【Seventeen (2019)】

Still riding high from the historic Women’s Marches across the world this weekend and Seventeen (2019)looking for a way to keep up this amazing energy? It's time to form your very own pussy posse.

In case the name doesn't say it all, pussy posse is a term I coined this weekend while chatting with friends about forming a group of like-minded ladies that band together for ongoing action, support and accountability. It’s sort of like having a running partner, or even a book club, but instead of focusing on fitness or drinking wine, we’re fighting for our collective future.

The idea is to share the load of the everyday grind of activism. Being a woman is hard enough as it is -- we have to work harder to make the same amount of money, we do more on the home front and don’t forget about carrying and raising those kids. Most of us aren’t exactly spoiled for free time with which to battle for our rights.

So it’s the job of a pussy posse to a) make the fight a little easier by finding strength in numbers and b) inspire us to get back up and keep fighting when we’re losing steam (which will happen, this is a marathon after all). Who better to refuel our fires than our friends?

The idea of an accountability group for activism is not new, of course. But many women who’ve recently been called to hardcore action by Donald Trump’s ascension don’t have that kind of readymade support structure in place yet. So if that's you, now’s the time to build your ride or die crew that you can depend on for the long term. Yes, pussy posses may have once been the domain of Leo DiCaprio and his slimy friends, but why not grab the phrase back and use it for good?

To form your very own pussy posse, all you need is a group of a like-minded friends. (Though, to be clear, you don't need to have a vagina to join up. Trans women, as well as allies of any stripe, are always welcome.) They don’t have to be your besties. They can be people from work or school, moms from your playgroup, or people you value at your place of worship. This is also a great chance to reach out to people in your community that aren’t already part of your immediate social circle.

Any kind of posse will do, as long as you all share a common purpose. Your group can be as small or as big as you like, just keep it at a size that feels manageable to you. Some troops might do best by picking one issue you all care about and committing yourself to doing a deep dive. Others might find it more productive to take on multiple issues. In that case, you might divide up who pays attention to what -- a great way to avoid the information overload that can happen when you’re trying to follow all of Trump’s dangerous moves at once.

It’s nice if your posse can do in-person gatherings, whether it’s to write postcards to politicians, organize fundraising events, plan rallies or really anything that matters to your community or to the larger world. Speaking of protests and marches, the added benefit of a local pussy posse for parents, especially, is that you can share childcare duties while some of your members attend.

But virtual pussy posses are also great. Set up a Facebook group or a regular online hangout. (Though, in truth, you may want to pick a more protected mode of communication.) Anything that allows you to stay on top of the issues, bounce ideas off of each other and lend each other an ear when the going gets rough. Think of it as a kind of quilting bee for the modern era.

The next four years are going to be long and hard. Protecting ourselves is going to require constant vigilance and a bottomless well of energy. What better way to maintain our fight than by standing side-by-side with friends and harnessing our collective energy.

Added bonus: pussy posse meet-ups will give you yet another reason to keep wearing your pussyhat with pride.