By Shaina Selvaraju ’17

Named after Hillary Clinton’s signature style, the Pantsuit Nation movement began as a private Facebook group created by Libby Chamberlain, a Hillary supporter from Brooklin, Maine, on October 20, 2016. According to their website, the movement serves to “amplify the voices of those who have historically been underrepresented or excluded,” by “inviting conversation – true conversation – about the issues that are most fundamental to us and our identities.”

Pantsuit Nation started as a private Facebook group with the simple intention to share common opinions and support Clinton during the election. While Clinton was campaigning, it had over 3 million supporters that helped to raise more than $140,000. However, despite the result of the election, Pantsuit Nation still progresses with their movement by taking a new approach.

“Now that Trump is elected, Hillary’s supporters have worked together in order to try to implement positive change. The protests after Trump’s election may not have impeached him from presidency, but they did allow for Hillary’s supporters and other Americans to be vocal about what they wanted,” Hallie Spear ’18 said.

Hillary Clinton personally addressed the Facebook group on Nov. 9 during her concession speech, saying, “To the millions of volunteers, community leaders, activists and union organizers who knocked on doors, talked to their neighbors, posted on Facebook — even in secret private Facebook sites. I want everybody coming out from behind that and make sure your voices are heard going forward.” After her speech, the group started gaining publicity. They now have a public Facebook page that has over 95,000 likes and a website with a manifesto that states their new ambitions to uphold Clinton’s values and to become an outlet for those who aren’t heard.

Many of those who are a part of Pantsuit Nation call themselves “a silent majority.” Originally coined by President Nixon in 1969 to represent those who were not publically represented to be Nixon policy supporters, the term has recently been used to refer to those who secretly supported President-Elect, Donald Trump, during this past election. However, despite this initial connotation, Pantsuit Nation supporters are trying to redefine the silent majority as a group of people who feel as if they did not say enough before the election and wish to do something about it now.

“I think it carries a strong purpose, some people really depend on the group as their support, their guidance,” Emma Rojas ’18 said. Rojas supports the movement because she chooses to “support all women, it’s not so much about Trump or Hillary, [it] is about people sticking together for what they believe in.”

Though the movement now has been revealed to the public, Pantsuit Nation continues to build their reputation to gain support in order to represent a wider scope of people. As said in their new manifesto, they hope to gather a following who will be “committed to carrying out thoughtful, forward-thinking actions, whether it’s confronting a bully, volunteering at a local nonprofit, donating money to an important cause, or extending a simple kindness to another person.”