Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Please, We Don't Need Your Blue Bracelets
Marie Claire ^ | 11/13/24 | Maria Santa Poggi

Posted on 11/18/2024 2:38:12 AM PST by EBH

After Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 election, TikTok creators began crafting “allyship” accessories as a show of solidarity with people of color. Instead, they left marginalized voices feeling unseen.

It began after a contentious election, when Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to become the next president of the United States. That's when TikTok got to talking. “Fellow white women, how are we signaling to each other now which side we are on?” said content creator Libby Louwagie, who goes by Libby Rae Lou on the platform.

What followed was a quickly-hatched plan by left-leaning white Democrat and liberal women who voted for Harris to display their allyship through, somewhat curiously, DIY crafts. Specifically, friendship bracelets with blue beads and blue string. The thinking was that, when out in public, you could easily identify who is a Trump supporter and who is not by checking their wrist for a flash of blue jewelry.

The idea took off. On TikTok, content creator @witchywoosel’s video promoting the blue bracelet friendship movement racked up 5.1 million views. She and other supporters saw it as a symbol of solidarity with people of color against the backdrop of an election that sparked an uptick in racist harassment and virtual attacks on women. For white women, the blue bracelets also served another purpose: to separate themselves from those white women; the 53 percent who cast their ballots for Trump, despite accusations of sexual abuse and his previous term in office where he led the charge on rolling back reproductive freedoms.

But over the weekend, as videos of women stringing together their blue friendship bracelets gained millions of views, things began unraveling. The tenor of the conversation changed. While the bracelets were initially embraced by some online as a symbol of support, a sign that the wearer was a "safe person," others quickly called the method another gimmicky form of performative virtue signaling.

“I see the bracelets, and other physical symbols like it, as a call by white people to be reassured by marginalized communities,” says news and entertainment content creator Kellie Chudzinsk. “It’s no one’s job to validate your morals or character.”

The blue friendship bracelet is hardly the first form of empty allyship to arise in response to a Trump election. In 2017, thousands attended the Women’s March, a protest the day after Trump’s first inauguration, wearing homemade pink caps. The so-called “pink pussy hats” were intended to be a sign of resistance, inspired by Donald Trump's bragging about sexually assaulting women on Hollywood Access. However, they demonstrated a very narrow expression of who faces oppression by only representing genitals that are pink (white women)—inherently excluding women of color, trans women, and those who are nonbinary. It centered on whiteness as the only demographic that faced women’s rights violations, and wearing one didn't necessarily come with tangible action to support all women.

It happened again in June 2020, when in response to the brutal murder of George Floyd by a white police officer, many white social media users took to Instagram to post an image of an empty black square—co-opting a movement started by two Black women to raise awareness of the music industry profiting off Black artists. The posts, which used hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #BLM, also drowned out crucial information shared by organizers, including where to protest and donate. It ultimately became another example of performative allyship that lacked any meaningful action to truly support the cause.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Humor
KEYWORDS: apackoflies; blewbracelet; blewbracelets; bluebracelet; bluebracelets; identitypolitics; kelliechudzinsk; libbylouwagie; libbyraelou; mariasantapoggi; mariathgenutter; marieclaire; pinkhats; tds; tdsidiocy; witchywoosel; youcantfixstupid
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 last
To: EBH
Personally I think the best way these women can signal that they are not a Trump voter is to get an image of Trump with a big red "X" over it tattooed to their foreheads.

This will unmistakeably signal to the rest of us that they did not vote for Trump. They will be easy to spot in crowds, on subways, supermarkets, etc.

41 posted on 11/18/2024 6:10:12 AM PST by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH
Instead, they left marginalized voices feeling unseen.

Feeling UNHEARD, sheesh.

War of the cliches...

42 posted on 11/18/2024 7:35:47 AM PST by hellinahandcart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH
However, they demonstrated a very narrow expression of who faces oppression by only representing genitals that are pink (white women)

Guess what, Marie Claire, they are all pink on the inside.

43 posted on 11/18/2024 8:22:15 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH

It’s kind of a bummer if you like to wear jewelry you can’t wear a blue bracelet now without sending an unintended message


44 posted on 11/18/2024 10:06:07 AM PST by Persevero (You cannot comply your way out of tyranny. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH
These are the only blue bracelets you should be wearing:


45 posted on 11/18/2024 12:15:54 PM PST by Paal Gulli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH

Blue bracelets help us to more quickly identify the mentally ill.


46 posted on 11/18/2024 1:08:55 PM PST by Tudorfly (All things are possible within the will of God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tudorfly
"Blue bracelets help us to more quickly identify the mentally ill."

You're thinking of tattoos.

47 posted on 11/18/2024 2:22:07 PM PST by Paal Gulli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: EBH

The writer makes a good point.

The only valid way to show equal solidarity with all leftist causes is to set fire to yourself in the town square.

Lol.


48 posted on 11/18/2024 2:25:08 PM PST by cgbg (It is time to pull the Deep State out of the mass media--like ticks from a dog.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson