Bernie Bro

"Bernie Bro" (sometimes spelled "Berniebro"; collective Bernie Bros,)[1] is a pejorative label that has been applied to male supporters of 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The term was soon adopted by members of the media to critique internet trolls alleged to support Sanders, but has faced backlash for being used as a straw man characterization to delegitimize critics of Hillary Clinton.[2]

Background

During Hillary Clinton's failing 2008 primary campaign against Barack Obama, Clinton surrogates in the media promoted the term "Obama boy" to pejoratively characterize some of Obama supporters as motivated by sexism.[3]

During the Democratic primary, the Hillary Clinton campaign coordinated with bloggers and columnists to use identity politics to smear Bernie Sanders on race and gender issues.[4][5][6]

The 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak showed that the DNC's Hispanic Media Director Pablo Manriquez used the term "Bernie Bro" to describe journalists who were critical of Hillary Clinton,[7] in order to justify denying them interviews with DNC officials who preferred only to talk to Clinton loyalists.[8][9][10]

During the 2016 Democratic Primary, Gloria Steinem argued that female supporters of Sanders are only interested in meeting "boys".[11][12] Critics of the American mainstream media argue that the Bernie Bro is a myth[13][14] that exaggerates the impact of internet trolling and under-represents the political agency of young women.[15][16] Sanders supporters argued that the term represents a straw man characterization used to delegitimize critics of Clinton.[2][17][18]

Robinson Meyer, a writer for The Atlantic, coined the term "Bernie bro" in an October 17, 2015 article to describe a phenomenon in which some young, white, progressive men were "hectoring their friends" on Facebook to support Sanders as a time when few major media outlets were taking Sanders' candidacy seriously.[19][20][21]

In the October 2015 article in which the term was coined, Meyer characterized the Bernie Bro as "[m]ale... white; well-educated; middle-class (or, delicately, 'upper middle-class'); and aware of NPR podcasts and jangly bearded bands." Furthermore, according to Meyer, "[t]he Berniebro asserts that this country needs highly principled, pie-in-the-sky progressive policies, regardless of how likely they are to become legislation. The Berniebro supports free college for all and a $15 minimum wage.... The Berniebro voted for Barack Obama in 2012. And 2008, if the Berniebro was old enough to vote."[22] Meyer's story was shared 28,000 times on Facebook, bringing the term to public attention.[20]

Definition

USA Today describes Bernie Bros as "the unsanctioned shock troops of Bernie Sanders' vaunted online army, digital rogues who've plagued Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and embarrassed Sanders' campaign."[23]

The Wall Street Journal described the Bros as generally "white, male" Sanders supporters who troll Clinton supporters, "leaving vitriolic comments on social media accounts and created memes showing Mrs. Clinton as trying too hard to be cool."[21]

The Los Angeles Times calls them "online trolls... who attack journalists, politicians and fellow voters they perceive to be pro-Clinton with misogynistic, often vulgar attacks."[24]

MTV correspondent Jamil Smith described these people as engaging in "trolling, misogyny, and 'hipster racism.'"[25] Washington Post reporter Janell Ross described some pro-Sanders online activists as "angry people who sometimes engage in or embrace bigotry," and believed they demonstrated an attitude she called "offensively dismissive, superior, let-us-tell-you-black-voters-what-you-need-and-how-you-should-vote commentary from some subset of Sanders supporters."[26]

Reaction

The new term, with its implicit accusation that Sanders' supporters were unusually aggressive on social media, immediately set off an online flame war between supporters of Clinton and Sanders.[19]

Bernie Sanders response

In a February 2016 interview with CNN's State of the Union, Sanders criticized "Bernie Bros" for their sexist attacks against rival Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. "It's disgusting. [...] Anybody who is supporting me and who is doing sexist things, we don't want them. I don't want them. That is not what this campaign is about."[27][28]

Clinton campaign response

In February, Brian Fallon, Clinton's press secretary, characterized the Bernie Bros as "nasty and vitriolic."[23] Bill Clinton accused the Bernie Bros as carrying out "vicious trolling and attacks that are literally too profane ... not to mention sexist."[29]

Samantha Bee segments

In a widely-noted TV segment, comedian Samantha Bee "interviewed" Bernie Bros at Cafe Wha?, attempting to challenge their certainty that Sanders could win the election and make major changes in American policy that eluded Barack Obama.[21][30][31]

A second widely-noted segment aired on May 23, 2016 this one about the fracas at the Nevada Democratic Convention.[32][33]

Online reaction

In a review for the Facebook group Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash, Vice's Carles Buzz called them "the voice of male Sanders supporters who use hostile or sexist terms to cut down Hillary Clinton" who are "often banned or berated in the comments."[34] Critical of its Bernie Bro culture, New Statesman's Eleanor Margolis reviewed the online dating service Bernie Singles as "an exercise in nausea-induced celibacy."[35]

In an interview with Yahoo! News, Limor Shifman said that the Bernie Bro phenomenon is rooted in online communities such as 4chan and Reddit. She said, "On one hand, they have this self-image of being anarchists and being antiestablishment. [...] On the other hand, they're pretty much white and male."[27] In her endorsement for Clinton, The Nation's columnist Joan Walsh called the subculture "Berniebot keyboard warriors."[27][36]

The phenomenon swiftly sparked a response among supporters of Clinton. The Bernie Bros phenomenon inspired the creation of volunteer advocacy organization Bros4Hillary,[37] an advocacy group claiming inclusiveness and progressive ideals as their central tenets and harshly criticizing perceived misogyny and homophobia of Sanders' male supporters.

Analysis

In May 2016, historian Joshua M. Zeitz suggested that "Bernie's Bros" might follow a pattern seen in the 1968 and 1980 elections in which Eugene McCarthy and Ted Kennedy won large numbers of votes from angry Democratic voters who, when their candidate failed to win the Party's nomination, switched and voted for the Republican in November.[38]

Criticism

In an interview with Thom Hartmann, state Senator Nina Turner (A former surrogate for Senator Bernie Sanders) affirmed that the term drives her nuts, "I just think it is really hyped by the Clinton campaign. I mean, both candidates have people who really, really support them and sometimes in ways that are not nice. But it's the same thing, if people want to research this, it's the same thing that the Clinton campaign did to President, then Senator, Obama. I think they were called 'Obama Boys.' So it's really the same stuff recycled that there are a group of men out there that are rabid and they're sexist and they're really against Secretary Clinton."[39]

In January 2016, "The Intercept" journalist Glenn Greenwald called the Bernie Bro narrative a "cheap campaign tactic" and a "journalistic disgrace." He pointed to the millions of women who supported Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton,"One has to be willing to belittle the views and erase the existence of a huge number of American women to wield this 'Bernie Bro' smear." He also pointed to the lack of evidence for the phenomenon outside of the typical vitriol associated with online forums.

He summarized the narrative's purpose as follows: "The goal is to inherently delegitimize all critics of Hillary Clinton by accusing them of, or at least associating them with, sexism, thus distracting attention away from Clinton’s policy views, funding, and political history and directing it toward the online behavior of anonymous, random, isolated people on the internet claiming to be Sanders supporters."[40]

Nathan Wellmen wrote that users of the term in U.S. Uncut, "are essentially erasing the contributions of women and people of color to the Bernie Sanders campaign to propagate their own narrative, rendering them as invisible people. This is one of the oldest forms of violence perpetuated by white people of privilege."[41]

Questions about allegations' validity

In February 2016, political scientists attempted to assess the reality of the Bernie Bro phenomenon by analyzing Twitter data, and concluded that the existence of male Sanders supporters attacking Clinton with sexist language is real, but the numbers are small and dwarfed by the number of conservatives and Trump supporters attacking Clinton with such language.[42]

Women supporting Sanders, including Sarah Leonard, a senior editor at The Nation, object that the term on the grounds that it "diminishes" Sanders' many female supporters, falsely tarring the entire campaign with the misogyny of a few bad apples.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Meyer, Robinson (October 17, 2015). "Here Comes the Berniebro". The Atlantic. Atlantic Media. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Greenwald, Glenn. "The "Bernie Bros" Narrative: a Cheap Campaign Tactic Masquerading as Journalism and Social Activism Glenn Greenwald Jan. 31 2016, 8:42 a.m.". The Intercept. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160210130009/http://www.salon.com/2008/04/14/obama_supporters/
  4. ↑ http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/302228-emails-clinton-camp-coordinated-with-bloggers-to-smear
  5. ↑ http://nypost.com/2016/10/21/clinton-campaign-coordinated-with-liberal-bloggers-on-sanders-attacks/
  6. ↑ https://usuncut.com/politics/leaked-emails-confirm-clinton-campaign-worked-bloggers-smear-bernie-sanders/
  7. ↑ "Here are the latest, most damaging things in the DNC's leaked emails".
  8. ↑ "New Dnc Boss Also Bashed Sanders In Leaked Emails". 25 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Halper, Daniel; Tacopino, Joe (22 July 2016). "Leaked emails show how Democrats screwed Sanders".
  10. ↑ Siddiqui, Sabrina; Gambino, Lauren; Roberts, Dan (25 July 2016). "DNC apologizes to Bernie Sanders amid convention chaos in wake of email leak" – via The Guardian.
  11. ↑ "Gloria Steinem Slammed for Suggesting Young Women Support Bernie Sanders to Chase Boys". 6 February 2016.
  12. ↑ CNN, Eugene Scott. "Gloria Steinem: Young women back Bernie Sanders so they can meet 'boys'".
  13. ↑ "The Myth of the Bernie Bro". Jacobin.
  14. ↑ https://theintercept.com/2016/01/31/the-bernie-bros-narrative-a-cheap-false-campaign-tactic-masquerading-as-journalism-and-social-activism/
  15. ↑ "Hillary's Quest To Make Everyone Think Bernie Promotes Sexism".
  16. ↑ "Does this poll put the 'Bernie bro' narrative to rest once and for all?". 5 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Hess, Amanda. "Everyone Is Wrong About the Bernie Bros: How a necessary critique of leftist sexism deteriorated into a dumb flame war.". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  18. ↑ Lind, Dara. "Bernie Bros, explained". Vox Magazine. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  19. 1 2 Hess, Amanda (February 3, 2016). "Everyone Is Wrong About the Bernie Bros; How a necessary critique of leftist sexism deteriorated into a dumb flame war.". Slate. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Meyer, Robinson (February 5, 2016). "It's Not Just Berniebros I coined the term—now I've come back to fix what I started.". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Andrews, Natalie (February 8, 2016). "Bernie Sanders on Sexist Commenters: I Don't Want That Support". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  22. ↑ Meyer, Robinson (October 17, 2015). "Here Comes the Berniebro Look, there is a systemic crisis occurring. On Facebook.". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  23. 1 2 Hampson, Brian (May 12, 2016). "Hillary Clinton, no fan of 'Bernie Bros,' could use their energy vs. Trump". USA Today. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  24. 1 2 Halper, Evan (15 April 2016). "Sanders' supporters are lashing out, but here's how they might be hurting his campaign". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  25. ↑ Smith, Jamil (January 30, 2016). "The Sanders campaign knows the 'Bernie Bros' are a problem". The New Republic. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  26. ↑ Ross, Janell (March 10, 2016). "Bernie Sanders's most vitriolic supporters really test the meaning of the word 'progressive'". Washington Post. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  27. 1 2 3 Bereznak, Alyssa (February 9, 2016). "The Bernie Bros rule the Internet". Yahoo Politics. Yahoo!. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  28. ↑ Shastry, Anjali (February 7, 2016). "Sanders addresses 'Bernie Bros,' says he doesn't want support from sexists". The Washington Times. The Washington Times, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  29. ↑ Karnie, Annie (February 7, 2016). "Bill Clinton batters and blasts Bernie Sanders". Politico. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  30. ↑ Blistein, Jon (April 19, 2016). "Samantha Bee Tries to Find Optimism in Bernie Sanders' Supporters". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  31. ↑ Bradley, Laura (April 19, 2016). "Samantha Bee Chatted with Some 'Bernie Bros,' Tried to Absorb Their Optimism". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  32. ↑ Luna, Jenny (24 May 2016). "Samantha Bee Smacks Down Angry Bernie Supporters; A night of bro-bashing". Mother Jones. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  33. ↑ Leeds, Sarene (24 May 2016). "Samantha Bee Takes Down Bernie Sanders Supporters Following the Nevada Democratic Convention". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  34. ↑ .Buzz, Carles (February 22, 2016). "Can Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash Swing the Election?". Motherboard. Vice. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  35. ↑ Margolis, Eleanor (March 1, 2016). "Creepy, well-meaning, or sexist? Looking for love on Bernie Singles, the Bernie Sanders dating site". New Statesman. Progressive Media International. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  36. ↑ Walsh, Joan (January 27, 2016). "Why I'm Supporting Hillary Clinton, With Joy and Without Apologies". The Nation. The Nation Company, L.P. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Bros4Hillary". Bros4Hillary. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  38. ↑ Zeitz, Joshua (25 May 2016). "Why Bernie's Bros Might Go for Trump". Politico. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  39. ↑ Turner, Nina (27 May 2016). "Great Minds p2: Nina Turner - Are Bernie Bros Real?". Conversations With Great Minds. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  40. ↑ Greenwald, Glenn (31 January 2016). "The "Bernie Bros" Narrative: a Cheap Campaign Tactic Masquerading as Journalism and Social Activism". The Intercept. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  41. ↑ Wellmen, Nathan (29 January 2016). "The 'Bernie Bro' is a Media Myth. It Needs to Die". U.S. Uncut. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  42. ↑ Tromble, Rebekah; Hovy, Dirk (February 24, 2016). "These 6 charts show how much sexism Hillary Clinton faces on Twitter". Washington Post. Retrieved May 15, 2016.

Further reading

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