Can we talk about Pantsuit Nation?

[unclejesse]

Because I'm getting real tired of some of their "poor me" stories. I want to know what exactly they are doing to help. I've posted that several times but of course it doesn't get posted.

[Mushe]

Nov 17, 2016 20:20:02 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

Nov 17, 2016 20:17:30 GMT -5 unclejesse said:

Because I'm getting real tired of some of their "poor me" stories. I want to know what exactly they are doing to help. I've posted that several times but of course it doesn't get posted.

Our local group said the national group is just a storytelling group now, and will not focus on activism.

Our local group is going to focus on activism.

Really? That seems so shortsighted. I know a friend of mine posted in a thread about what you're doing to move forward in terms of groups to support, and I got some good ideas there.

[meganew]

Nov 17, 2016 20:20:02 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

Nov 17, 2016 20:17:30 GMT -5 unclejesse said:

Because I'm getting real tired of some of their "poor me" stories. I want to know what exactly they are doing to help. I've posted that several times but of course it doesn't get posted.

Our local group said the national group is just a storytelling group now, and will not focus on activism.

Our local group is going to focus on activism.

And quite honestly it pisses me off that the leader of the national group wants to just abandon the idea of activism.

I think she was kind of thrust into the position- I don't think she has any background in politics or activism. PSN was started just to share positivity, and then it got bananas popular. I think she's a bit over her head and I don't really mind if the activism stuff takes place on the local boards.

BUT if I have to read one more story about a white woman was made fun of or talked down to because of her safety pin, but how she overcame that and is staying strong!! I'm going to lose my damn mind.

[2doxies]

Storytelling as action?

I'm over them. I enjoyed being a part of it in the days leading up to the election, but I've had my fill.

ETA: the safety pin tattoos were the last straw for me.

[redheadbaker]

Nov 17, 2016 20:31:00 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

It was also very heavy on white women interests and not so much on anybody else.

This is an issue in the PA regional group, and I'm guessing many other regional groups as well.

[meganew]

Also, I really hate the name Pantsuit Nation. I really wish my local group would branch off and choose a different name. They're actually doing some good stuff in the community right now and giving out useful info, but I don't want to call up our local Muslim Association to see how we can support them and introduce myself as "megachoo from..... ::sigh::.... pantsuit nation."

[meganew]

Nov 17, 2016 20:32:45 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Nov 17, 2016 20:31:00 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

It was also very heavy on white women interests and not so much on anybody else.

This is an issue in the PA regional group, and I'm guessing many other regional groups as well.

Yup. I stumbled on to that big thread after it was locked and omg. I'm staying on my local board for now.

[mbcdefg]

Lolol

This certainly fell out of favor real fast.

[pixy0stix]

My regional local has taken some great local action already (going to talk to LGBT clubs at a local high school, organizing a frozen turkey drive for a charity).

Also, it's important to remember that these are the people that we have to continue talking to even if we want to shake them by the shoulders.

[One Girl In All The World]

I've unfollowed for now. I can't with the safety-pinned navel gazing.

[unclejesse]

Yeah, I mean, I want to keep the conversation going, but I'm certain there's quite a few who think posting on a "secret" FB group is making a change. How many posts have we seen that start out with "I can't post this on my FB because..."
What is this accomplishing?

[StrawberryBlondie]

Nov 17, 2016 20:58:22 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

My local board is a bit of a shitshow. I have hope it will turn into more activism because the storytelling part has me banging my head on the wall.

Yeah, it's insufferable.

[RoxMonster]

I enjoyed the positivity the week before the election (even then I had to unfollow and just check in because it took over my whole feed). I haven't checked it the past dew days at all. I have no idea if they have a local group for mine but I have reached out to and gotten involved with a separate local action group instead.

[msmerymac]

Soooooo much white fragility.

I keep asking my husband, "Srsly tho, what do we do about white people? "Accidentally" carpet bomb Ohio?"

[robyn]

Our local group has exploded. 13,600 and counting. There have been several difficult conversations both on our FB group main page and in our admin group about the majority being white women. We've also had the talks about the name. From what I gather right now, the national group is completely overwhelmed and our local group kind of had to follow their lead and pretty much wait. But we have also had great activism with encouraging people to call their reps about Bannon's appointment, going to local meetings, volunteering with groups they haven't before etc. It's definitely not perfect and I hope for more activism going forward. For the moment though, it's a starting off point.

[Dig Ophelia]

WTF is Pantsuit Nation? I've heard you guys talk about it, but I have no idea what it is and why it's called that.

[redheadbaker]

Nov 17, 2016 21:27:27 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Soooooo much white fragility.

I keep asking my husband, "Srsly tho, what do we do about white people? "Accidentally" carpet bomb Ohio?"

Well, obviously, just nicely point out that they're being racist, and they'll be totally open to listening and changing! 

[OscarQ]

I'm waiting to see how my local chapter shakes out. In the meantime I am looking to join the local AAUW chapter. They seem to have their shit together.

[auroraloo]

Nov 17, 2016 20:58:22 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

My local board is a bit of a shitshow. I have hope it will turn into more activism because the storytelling part has me banging my head on the wall.

I left. It was awful. 

[WOT?*]

Our state group has broken into multiple local groups. I have met locally with one of them, and it has helped to target certain issues. One thing that has already come about is that a local Planned Parenthood that has been picketed and unchallenged now has people organizing and coming out on the days that the picketers are there (who have talked to people and refer them to a pregnancy crisis clinic down the street) to support those that are coming into PP.

We have daily calls to action that include supporting groups in different areas that provide different needs (immigration, civil rights, children in need) and contacting representatives to leave messages on subjects, etc. Also, learn the Constitution and your civil rights. And a couple hours ago was a "go to Elizabeth Warren's page and show some love because she's being trolled." By BERNIE supporters. People just can't get over her supporting Hillary as the candidate, can they? sheesh.

There have been instances of racial hate statements at schools in the area. One of the local members talked to the chief of police of the neighboring city about a particular middle school incident and was urged (and is now urging) to follow up with the school to have a police report filed (writing on bathroom walls to which the response was to restrict bathroom use for middle schoolers and an announcement at lunch so far) so that the police can follow up. Another member had a son bullied (though this was ongoing and not related to the election it seems to have increased) based on his heritage, with things like swastikas being drawn on his notebook and school papers. So there is group follow up to contact district superintendents to make sure messaging is getting out on racial hate crimes and targeting and bullying.

There has also been talk of outreach to Native Americans since they are underrepresented (as in zero as far as I can tell) and we have four reservations in our immediate area alone. Most of the people who have attended our meetings are white women because of the population of our area. It has been noted that we need to watch out for that being a problem and what we can do to address it and make the groups more inclusive.

One thing I *DON'T* like is that they do not want to support candidates. They want to be inclusive and not scare away any Bernie supporters or non-voters or anyone that wasn't a Hillary supporter. I'm of the opinion that if you started as a political movement, find candidates you can support to fill seats in the next elections, and support them.

I don't even pay attention to the national group; I haven't since the election. I hope the activism will continue and it's not just a knee-jerk reaction to Trump's election. And yes, the name needs to be changed. It's no longer a Support Hillary group but a be active locally and here's how you can do it group.

[downtoearth]

Nov 17, 2016 21:32:42 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

WTF is Pantsuit Nation? I've heard you guys talk about it, but I have no idea what it is and why it's called that.

It was a private FB page that showed up about a week before he election and had some very personal and cool stories about wearing pantsuits to the polls and supporting HRC.

It went the way of our board post election with a lot of feelings. I never really followed, so only saw the ones that friends liked or commented on. Most were pretty awesome and usually POC or LGBT related that I saw. I didn't know that it was now on the safety pin bandwagon.

Local pages spun off by state, region, or city. Some got straight to work with grassroots organization and emails to reps about appointments, and ours even had a T-day food drive. Sounds like others are fizzling and dwelling on WGTs.

[saz]

I unfollowed the national one after the election. It was what I needed leading up to the election so I'm really thankful for that and happy I was a part of it. Our state and local have some great info and overall quite a bit of good information and momentum to become or stay active and vocal. It makes me hopeful that we're going to see a lot of people channeling their emotions from this into action (and I'm already seeing it).

[AJL]

I'm out of the national and my local PSN pages. The whining was too much.

[pantsparty]

What the fuck is "Storytelling as action?" Sounds real fucking impactful!

[Dig Ophelia]

Nov 17, 2016 21:57:02 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Nov 17, 2016 21:32:42 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

WTF is Pantsuit Nation? I've heard you guys talk about it, but I have no idea what it is and why it's called that.

It was a private FB page that showed up about a week before he election and had some very personal and cool stories about wearing pantsuits to the polls and supporting HRC.

It went the way of our board post election with a lot of feelings. I never really followed, so only saw the ones that friends liked or commented on. Most were pretty awesome and usually POC or LGBT related that I saw. I didn't know that it was now on the safety pin bandwagon.

Local pages spun off by state, region, or city. Some got straight to work with grassroots organization and emails to reps about appointments, and ours even had a T-day food drive. Sounds like others are fizzling and dwelling on WGTs.

Thank you.  

I wasn't around for any of this and some of you guys have been speaking about it positively and others, negatively, and the name suggested to me that it was a parody of something (maybe of itself at this point?), so I wasn't sure.  

[eddy]

My state and local have jumped ship. Today one had an argument about how inclusive having a secret board was and blah blah blah so much talk about nonesense. Girl, bye

[litebright]

I unfollowed the national group a day or two after the election. I loved the positivity in the lead-up, but after the results came in and they were still posting pre-results stuff, it became a crappy reminder of how fast things went from good to bad -- and then I didn't really want to watch the positivity spiral out.

I have mixed feelings about the local groups I'm in (state and hyper-local). There is some decent proactive stuff going on and easy information in terms of people to call. There are also some local women politicians in the group that are really helpful and practical in recommending ways to get involved. Including one of my city council members (whom I also happen to know IRL) recommending people apply to various city boards. I have a week to decide which one I'm applying to -- I think I'm going to try for the city building code update task force, wheeee! It needs the most members and I might actually have something to offer given my professional field. Plus, I like that kind of esoteric, technical shit.

But oy, if I see the "they thought they buried us -- they didn't know we were seeds" meme one more time, I'm going to start yanking my hair out by the handful.

[mskitkat]

My local group is suggesting everyone attend a Showing Up for Racial Justice group meeting this weekend. It looks like it could be a good way for me to start getting involved in local activism, but I'm very hesitant over it just being a group for white people, even though they say the group takes it's direction from PoC leaders. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[taratru]

There's a local group meeting tomorrow that is my town's offshoot, but it's got a different name already. The meeting description says "to build (face-to-face) community connections, bring awareness to existing organizations, and identify gaps in community needs so that we have a strong, working safety net to protect our vulnerable neighbors and support necessary policies."

So I'm going to check it out. I like the idea of community gaps and how to fill them and talking about actual policy.

[robyn]

Nov 17, 2016 22:37:02 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

My local group is suggesting everyone attend a Showing Up for Racial Justice group meeting this weekend. It looks like it could be a good way for me to start getting involved in local activism, but I'm very hesitant over it just being a group for white people, even though they say the group takes it's direction from PoC leaders. Does anyone have any experience with this?

We have a SURJ meeting here Monday night and it's gotten a lot of support and exposure in my local city group. I've never attended a meeting of theirs, and I'm curious about the focus and leadership. Unfortunately I can't go to the one this week due to out of town guests, but I'm hoping to read more after people attend the meeting and post their thoughts.