Wednesday 9 November 2016

love trumps hate in pantsuit nation

My favourite fashion story this week is also my favourite political story - Pantsuit Nation.

Starting as a private Facebook group for Hillary Clinton supporters to share their stories and praise for their candidate during this deeply divisive campaign, popularity has exploded in the past couple of days - at the time of writing there were nearly 3 million members.

This morning as I completed my routine wakeup Facebook check, my heart swelled from reading voter stories.

Women in deeply 'red' districts proudly donning pantsuits (frequently with daughters-in-tow!)  to vote for Clinton, commonly amidst jeers and negative comments from their fellow Americans.

My dear high school friend and her girls voting in California today.
Loving ALL these pantsuits!
(No jeers for her - that I know of!)

Dads for Clinton talking about their vision for a compassionate and fair future for their children.

Older women wearing white in honour of suffrage and all the women before them who could not imagine being able to vote for a female president.

Women who don't own suits borrowing their husbands' for the day.

Husbands wearing their wive's pantsuits to head to the polls.

A father honouring his daughter who died while serving in the military.

And story upon story upon story that remind me of the love and compassion I know resides in my fellow Americans.

My other dear high school friend (another Lisa!) on the left here, rocking
her blazer and 'Pussy Grabs Back' t-shirt, just back from her weekend
campaigning on the ground in Nevada. Rockstars!

Living abroad this election cycle has been especially difficult. There were many times I wanted to jump on a plane and campaign, door knock, anything to help Clinton win. I have friends who have gotten involved in the campaign, and I am so proud to know them. And I have been incredibly frustrated with the Australian media, which paints a picture of an America so divided that no one should want to live there.

But that's not the America I know.

Of course Americans have different views and opinions, and there are serious issues to be addressed by the next president, but we also value the right to free speech, the right to vote and to have a say more than any other country I know. That doesn't make us divisive, it makes us diverse.

Stories on Pantsuit Nation and the love that filled my facebook feed today remind me of my America, in all her beautiful, diverse, and caring glory. I'm confident we will see this love reflected in polls today.  And if for some reason it's not, I still know that it's there.

I voted weeks ago, but today I'm still pulling out a pantsuit. Sustainable, of course.
Organic cotton blouse and black blazer by KITX, blue Veronika Main trouses, which
are ECA-accredited. You can't see my secondhand black loafers, but if you look closely
on my phone-holding hand, you'll see two rings - wedding rings of my departed grandmothers.
I don't know who they'd be voting for, but I suspect they'd both be thrilled to see a woman on the ballot.


#ImWithHer  #LoveTrumpsHate #PantsuitNation

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