Trumped Up Sexism: What Live Tweets from the 2016 Presidential Debates Reveal about Cultural Anxieties Concerning Gender Equality

In an effort to close out a large project studying the ways in which cultural anxieties play out across televisual genres, I decided to study the coverage of the 2016 presidential election – specifically the live tweets from the first presidential debate.  (My friends have deemed me an academic masochist.)  With all of the attention on the ways in which gender stereotypes have plagued Clinton’s political career, I wanted to study the ways that sexism directed at Clinton would manifest itself in live tweets and the ways in which her supporters would take to the communication platform to try to combat it.  However, the presidential election being an unwieldy moving cultural micro-organism, the conversation quickly pivoted away from Clinton’s gender (and the discrimination she faced because of it) and began to focus to more on Trump’s misogynistic behavior. Toward the end of the first debate, Clinton sparked the conversation surrounding Trump’s long history of sexist behavior when she broached the subject of Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe contestant who Trump had fat shamed after she gained weight following her crowning.   The tweets analyzed in this study represent but the first moments of attention to Trump’s sexual abuse that would factor heavily into the media coverage preceding and following the election. 

Research Questions & Methodology for Twitter Analysis

To study live tweets from the first presidential debate, attending to the ways in which they reflect cultural anxieties surrounding the gender equality, I focused my analysis on tweets that reinforce or counter sexist views in order to answer the following research questions: 

RQ 1) How do cultural sentiments concerning gender (particularly sexism and animosity toward

feminism) appear within the live tweets from the Presidential Debate?

RQ 2) What strategies were used to combat sexist rhetoric (present in either the live broadcast or the Twitter feed) by live tweeting viewers?

Twitter data was collected on September 26^th from 9:00pm-10:45pm EST during the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump – the debate that broke records as the most watched in U.S. History with over 80 million viewers.  Live tweets associated with the hashtag #debatenight were scraped (i.e., collected) using NodeXL – a program that gathers all tweets associated with a specific hashtag. Because of the quantity of live tweets produced during the debate, and limits placed on the amount of tweets which can be collected, data was collected six times (every 10-15 minutes) during the debate.  The data pool includes original posts, retweets, and replies in order to include posts that were made throughout the debate and not just at these six intervals.  The results of this primary data pool consisted of 13,231 tweets. In order to gain a more comprehensive overview of the tweets associated with this debate, and to see the ways in which the conversation continued in the hours following it, additional tweets were gathered through keyword searches under this hashtag through Twitter’s Advanced Search option.  This secondary data pool consisted of 675 tweets.

Discussion of Findings from Original Twitter Collection

Consistent with other research on social media for this campaign, Trump dominated the discussion on Twitter on this specific night.  Out of the 13,000 plus tweets, direct references to Trump appeared 8362 times (63.2%), whereas direct references to Clinton appeared only 6236 times (47.1%). This dominance extended into the subset of tweets focused on here:  tweets that reinforced or rejected sexism.  

In order to locate the types of sexist rhetoric that was commonly directed at Hillary Clinton, I first attended to two broad categories of tweets:  those that discussed her personality and those that commented on her physical appearance.  Concerning the former, the majority of the negative tweets associated with Clinton expectedly portrayed her as being overly poised (“fake,” “scripted”), emotionally distant (“robotic”), unlikable (“shrill”, “bore”), elitist (“smug,” “holier than tho”), and ambitious (having a “thirst for power”) (see Figure 1).  These descriptions align with the research concerning the adjectives often used to describe strong female women (real and fictional alike).  Surprisingly, even compliments directed at Clinton oftentimes had connections to this rhetoric.  While obviously meant as a compliment, noting that she is “chill as hell” inadvertently aligns with the ice queen persona assigned to powerful women.  Likewise, one tweet, assumedly intended as a joke, offered up a new conspiracy about Hillary Clinton, that “she’s not human because she is showing an inhuman amount of self-control and poise” (see Figure 1). Both critiques conform to the discourse surrounding her “robotic” nature, although the later may intend to critique such rhetoric.  Further, posts celebrating the fact that she “emasculated” Trump on stage, also are problematic in that they play into the script for the power-hungry female and the so-called crisis of masculinity plaguing American (see Figure 1).

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
Asamjulian	9/26/2016 9:08pm	Hillary comes so off fake and scripted. #Debates2016 #DebateNight
KyleKulinski	9/26/2016 9:09pm	Hillary sounds aloof and robotic like a standard politician, Trump doesn't. Bad start. #debatenight #Debates2016
Altrightcelt	9/26/2016 9:12pm	#DebateNight Hillary can't help but sound shrill and smug.
Elliottrhams	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Now Clinton is bringing out the claws already. Bad move. #debatenight
BuckSexton	9/26/2016 9:32pm	Hillary Clinton's plan is to bore and scold America into abject submission as POTUS. Just make it stop. #debatenight
freerangewrite	9/26/2016 9:33pm	#debatenight Oh the eye rolling. She reminds me of my mother. Killer. #Debates2016
anash_89	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Here comes the Hillary rehearsed response 😴#debatenight
lauritatellado	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Damn. Hillary is chill as hell. I'll have what she's having, por favor. #Debates2016 #debatenight
Juscohen	9/26/2016 9:36pm	She just emasculated him on stage and it was beautiful #debatenight
SOcean5	9/26/2016 10:08pm	#debates "Holier than thou" there's been no truer line explaining Hillary  #debatenight
TomiLahren	9/26/2016 10:37pm	Hillary will come back from the dead just to attain power. That is all she has in life is a thirst for power. #debatenight
Tay_76	9/26/2016 10:38pm	New conspiracy about Hillary Clinton: she's not human because she is showing an inhuman amount of self control and poise #debatenight

Figure 1 Sample Tweets Critiquing HRC’s Personality

Along with critiques of her personality were those focused on her appearance. The most frequent among these, 62 in total, commented on her attire, a pantsuit, a clothing item most often associated with professional, perhaps feminist, women.  While not all of these were negative (e.g. “Just ironed my Official DNC @HillaryClinton pantsuit to wear as I cheer her on during #debatenight,” gigglechick, 9/26/2016, 3:04pm); “Hilz in her power pant suit. #debatenight #ImWithHer #powerpose #iseered,” Olivia_says, 9/26/2016,9:12pm), many were.  The negative jibes ranged from catch phrases (e.g. “liar liar PANTSUIT on fire #NeverHillary #debatenight,” PannebakerFore4, 9/26/2016, 10:42pm; jokes (e.g. “Hillary's clearly a monster, she's wearing a pantsuit made out of Elmo's skin #debatenight,” MalcolmWHW, 9/26/2016, 9:13pm);  and references to her economic privilege (e.g. “I wonder how much @HillaryClinton's designer pantsuit costs, since she's talking about the 1% and all,” CamCastro14, 9/26/2016, 9:09pm).   The fact that people were musing about the color of Clinton’s pantsuit hours before the debate (e.g. “Inquiring minds want to know: What color of pantsuit will @HillaryClinton be wearing tonight?!! #debatenight,” (HenryCoGOPer, 9/26/2016, 6:07pm) reveals just one of the many ways in which she faced gendered scrutiny that her opponent did not.  Along with these posts focusing on her clothing were tweets focusing on her makeup, her eyebrows, her smile, her accessories (or lack thereof), and her overall perceived energy level (see Figure 2). 

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
TimRunsHisMouth	9/26/2016 9:06pm	I see Hillary went with a Mrs. Claus look instead of Chairman Mao tonight to seem more approachable. #debatenight #TheGreatDebateFox5
PresTheodore	9/26/2016 9:07pm	Hillary Clinton is definitely wearing Kim Jong-un's Christmas suit #debatenight
codyausanders	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Where is your American flag pin @HillaryClinton ?!? Are you not a patriot?!?! #debatenight
Lindseyleveck	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Hilary's makeup artist should have given her more contour & blush. She looks pale...really pale.#ghost #debatenight #contouring #fail
Rafedean	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Hilary's onesie is made of 3000 power ties! #debatenight
lisa_henneman	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Hillary's eyebrows are higher tonight #debatenight
amtucker444	9/26/2016 9:12pm	I wish Hillary would get some sort of eyebrow relaxant so her face is less like her face. #DebateNight
Fcorpaci	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Hillary looks tired. Maybe she needs to take a nap. #SickHillary  #debatenight
markramseysrec7	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Hillarys meds are wearing off. She looks and sounds terrible.  #debatenight
USAforTrump2016	9/26/2016 10:03pm	Hillary wipe that smug smile off your face...you murderer #debates #debatenight
mike92882	9/26/2016 10:13pm	Is it just me, or does it seem Hillary's batteries are running down? #Debate #debatenight
Sleepygramy	9/26/2016 10:13pm	She's like a limp noodle! #debatenight
Adlerdavison	9:19pm	hey @HillaryClinton can I please have your pantsuit so I can go bullfighting #debatenight

Figure 2 Sample Tweets Critiquing HRC’s Appearance

Of course, televised debates lend themselves to observations of the candidate’s appearance, speech, and body language so such comments are not unexpected. However the ways in which they fold in gender stereotypes are noteworthy.  To be fair, Trump received his fair share of tweets critiquing his own appearance.  However, while these were often as mean spirited as those targeting Clinton, they did differ in that the quips about his appearance were not grounded in any stereotypes concerning how a man should present himself (see Figure 3). 

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
JessicaValenti	9/26/2016 9:08pm	Someone told Trump to stay still and he's having a hard time with it #debatenight
robyns323	9/26/2016 9:12pm	#Trump has his 'bring it biotch' game face on. #debatenight
ch00chelo	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Is it me or does Trump looks less orange than usual tonight? #debatenight
joshua_ariza	9/26/2016 9:12pm	Donald Trump's hair is like a bootleg version of Hillary's hair. #debatenight
stedd1177	9/26/2016 9:36pm	YES the Trump faces have returned!! #DebateNight
heidibrander	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Kudos to Hillary Clinton for shaking Trump's hand even though he's got DOUBLE PINKEYE! #debatenight
h6yd6n6	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Orange is the new Hitler #DebateNight
emily_gerds	9/26/2016 9:36pm	Trump's hair looks like the aftermath of a 7 yr old "brushing" through a tangled American Girl doll's hair #debatenight

Figure 3 Sample Tweets Critiquing Trump’s Appearance

Accompanying more implicit sexist comments concerning Clinton’s appearance and personality were more explicit sexist remarks.  For example, one recurrent theme throughout the night was her husband’s infidelity (see Figure 4).  While the tweets did not always mention Hillary Clinton specifically, they join the broader rhetoric that she herself was (at least partially) to blame for Bill Clinton’s past sexual indiscretions.  Her opponent amplified this discourse in the early months of the election when he retweeted the post “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?” (Ames and Burcon 217).  Comments like these that allude to Clinton’s supposed lack of sexual appeal underscore the ways in which ageism and sexism combine to undermine women.  And while we might at least take some comfort in the fact that Clinton not often sexualized in Twitter posts – another strategy used to undercut a woman’s power – there was the rouge comment here or there that reveal that any woman is subject to random sexual commentary (e.g. “I wonder if Hillary sexts #debatenight,”” (barstoolnate, 9/26/2016, 10:13pm).

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
HillarysCrooked	9/26/2016 9:03pm	The Clintons were just introduced - the only family with more drama than the Kardashians.#debate2016 #debatenight
Tedheller	9/26/2016 9:36pm	The words "Monica Lewinski" are bouncing around his larynx right now just dying to get out. #debatenight
Nicoleeeliz	9/26/2016 10:36pm	"Trump loves hanging around beauty pageants." So does YOUR husband Hillary. #debatenight
mrniceguyvsop	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Is Bill still getting that Lewinsky??#debatenight
Jemelehill	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Was Trump about to pull the Lewinsky card? #debatenight
alpha456	9/26/2016 10:38pm	#debatenight Ur a liar @HillaryClinton u stood against women ur husband raped #WarOnWomen
imnotscotwalker	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Bill Clinton *also* likes hanging around women. Ijs. #SerialSexualAssaulter #debatenight
JGalt09	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Hillary Clinton called Bill's many women bimbos and trailer trash. #debatenight

Figure 4 Sample Tweets Discussing Bill Clinton’s Infidelity

In terms of blatant gendered slurs, there were fewer than expected present within the debate’s live tweeting stream.  More mild instances characterized her as a witch (e.g. “Hillary is just missing her witch's broom tonight. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Watch out. Make America great again! #debatenight,” hannysan_xo, 9/26/2016, 10:38pm), but others involved more vulgar language (e.g. “Release your emails, bitch. #debatenight,” (@mikemikedc777, 9/26/2016, 9:36pm; “#debatenight Bitch!! You armed ISIL! Is she insane?” teslintobe, 9/26/2016, 10:13pm; “The Whore of The Wall Street is mocking the Wall Street? #debatenight #debates #Debates2016,” America_1st_, 9/26/2106, 9:18pm). Of course, instances of such slurs are not surprising as it has been well documented that Internet communication makes such inflammatory sexist language more prevalent.

While many user’s stances on feminism might be deduced from their language concerning Clinton, some pointedly critiqued the movement (or Clinton’s role as its current figurehead).  As such, tweets specifically mentioning feminism, misogyny, and sexism were not always doing so in a pro-Clinton fashion.  A subset of these were critical of the ways in which her campaign used the so-called “woman card.”  Some parroted the oft-made argument that voting for a woman simply because she was a woman wasn’t feminism.  And others brought up the fact that Trump was the first presidential candidate to hire a woman to be his campaign manager as evidence of progress in the women’s movement (and perhaps as an implied argument that this choice should then prevent him from being labeled as sexist) (see Figure 5).  Others outrageously suggested that Trump’s treatment of Clinton was evidence of feminism’s success: “Surely it's a win for feminism that Trump feels able to attack his opponent, without chivalry, as if her gender was irrelevant? #debatenight,” (timothy_stanley            9/26/2016 10:34pm). The reframing of Trump’s misogynistic behavior as a positive move away from an outdated model of “chivalry” is representative of post-feminism sentiments that work to solidify the problematic notion that feminism itself is antiquated.  And, of course, there were posts that flat out expressed their disregard for the women’s movement in less tactful ways (see the hashtag #feminismiscancer in Figure 5).

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
Samantha_uren23	9/26/2016 7:35pm	A woman president would be amazing. But to vote 4 her becuz she's a woman isn't #feminism... know the facts and get educated. #debatenight
Yvonne2016MAGA	9/26/2016 9:01pm	Wow the 1st rigged primary elected female candidate for president #debatenight about to begin yay! for feminism?
TomiLahren	9/26/2016 10:35pm	Oh Hillary don't you even go there with the woman card. Don't even crack that can of worms. #debatenight
DLoesch	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Clinton playing that #Vagina2016 card. #debatenight
LilithLovett	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Oops, Hillary pulling the "Sexist, misogynist" card, time to take another shot.
Michael_Voris	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Trump is the first presidential candidate to have a woman as his campaign manager. #Feminism #debatenight
Muhfeelz	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Hillary thinks women should get equal pay, but not have to do equal work? #debates #debatenight #feminismiscancer
alli_dance1999	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Of course they would bring up the sexism card... #debatenight #Debates2016

Figure 5 Sample Tweets Critiquing (Attention to/Portrayal of/Concept of) Feminism

Despite this subset of tweets that rejected any positive association with Hillary as a champion or representative for feminism, the vast majority of the tweets including the words feminism, sexism, misogyny, patriarchy, or double standards seemed to be using this labeling strategy as a means to engage in a form of feminist digital activism or feminist social education.  These posts (see Figure 6) discussed feminism more broadly, or in relation the election, and tagged specific moments within the debate as instances of misogyny. In terms of frequency of such posts, 54 tweets specifically mentioning sexism, 47 used the term sexist, 41 posts included the term feminism, 54 tweets included the word misogyny, and 28 referenced patriarchy.  Some of these took the form of direct addresses.  For example, many posts specifically integrated Hillary Clinton’s Twitter handle to comment on the ways in which she personally was experiencing and/or combatting sexism (e.g.“As a woman who's endured 50 years of sexism and misogyny, I want to thank @HillaryClinton for standing up for all of us. #DebateNight (bluebelletrist, 9/27/2016, 12:13am).  But more common were relational posts wherein viewers of the debate referenced the ways in which the sexism directed at Clinton mirrored their own experiences (see Figure 6). Arguably, the popularity of feminist cultural critic, Jessica Valenti’s, post encapsulating this issue – the post received 4533 likes and 2917 retweets – proves how much Clinton’s experiences on the stage resonated with female viewers watching at home:  “A lot of women watching are going to recognize the way that he's interrupting her & yelling #debatenight” (9/26/2016, 9:26pm).

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
SikhProf	9/26/2016, 7:49pm	My #DebateNight prediction: Man will speak nonsense. We will excuse him. Woman will slip up slightly. We will skewer her. (See: sexism)
Johnbrougher	9/26/2016, 8:34pm	no matter what happens tonight, it looks like the real winner will (of course) be sexism and patriarchy. #debatenight
emmaladyrose	9/26/2016 9:04pm	"First time there's been a woman on this debate stage..." Let that sink in. #debatenight
somethingmonica	9/26/2016 9:07pm	That Hillary's legitimacy has to be juxtaposed to Trump is a real freaking tragedy for feminism #debatenight
AAUWTX	9/26/2016 9:08pm	Equal pay and family paid leave mentioned in the first few moments of the debate. #debatenight #feminism
edutinker	9/26/2016 9:12pm	She's calling him "Donald" to un-sexist her getting called "Hillary", right? #Debates2016 #debatenight
girlactor	9/26/2016 9:27pm	I love watching a strong woman smile and stay calm while a man screams nonsense over her. #debatenight
minaradman	9/26/2016 9:28pm	Donald yelling over Hillary is a metaphor for the patriarchy and how men have treated women for decades #debatenight
TamaraLChambers	9/26/2016 9:29pm	Girl: I have a feeling I'll be blamed for everything by the end of the night. Guy: WHY NOT 😩😤😭#debatenight #feminism
crissteding	9/26/2016  9:29pm	All women recognize Hilary's please-stop-talking-over-me-asshole smile. #debatenight
TBombin	9/26/2016 9:30pm	Donald Trump is literally the patriarchy personified into one horrible person #debatenight
realtrueheather	9/26/2016 9:35pm	In case u don't live in the oppressive structures of sexism and misogyny now u get to watch it live on tv #debatenight
Aidan	9/26/2016 9:36pm	a rude white man not letting a women speak, what's new #debatenight
piacreyes	9/26/2016 9:36pm	New drinking game: every time Trump interrupts Clinton everyone takes a shot #debatenight
sammitche	9/26/2016 9:59pm	A white female in a position of power standing up for male poc is feminism. #debatenight
everywhereist	9/26/2016 10:01pm	As a woman, this feels so personal b/c I've felt this sort condescension from men before.
EmilyLindin	9/26/2016 10:11pm	This debate should go down in history as the moment everyone realized that we need more women in leadership #debatenight
VictoriaAveyard	9/26/2016 10:11pm	Trump has never been forced to listen to or allow a woman to speak this long in his entire life. #debatenight
juliarosen	9/26/2016 10:13pm	Lull right now. Guess I got used to Trump shouting over Hillary. #debatenight #normalizingsexism
raymita	9/26/2016 10:13pm	Secretary Clinton made women’s rights an international issue: fighting sex trafficking, child marriage, and sexual violence. #DebateNight
Romper	9/26/2016 10:25pm	Pouring one out for every woman who has been criticized for her "temperament" by a screaming man.
wtflanksteak	9/26/2016 10:35pm	"Until he [LISTS RESUME], he can talk to me about stamina." EVERY FUCKING WOMAN JUST FELT HER HEART GROW.#debatenight
brosandprose	9/26/2016 10:35pm	When a woman is more qualified, it's deemed "bad experience." I see you, Donald. I see you. #debatenight #sheslays
DylanRatigan	9/26/2016 10:36pm	His misogyny. This is where she correctly kills him. #debatenight
TeaPartyCat	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Trump: "I never said all these demeaning things about dumb ugly bitches that Hillary claims I did."
mess_ofme	9/26/2016 10:36pm	"It's okay that I said rude and sexist things against Rosie O'Donnell because she was mean to me." #temperament #debate2016 #debatenight
Jackie_Emerson	9/26/2016 10:36pm	YES @HillaryClinton calling out @realDonaldTrump's BLATANT SEXISM. #debatenight
realsesmith	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Secretary Clinton brings up Trump's sexism while Trump tries to mansplain her. Thanks for proving the point! #debatenight
deweysnotdead	9/26/2016 10:36pm	@HillaryClinton tearing down the patriarchy, y'all #debatenight
wtflanksteak	9/26/2016 10:37pm	Every woman is relating to this debate in a painful and emotional way right now.
msrita68	9/26/2016 10:38pm	So he is doubling down on his sexism...this is unreal #debatenight https://t.co/bC3NDWe3SI
bo0tlegfendi	9/26/2016 10:38pm	trump is such a sexist pig its disgusting #debatenight
cottagedogs	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Agreed. We've come too far as a nation to elect a #racist #misogynist. #americaisalreadygreat #debatenight
justplainjess1	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Trump: I was going to say something VERY AWFUL about Hillary but I didn't. HALLELUJAH SEXISM IS OVER!! #DebateNight
chicagojewlz	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton doesn't have the penis, i mean look, to be president. Which is apparently orange. #debatenight #Debates2016
allistewart	9/26/2016 10:38pm	Would Hillary be expected to be nice if she were a man? #debates #debatenight #sexism #unconsciousbias #consciousbias
LiberalMmama	9/26/2016 10:57pm	Hillary calmly explains Trump's misogyny. Trump interrupts 2x&then randomly attacks Rosie O'Donnell. #debatenight #TrumpHatesWomen

Figure 6 Sample Tweets Discussing Feminism, Patriarchy, Misogyny, and Double Standards

RQ 2) What strategies were used to combat sexist rhetoric (present in either the live broadcast or the Twitter feed) by live tweeting viewers?

Labeling was simply one strategy used by Twitter users to draw attention to and resist sexist rhetoric.  Since Twitter privileges humorous tweets (in that they circulate more frequently), many of the successful strategies – in terms of bringing visibility to the critique at hand – used by users to address sexism took on the form of jokes.  One popular strategy was subversive tweets that coopted common sexist commentary in order to amplify and counter the stereotypes contained within them.  The most prevalent collection of these tweets reframed or redirected the misogynistic advice that women should be outwardly friendly.  As can be seen in Figure 7, many users sarcastically posted direct addresses to Donald Trump, encouraging him to “smile more.”  Many of these posts critiqued multiple instances of sexism at the same time by also addressing expectations that women should be serve in domestic roles (e.g. “make us some sandwiches”), avoid “shrieking” or nagging, not be “emotional,” and be, of course, and be pretty (See Figure 7).

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
OhNoSheTwitnt	9/26/2016 8:38pm	Hillary should smile more and not raise her voice. Maybe bring us coffee. Also would it kill her to make us some sandwiches? #debatenight
MileyMalfoy	9/26/2016 9:09pm	@realDonaldTrump You should smile more. You'd be prettier if you smiled. #yesallwomen #ImWithHer #debatenight
RaquelEvita	9/26/2016 9:09pm	Donald, why do you look so tired? Why don't you smile? #debatenight
Jeremyscheuch	9/26/2016 9:10pm	What's up with @realDonaldTrump's outfit and naggy voice? He should smile more. #debatenight
frdmfightr	9/26/2016 9:12pm	He would be friendlier if he smiled. #debatenight
dianelyssa	9/26/2016 9:27pm	Why are you so angry, @realDonaldTrump? You should stop shrieking. Smile more. #debatenight
ClinicEscort	9/26/2016 9:29pm	Men get so EMOTIONAL. Possibly, @realdonaldtrump should smile more. #debatenight
erinlooney11b	9/26/2016 10:03pm	My brother: "Listen, #Hillary. Next time, don't smile so big when he's making an ass out of himself." #debatenight
ElayneBoosler	9/26/2016 10:07pm	How come no one told HIM to "smile more"? #knowyoursexism #debatenight
JessicaValenti	9/26/2016 10:25pm	Donald really should smile more. #debatenight
rickporter	9/26/2016 10:27pm	Don, smile more. Don’t shout so much. Show us that “winning” temperament. #debatenight And maybe don’t grip the podium so hard.
IanGonzales	9/26/2016 10:37pm	Wow @realDonaldTrump, you're sounding pretty shrill there. Maybe you should smile more. #Debates2016 #debatenight

Figure 7 Sample Tweets Subversive Tweets Commenting on the Gendered Directive to Smile

In total, 75 tweets focused on the smiles of the candidates or the moderators in order to carry out their social critique.

Another instance of repurposing sexist rhetoric took on the form of tweets wherein Clinton’s status as a grandmother was highlighted.  As alluded to earlier, Clinton faced ageist critiques concerning whether an older woman could serve as commander in chief with people posing questions about whether her status as a grandmother or post-menopausal woman would impede her abilities to lead (Ames and Burcon 152, 218).  Concerning the latter, TIME magazine “dealt Clinton the supreme backhanded compliment of declaring her ‘The Perfect Age to be President’, before going into great detail about the ‘hormonal ebbing’ she might be experiencing” at this stage in her life (Bates).  With rhetoric such as this circulating in the media, I expected to find tweets that negatively attended to Clinton’s age or labeled her as a grandmother as a form of insult.  Surprisingly, there were relatively few of these (e.g. “Grandma looks portly in red #debatenight,” JammieWF, 9/26/2016, 9:06pm; “Can't wait to watch Americas most annoying grandma face off against a giant angry orange,” _GreenEggnSam, 9/26/2016, 7:35pm).  The majority of the tweets that contained variations of the term grandmother did so as a means of praise, or as the form of a benign joke (see Figure 8). By reframing Clinton as a “sassy grandma” and enthusiastically tagging her as a “grandma-in-chief” on Twitter, the power of this ageist rhetoric is diffused ever so slightly.

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
Tyler2ONeil	9/26/2016 9:12pm	"I call it Trump-ed up trickle down."Hillary, you're a grandma. No telling dad jokes. #debatenight
AnnieScott	9/26/2016 9:26pm	Things this #debatenight is like: watching your sassy grandma argue with Comcast
BabeParker	9/26/2016 9:31pm	We know Hillary is a good grandma bc she's unfazed by non sequiturs and tantrums #debatenight
smartashsahm	9/26/2016 9:36pm	That was a KO from a granny in a pant suit @realDonaldTrump & damn we all loved it! #DebateNight
mrdavechild	9/26/2016 10:04pm	I'm in awe of cool grandma #debatenight
JinxAdam	9/26/201610:14pm	Hillary Clinton kinda looks like a grandma who tries to be hip so she buys you cigarettes when you're 15 #debatenight
Kpfallon	9/26/2016 10:23pm	Love when Hillary goes nerdy grandma. "Woo! Ok!" *shimmy shimmy* #debatenight
AdamSmith_usa	9/26/2016 10:36pm	"…he can come talk to me about stamina." YASSSSS GRANDMA-IN-CHEIF #debatenight

Figure 8 Sample Subversive Grandma Tweets

These strategies, as well as many others, were highlighted well at particular moments within the presidential debate.  One of these was when the debate moderator, Lester Holt, gave Trump the opportunity to explain (and potentially retract) his previous comment that Clinton did not have a “presidential look.”  Instead of apologizing for the statement, Trump attempted to explain that he simply meant she did not have the “stamina” to be president – a comment that was likely intended to draw attention to Clinton’s recent bout of pneumonia (which she worked through against medical advice).  Twitter erupted at this moment as users countered with their own critiques of Trump’s perceived levels of energy and/or health, commenting on how much he sniffled, how many glasses he drank, and how pale he was (see Figure 9).  Others posted jokes to show how invalid they found Trump’s claims were (e.g. imagining Clinton completing backflips across the stage while Trump disintegrated).  Still others simply pointed out the long misogynistic history of implying that women were weaker than men (e.g. “Accusing women of ill health has long, anti-feminist history. #debatenight,” womeninhighered, 9/26/2016, 10:38pm). And others turned to information sharing to defend Clinton’s stamina (e.g. “Hillary Clinton went to 112 countries, more than any other Secretary of State before her. That's stamina. #debatenight,”FemMajority, 9/26/2016, 10:34pm; “Hillary Clinton traveled 956,733 miles as Secretary of State. Trump repeatedly dodged Vietnam for "bone spurs." STAMINA, lol. #debatenight,” goldengateblond, 9/26/2016, 10:36pm).

One of the most common strategies used was the use of quoting.  In this instance the retweeting of Clinton’s own response tweeted from her account almost immediately as she said it on stage:  “When Donald Trump spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.” This comment received 44,907 likes and was retweeted 20,393 times.  Although the use of quoting as a form of social commentary can lead to ambiguity as one can only assume the user is quoting because she agrees with the statement, in this case it seems relatively straightforward.

Twitter User	Timestamp	Tweet
thegeorgethomas	9/26/2016 9:12pm	@realDonaldTrump is lookin pale. Are you ok? Sick? Unwell? #debatenight
inkandfolly	9/26/2016 10:03pm	Hey guys, Donnie is sniffling quite a bit. IS HE DYING?  #debatenight
atomic_13	9/26/2016 10:03pm	@HillaryClinton is that sniffle from @realDonaldTrump bothering you? Is he feeling okay? It's bothering me  #debatenight
jilliscol	9/26/2016 10:33pm	Glad that @LesterHoltNBC is calling Trump out on his sexist comments about Hillary's Presidential "look" #ImWithHer #debatenight
slouisehenry	9/26/2016 10:33pm	She doesn't have the presidential look. But you've needed six glasses of water to get through this. #debatenight
Meladoodle	9/26/2016 10:34pm	"She doesn't have the look" says the talking hairy pumpkin man #debatenight
Alicegoldfuss	9/26/2016 10:34pm	Breathless man leans on podium, says woman doesn't have stamina #debatenight
PiaGlenn	9/26/2016 10:34pm	this wild gendered use of "stamina" tho #debatenight
catie_warren	9/26/2016 10:34pm	I physically flinch whenever I hear the "she doesn't have a presidential look" quote. It's 2016. She's a woman. Get over it. #debatenight
asmamk	9/26/2016 10:35pm	Trump just lectured the moderator about the first woman nominated for pres from a major party lacking "stamina" #debatenight
angeli_bean	9/26/2016 10:35pm	Hillary has a whole career's worth of stamina standing up to men like Trump #debatenight
SamDoesPolitics	9/26/2016 10:35pm	"I just don't think she has a Presidential look" says a spray-tanned cheese-puff with a poodle on his head #debatenight
DalDeta	9/26/2016 10:36pm	Trump: "She doesn't have the stamina." *Hillary walks center stage and backflips* *Trump disintegrates* #debatenight
Mariashriver	9/26/2016 10:36pm	She's showing stamina in this debate. She looks damn presidential to me. Smart. Calm. Classy. #debatenight

Figure 9 Sample Tweets Critiquing Trump’s Comment on Clinton’s Stamina/Presidential Look

Another key moment in the debate that led to a large amount of quotes, commentary, and fact checking was toward the close when Clinton highlighted Trump’s history of misogynistic behavior by discussing how he publically shamed a former Miss Universe for weight gain.  Two of her comments “This is a man that has called women pigs, slobs, and dogs” and “The woman Trump called ‘Miss Piggy’ has a name:  Alicia Machado” became two of the most tweeted lines of the debate (the latter receiving 38,241 likes and 23,817 retweets from Clinton’s Twitter account in addition to quotes and paraphrases).  Trump’s response included a reference to a former Twitter war he had engaged in with celebrity Rosie O’Donnell, who he had also criticized for her appearance.  Rather than apologizing for his past comments, Trump doubled down, arguing that they were justified.  Immediately tweets began responding to his answer (e.g. “I'm sorry, she DESERVED it?! Our girls deserve so much better than this clown. #ImWithHer #debatenight,” amytondreau, 9/26/2016, 10:38pm; “The way you fucking treat females isn't nice, my mf dude. #debatenight” (babocheoreoms, 9/26/2016, 10:38pm) and pointing out the victim blaming within this type of rhetoric (e.g. “Trump just literally victim blamed people he's verbally harassed on national television. #DebateNight,” rj4gui4r, 9/26/2016, 10:38pm).  Information sharing/fact checking posts also started appearing that provided links to articles that documented Trump’s previous instances of misogynistic remarks.  For example, the publication WIRED posted “Fact Check:  True.  Donald Trump did say all those terrible things about women” (9/26/2016, 10:36pm) and posted a link where readers could learn more about them.

What this study reveals is that while online communication platforms like Twitter continue to provide users with ample opportunity to circulate sexist messages, these are being resisted through various strategies.  Further, users are turning to Twitter to as a means to discuss instances of misogyny occurring offline as well.  While the impact of this means of digital activism is often debated, the efforts to combat sexism made by those live tweeting the presidential debate is still worthy of note.

Melissa Ames is the author of From Toddlers-in-Tiaras to Cougars-on-the-Prowl:  How Pop Culture Shapes the Stages of aWoman’s Life (2016).  This essay is an excerpt from her forthcoming book, Television and Cultural Anxiety: Emotion’s Role in 21^st Century Programming & Viewing Practices.