Imagine you’re in a crowded room with famously hot people Cardi B and Ariana Grande. Suddenly Miley Cyrus walks in, accompanied by equally beautiful and brilliant performers Lil Yachty and Willow Smith. International sex symbol Emily Ratajkowski is over in the corner, chatting with Mark Ruffalo and Dave Bautista. The impossibly good-looking comedian Rob Delaney is joking around with Prabal Gurung. Where, exactly, is this magical place where everyone seems to be incredibly attractive and accomplished? Surprise! It’s a Bernie Sanders rally.
Following Ratajkowski’s January 9 Twitter endorsement for Bernie, Twitter users jokingly rejoiced that even the “hot girls” demographic is showing their support. It was around that time that DePaul University student Danaka Katovich glibly tweeted, “I wanna start a hot girls for Bernie group chat or something.” Encouraged by friends Hadiya Afzal and Jaya Sundaresh, the group text formed, and the social media campaign #HotGirlsForBernie was hatched.
To raise money for the campaign, a viral movement would need to be started, like a “Sexy Cop Calendar,” but paperless, online, and probably devoid of cops. The call to action was simple: on January 24, “Post a selfie with the hashtag #HotGirlsForBernie” to “join forces with our reply guys and hot girls around the country to get Bernie Sanders elected.” To be clear: “You are hot if you support Bernie. Down with billionaires and conventional standards of beauty.”
IamcardibNot me, US. Thank you Senator Bernie Sanders for sitting with me and sharing your plans on how you will change this country. A couple of weeks ago I asked my followers if you had the opportunity to have a question answered by a democratic candidate what would it be ? I got a lot of submission and selected the most popular questions to get answered. Stay tuned to see how he will fight for economic, racial, and social justice for all. Together, let’s build a movement of young people to transform this country.LETS LEARN OUR CANDIDATES!
On the 24th, #HotGirlsForBernie trended, with hundreds of selfies making the timeline rounds. “Hot” was deemed not prescriptive, but a state of being, a way of flexing the diversity and non-heteronormity of female, trans, and non-binary people who have Sanders’ vote. “If you wanna be hot, just be hot,” tweeted Hadiya next to her submission.
Of course, people who get paid to be beautiful—models, actors, and Instagram influencers—posted their support as well, and we love that for them. But one thing became clear: while the Trumps made their money literally ranking women on a scale from 1-10, beauty for Sanders supporters is in the eye of the Bern-holder.
In an interview with Vox, Afzal expressed hope that the hashtag would “counter a super-frustrating ‘Bernie Bro’ narrative that we keep seeing over and over again — a narrative that erases the support of a lot of women.” Since before the 2016 election, the media has painted Sanders supporters as white, male, bearded and harassy. But November 2019 polling data indicates that among supporters under age 45, females make up a majority of his base, and he is the leading candidate choice for people of color.
Still, men are continuing to feel the Bern. Today, January 31, is #HotBoysForBernie day. “Everyone who supports Bernie is hot, so do not hesitate to participate,” the call to action tweet reads. Founder Danaka is just hoping that the boys who do post “get harassed less than we did,” citing trolly, fatphobic, and sexist responses that flooded their replies. Ah, being a hot girl on the Internet sure is fun.
As Monday’s Iowa Caucus nears, who knows if the #HotBoys and #HotGirls movement will have any actual sway in the polls. As of this writing, Senator Sanders is the frontrunner, with Vice President Joe Biden just trailing him, so it’s crucial for any thotty cornfed Hawkeyes to flex their farm abs on the internet. And with February 11th’s New Hampshire primary kicking off voting, I look forward to every lefty Dartmouth boy’s tree-hugging lobster-eating thirst trap on the feed. Because anybody who votes for Bernie is a perfect 10.
