some pantsuits were white, in tribute to the dresses of the suffragists. others were mismatched or borrowed. many were fished out of the back of a closet, along with a memory of a long-lost job or a somber occasion. these suits were redeployed by thousands of american women on election day, when taking a photo of yourself in a pantsuit and posting it to the <u+201c>secret<u+201d> facebook group pantsuit nation became the digital equivalent of slapping an <u+201c>i voted<u+201d> sticker on a lapel. <u+201c>they<u+2019>re coming in at about 1,000 every few minutes,<u+201d> libby chamberlain, the founder of the group, said of the social media posts. <u+201c>we have over 20,000 posts that are waiting to be approved. we have dozens of moderators and they can<u+2019>t keep up.<u+201d> <u+201c>it<u+2019>s intense,<u+201d> she added. ms. chamberlain, 33, created pantsuit nation to support hillary clinton , the democratic presidential nominee, less than three weeks ago. since then, more than 2.5 million people have joined the group <u+2014> which is invitation only <u+2014> and have reported donating more than $216,000 through the pantsuit nation fund-raising drive. but even that growth didn<u+2019>t prepare the group<u+2019>s organizers for the explosive activity on tuesday. people, mainly women, posted photos of their daughters wearing <u+201c>future president<u+201d> t-shirts or creating an <u+201c>h<u+201d> with their bodies. they posted images and memories of their pioneering grandmothers, like an early airplane pilot. many thanked the group for the virtual support it provided when they went to their polling places in mostly red states. these users called themselves <u+201c>blue dots.<u+201d> <u+201c>there was a post from an 18-year-old who went to vote with her 91-year-old grandmother,<u+201d> ms. chamberlain said. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s a montage of every sappy thing you<u+2019>ve ever seen about america. only these are real people, in their own voices, and i think it<u+2019>s a picture of the real diversity in the country.<u+201d> a member of pantsuit nation, who says she runs the digital operations for hillary for america, shared a message from mrs. clinton to the group: <u+201c>i wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart. this election hasn<u+2019>t been easy: it<u+2019>s been long, hard-fought, and at times it made us question who we are as americans. <u+201c>for some of you, it<u+2019>s been difficult to feel like you could wear your support on your sleeve <u+2014> and that<u+2019>s why this community has been such a special place.<u+201d> she added: <u+201c>i<u+2019>m honored and humbled to have all of you with me, but i<u+2019>m even prouder to see this community represent the best of america.<u+201d> ms. chamberlain is a mother of two young children who has two part-time jobs in school administration in rural maine. she said she had formed the facebook group to create a space to celebrate the historic possibility of the first female president. the response, she said, reflected a need for positivity during a cynical, often dispiriting, campaign. kristin williams, 33, a member from raleigh, n.c., said in a phone interview: <u+201c>it did sort of revive my spirit. i didn<u+2019>t believe in <u+2018>election depression<u+2019> until i realized it was happening to me. i<u+2019>ve cut ties with my family, or rather, they<u+2019>ve cut ties with me.<u+201d> ms. williams, an assistant professor of sociology, described her family as <u+201c>very conservative.<u+201d> she dressed in a pantsuit and a bandanna, like rosie the riveter, when she went to vote. she posted a selfie on the group<u+2019>s facebook page with the caption, <u+201c>i walked through a sea of trump supporters to vote today, proudly and emotionally, for her.<u+201d> ms. williams added in the interview: <u+201c>someone thanked me, in the comments, for being a strong woman. how often do we say that to one another, in real life? that<u+2019>s been the biggest benefit. this group brings out the supportive side of women.<u+201d> the stated goal of pantsuit nation is to express support for mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign, but it has also served as a forum to discuss the issues raised by the rhetoric of her opponent, donald j. trump. many members have embraced the tropes of the trump campaign, like <u+201c>bad hombres<u+201d> and <u+201c>nasty woman.<u+201d> <u+201c>this nasty woman proudly voted in forsyth county, georgia, one of the few republican strongholds in metro atlanta!<u+201d> wrote fatu forna, 40, a physician and chief of department at a large medical organization. <u+201c>i am a proud immigrant, doctor, author, taxpayer, mother and, over all, nasty woman!<u+201d> ms. forna, originally from sierra leone, wore a gray pantsuit and a pink shirt on tuesday. she said in an interview: <u+201c>i sat in my car and took a picture. i<u+2019>m proud to be a nasty woman because a lot of times women in my position are minimized for being powerful; they are put down.<u+201d> ms. chamberlain said that she didn<u+2019>t have any data on the demographics of the group members, but added that the posts revealed a broad range in age, ethnicity and even political leanings. <u+201c>we have lifelong republicans who are voting for hillary, lefty liberals and everything in between,<u+201d> she said, adding, <u+201c>people are chiming in from around the world <u+2014> expats, or people saying we<u+2019>re supporting you, thank you for supporting hillary, because it affects us, too.<u+201d> the group has spawned unofficial splinter groups, including pantsuit nation canada, that ms. chamberlain said revealed future possibilities. <u+201c>people are doing it on their own, unsanctioned,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>i love the idea that this could influence policy in the future, and to do that we need a network of regional and state groups.<u+201d> in the meantime, she has her hands full just trying to get the election day posts up, she said. often, despite the quantity of them, she said, one would make her stop and stare. many women who posted were not in stereotypical pantsuits. <u+201c>does this count as a pantsuit?<u+201d> asked a member in new jersey. she was wearing military fatigues. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the morning briefing newsletter .
pantsuit nation, a <u+2018>secret<u+2019> facebook hub, celebrates clinton
annie correal