It’s not about losing an election. It’s about losing our humanity.

Lessons in becoming a meme and taking back the message

Ceci n’est pas Janna (This is not Janna).

Have you seen this picture? This is me. Or, actually, it’s a picture of me, but it’s not REALLY me. Just like this is not a pipe.

The Treachery Of Images (This Is Not A Pipe) from Rene Magritte, 1948

On Wednesday, November 9, 2016, I attended an election watching party at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, along with hundreds of others. A proud Iowa-born expat of the US, I took the day off from work to watch the results come in across my day. I wanted to do that with other people, to have an atmosphere that was dedicated to the occasion and where I could unabashedly cheer (or cry) based on the results.

I was beside myself with excitement. I found a pantsuit at a second-hand shop (hello, three-million-strong #pantsuitnation). I had my mother’s pearls on. I handmade a Hillary pin, as I didn’t have enough foresight to order one from the US. I had the good fortune of meeting other American friends. I knew I would also be surrounded by interested Australians. The world was literally watching. There would be a big screen TV and the promise of beer to support whatever outcome.

CNN was hosting the event alongside the United States Study Centre at The University of Sydney. The press were there. My assumption was the Australian press were interested in the expat American response as well as the Australian response. My pantsuit drew attention. Radio interviews, TV interviews and newspaper interviews happened within a span of a couple of hours. What I didn’t pay attention to was the photographers.

During a moment of another state gone to Trump, I lamented. A photographer captured the moment brilliantly. By the late afternoon, I had been told by a friend in Iowa that they just saw my picture in Yahoo news. That’s when I realized the picture had been put out on the Reuters wire. It captured how I felt, I was proud about that, and I was bemused that it had been captured at all.

The image has been used over the past few days around the world. Friends are sharing meme sightings, news sightings, and there’s even a rumor I’ll be seeing my face on some mugs and tshirts in Texas (I’ve made the big time!). It has had several narratives put on it from other people. Let’s follow the trail for a moment:

American expat watching the results in Sydney:

2. US election polling day in pictures:

3. Ha, ha, supporters of Hillary are crying and it is hysterical:

4. Guess whose side won and whose side lost?

5. College students need grief counselling (I’m 42, by the way. Thanks for the genes, Mom!):

6. Then to the memes about being a cry baby, having a tantrum because we aren’t getting what we wanted, and a broad lambast of our society for teaching kids that everyone is a winner (and the thousands of shares and the thousands of comments that come along with them):