The 2016 US presidential election stands out for many reasons. It was the first time a female candidate, Hillary Clinton, topped the ballot from a major political party. It followed a campaign unrivaled for vitriolic discourse by her opponent, Donald J. Trump. In the months leading up to the election, the polls largely showed support for a Clinton win, but it looked to be a squeaker. Women who were galvanized by Clinton's candidacy used social media to mark the significance of the historic election. One popular way of doing this was through the use of gendered hashtags—keywords with a phone's number or pound sign used to categorize posts on social networking sites such as Twitter. People used #ImWithHer and #ShesWithUs—and sometimes, #Girl- IGuessImWithHer—to support Clinton, the Democratic candidate. They used hashtags including #WomenCanStopTrump and #Pantsuit-Nation to oppose her Republican ballot mate. They highlighted the importance of women and women's issues by using #HerStory, #TheFutureIsFemale, #DedicateYourVoteToAWoman, and the many versions of #ForMyDaughter, #ForMyMother, and so on. For many women, the hashtags became a rallying cry that exemplified the political power of gathering together—#StrongerTogether—online for a common cause.

Invoking these hashtags allowed women to express their voting intentions, share their political ideology, and, often, express disapproval of Trump's behavior toward women and his positions on women's issues. Throughout the 2016 election cycle, Trump's public missteps regarding women, both historical and ongoing, were so numerous that one newspaper in the United Kingdom created a running “Trump sexism tracker.” He verbally attacked women during the campaign, including Megyn Kelly, who was a Fox News anchor at the time; comedian Rosie O’Donnell; and Carly Fiorina, a Republican primary opponent. He called Clinton a “nasty woman” during the final presidential debate on live television, and this accusation led to the #NastyWomen hashtag going viral on social media and appearing on protest signs across the country. Revelations about Trump's past behavior also surfaced in campaign coverage and ignited new public furor. One example was Trump's mocking of international beauty queen Alicia Machado in the late 1990s by calling her “Miss Piggy” because she had gained weight and “Miss Housekeeping” because she is Latina.