn, Alabama, a community that was rocked in 2017 by visits from white supremacists and Nazi-sympathizers.

Hillary Clinton in her signature pantsuit

Members of the group range in age, ethnicity, and political alliances, but they all share the common goal of wanting to empower women and to advocate for equality in the workplace. The group started out as a safe space for members to share stories and pictures for their support of Clinton, but has since transformed to encompass a wider range of progressive, anti-Trump subject matter. Group members share, in great detail, their experiences as women, members of the LBTQ community, immigrants, racial minorities, and religious minorities. The Trump administration's recent actions against transgenders and immigrants, particularly with his announcement to end the DACA program, have sparked flurries of activity on the page. Members have felt emboldened and empowered by the community Pantsuit Nation provides. Many posts to the group contain fan art from the campaign, including its logos and slogans on clothes, signs, bodies, and food.

Organizers

The leadership of Pantsuit Nation consists of 5 executive members, and 80 volunteer moderators and chapter leaders. Libby Chamberlain is the Director of Content, Cortney Tunis is the Executive Director, Cat Plein is the Chief Operating Officer, Grace Caldara is the Director of Engagement, and Kimma Barry is the Director of Community Relations.

Chapters

Pantsuit Nation initially started off as an invite-only Facebook group and a Twitter hashtag. After the success of the Facebook group, organizers expanded the Pantsuit Nation brand to include regional chapters, whose mission it is to promote story-driven activism. These chapters give members the chance to meet like-minded activists in person, so they can share resources and work together to stimulate social change. There are chapter locations in the following locations: Alaska, California, Northern Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Central Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Boston, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Milwaukee, and Israel.

Criticism

After the election, Chamberlain received a book deal to publish contents from the group. The book Pantsuit Nation was published May 9, 2017, by Flatiron Books. The book is composed of a compilation of stories and photos that document the experiences of Clinton's supporters, both before, during, and after the election. Some believe that Chamberlain is turning Pantsuit Nation from a space of grieving and healing into a branding machine, used to further her own profit-seeking ambitions. Before Chamberlain even announced on the Pantsuit Nation Facebook group that she had secured a book deal using the group's name, The New York Times released an article explaining the book's projected timeline. Chamberlain did not disclose any details about where or who the profits of the book will go to, or the breach in privacy of the group members who shared their deeply intimate stories until she faced extreme pressure to do so. Many people subsequently accused Chamberlain of being profit-seeking and of cashing in on the struggles of many of the group's members. She has since said, in a Facebook post, that all proceeds will go to non-profit organizations connected to Pantsuit Nation's mission, such as the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, and also that participation in the book is strictly voluntary. She also has said that the book is meant to be a paean to the diversity that the group represents— diversity of experiences, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender, and ability. Many members of the group felt as though their sanctuary and private community was intruded upon. Some also believe the book is a 2016 time capsule, preventing the Democratic Party and Clinton supporters from moving on from the tough loss and supporting a potential new presidential candidate.

Critics of the group have argued that white women are dominating the conversation in the group, as members of racial minorities feel as though their voices are being ignored, belittled, and overshadowed. They believe that white women are using the group as a way to feel "woke" without contributing to tangible, social change. In response, the organizers of the Pantsuit Nation Facebook group released a statement in December 2016, reaffirming the group's commitment to ensuring that every voice is heard and respected, and also asking that white women be aware of their privilege by listening to the experiences of women of color. The leadership of Pantsuit Nation has changed, becoming more diverse to represent a broader range of perspectives, experiences, and identities.