[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]witter was feeling the Bern last Friday as hundreds of women and nonbinary people participated in #HotGirlsForBernie posting selfies with the hashtag and posting messages in support of Tio Bernie.
While the unusual social media campaign may be immediately dismissed and scoffed at by many, there is no denying that it stands out and flexes the candidate’s power with his young, diverse supporters. Namely, because it is a space for women and nonbinary people to feel themselves in whatever way they want to. Whether they want to feel cute, sexy, artsy, or all of the above. It is a digital space almost exclusively for women to talk about politics and policy.
One woman noted that Bernie has been consistently advocating for transgender people for years.
Can’t wait for #HotGirlsForBernie to get him elected and then take on abolishing ICE pic.twitter.com/SNLJa63jxm
— kristian steffany 🌹✨ (@kksteffany) January 24, 2020
The trend came on the heels of the negative press by way of the “Bernie Bros” that also support Sanders. He is also facing backlash for a Joe Rogan endorsement, who has made islamophobic and transphobic remarks in the past.
The hashtag started as a meme earlier this month in a group chat and spread. A woman in the original group wanted the hashtag to be inclusive and challenge beauty standards. This hashtag is also the first to encourage all kinds of people that don’t identify as men to take up more space in political dialogues.
Who said advocating for radical change can't be fun? After all, our thoughts on policy should trend every day because we’re more affected than the majority of people writing laws.
