Hillary Clinton’s Twitter avatar. Image source: Twitter
After going through a week of embarrassing media coverage about a secret private email account she used exclusively while serving as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is set on Sunday to disappear from her Twitter account a famous photo of her holding a Blackberry that has become politically inconvenient as it reminds viewers of the email scandal instead of her ‘badass cool.’
Clinton announced Saturday she will be taking her social media photos down as part of a conveniently timed Clinton Foundation women’s rights campaign called “Not There”.
The photo was taken by Diana Walker of Time in 2011 and captioned:
“Clinton checks her PDA in sunglasses upon departure in a military plane from Malta, bound for Tripoli, on October 18, 2011.”
Clinton has used the Diana Walker photo as her Twitter avatar and header since officially joining Twitter on June 10, 2013
The Diana Walker photo has been used by Clinton supporters online and in the media to promote an image of her of “badass cool.”
“What a difference four years makes: When she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton was parodied as drab and calculated, especially compared with young and vigorous Barack Obama and winking and fresh-faced Sarah Palin. Now, she’s fueling Internet jokes based on her own brand of badass cool.”
Texts From Hillary co-creator Stacy Lambe told Talking Points Memo the Diana Walker photo inspired the 2012 creation of the pro-Hillary site at Tumblr that used the photo as a meme-generator:
“”That photo just captures how people tried to make her out to be a bitch when she’s actually the head bitch in charge,” Lambe said. “Ever since she was appointed secretary of State there’s been a renewed appreciation for Hillary.””
Image source: Texts From Hillary
Media reports from Clinton’s appearance in Miami on Saturday at a Clinton Global Initiative event say that she and daughter Chelsea will be making their social media avatars blank starting on Sunday as part of the Clinton Foundation’s a women’s rights initiative called “Not There.”
…” She and her daughter instead previewed the “No Ceilings” project, a global data-gathering endeavor about women and girls that will be made public in New York City on Monday.
“They also announced an initiative called “not there,” in which they said they planned to remove their photographs from their social-media accounts to make a point about “unseen,” marginalized or disadvantaged women around the world.”