All About the Blue Bracelet Movement Taking Over Social Media Post-Election
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America is reeling from the results of the 2024 election. According to exit polls from the Washington Post, 45 percent of women voters cast a ballot for Donald Trump in the election on Tuesday. And 53 percent of white women voted red. These numbers have left those who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris hoping to send an outward signal to others that they're different. That signal, according to TikTok, is a blue friendship bracelet.
What is the blue bracelet movement?
Although it's unclear who first brought up the idea, multiple blue bracelet videos have gone viral on TikTok in the days since the election. "We won't go back. Women are safer together. Blue bracelet movement," reads the text on one of the preeminent videos, showing a mom going to a craft store to buy materials for bracelets, which now has 4.6 million views. It's set to the song "labour" by Paris Paloma, which addresses gender inequality.
"As a girl born and raised in a red state, I need to find my blue bracelet friends asap," one supporter commented on the post." Another: "Thank you for the idea! I'm in Delaware too and although we were blue, I still want people to know I'm safe." Many of the other videos, and comments on those videos, relay the same message of solidarity, and the hope that the bracelets will signal to those around them that people can look to them for safety, knowing they do not stand with Donald Trump, and are against his racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and other hateful values.
Backlash against the movement.
Some creators, however, are speaking out against the idea, saying that the bracelets are performative, or virtue signaling (when people take actions to make themselves appear good, without necessarily actually doing the work or truly caring about the cause). Some are comparing the idea to the black boxes many white women posted on Instagram in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement. Others have expressed fear that the bracelets might put a target on people's backs. Many suggested buying a blue bracelet from a Black business owner, if you're going to participate. And almost everyone remarked that the bracelets must be paired with further action to have any value whatsoever.
"The bracelet can be covered," a creator says in one video. "You wanna show that you're one of the good ones? Be one of the good ones. Do the work. Have the difficult conversation with your friends, with your families, with your children."
"White women, aspire to be the kind of person who does not need a blue bracelet," urges another. "I want to know that you are a good and safe and progressive person because I have seen you stand up for people. Because I have seen you at the protests, doing the work, going door to door, knocking on doors, being a real activist."
What should you do?
The feelings of the people impacted by this election are not monolith and there's no consensus on whether or not the blue bracelets are good or bad, though it is clear that some people are comforted by seeing them on strangers. If you'd like to wear one, you can do that. Regardless of if you're wearing a blue bracelet, continue to fight for your neighbors daily and consider donating to or otherwise supporting organizations that advocate for those who will be most impacted by the election results. That includes these resources for women and girls around the world, LGBTQ+ charities, the ACLU, the NAACP, the Loveland Foundation, Equal Justice Initiative, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, Emergency Release Fund, and more.
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