All Over Albany

Lobbying the Hobby Lobby

The pics posted by Jasmine Shea on Twitter from a Hobby Lobby in Latham.

Prompted by the Supreme Court's recent decision in the Hobby Lobby case, Jasmine Shea wanted to do something to protest the company's policies on covering birth control for its employees. So Shea decided to visit the Hobby Lobby store in Latham last week to pass out condoms.

Along the way there Shea, who describes her day job as "office worker/comic relief," and a friend decided to add to their protest with a prank: They were going re-arrange the decorative letters sold in the store to spell out the words "pro choice."

It was a relatively small act, but it ended getting a big response after Shea posted pics on Twitter and Instagram. Sites such as Jezebel and Feministing featured the pics, and the act ended up being covered by the Washington Post. And even now, a week later, it's continuing to generate attention.

All that from something that happened in a store Shea says was more or less empty of shoppers.

We bounced Jasmine Shea a few questions this week about why she did what she did, the response it's gotten, and how it compares to other more traditional forms of activism.

There's a whole range of ways someone could have responded to the Hobby Lobby ruling -- standing outside the store with a sign, writing letters, lobbying politicians -- what prompted you to take this approach?

I'm broke and can't make it down to bug Congress (which there are a lot of politicians I'd love to bug) or the Hobby Lobby headquarters. There was one in my area, so at first I wanted to pass out birth control or condoms to the female workers but I heard legally I can't pass out birth control. I was going to pass out just the condoms.

Earlier in the day my friend Robin sent me a Facebook link that Planned Parenthood posted of someone spelling out "All women deserve birth control" in the blocks [at a Hobby Lobby] so I thought that's a great idea.

So on the way up to Hobby Lobby I told my friend what we should do [that] with the letters. We went in, scoped out the scene and started to find letters to move, and once we could snap a photo, moved on to the next project. We made sure not to make a mess or make it a hassle for the workers to put things back in place. We walked around for about an hour fixing things and no one seemed to notice. We left condoms in random places and walked out.

It was a lot of fun. We were kind of bummed we didn't find those blocks, but I knew that using their own crafts to make my point would be hilarious.

What you did -- and the response it's gotten -- is very much of the current media world: a relatively small act that was probably originally witnessed by just a few people, but it's been magnified exponentially online. To what extent did you have a sense that this would play out the way it has?

Social media is how news travels and ideas are passed around with lightning speed. I really didn't believe that my photos were going to blow up the way they did. I put them out because I wanted to make a statement, and make people laugh. Never in my dreams did I expect people like Dan Savage to even see my tweet, let alone retweet it and I was completely honored that he did.

I'm still learning about what is out there on social media. This whole thing made me discover Tumblr for the first time. I knew Twitter was the way to go, so I sent out tweets to Hobby Lobby first and using hash tags to try to get people to notice.

I truly didn't believe it would be as big as it is. To me even getting one person to notice and join the fight for women's rights would have made this all worth it. The love and respect I've been receiving truly warms my heart. Because I am just a girl from Albany who is nobody in the world but knowing I am someone who inspires people to stand up and fight for their rights is an amazing feeling. Getting people to know that they can make a change and that their voices matter in America is why I do what I do.

You've caught a bit of blowback from a few people who have said your prank really just ended up making more work for store employees. And others, for better or worse, have called what you did a form of trolling. What's your response?

I worked retail most of my life so I can understand how much it does suck when people move things in the store and you have to set up things again or fold clothes again. It can be frustrating, but it's part of the job and people aren't perfect. (We all know this.)

I was very mindful of making sure my friend and I didn't make a mess. We took the non-used letters and placed them all together neatly and in alphabetical order. I placed them on another shelf next to the display so it was easy for the workers to put the letters back.

To be honest it was really slow in the store. Maybe five or six actual customers were in there and the workers were standing around at the registers waiting to check people out. I wanted to make sure I didn't make a mess because I wasn't trying to ruin their day. I know they had nothing to do with what happened with the CEO and the court's decision.

People ask what if the table was turned and someone did that at my job? I'd find it ballsy and hilarious that someone would do that, it's clever.

The word trolling means nothing to me. Strolling/trolling I was walking through the store and I did what I did. They are words and I don't let words hurt me. You should see my hair in the morning if I don't wrap it at night. I put Troll Doll's hair to shame.

More broadly, some people have argued that it's easy to "like" or share something -- but it's not on the same level as other, more traditional forms of activism. Where do you think these sorts of online acts fit in the overall picture for modern activism?

I've been a part of protest outside and inside the Senate in Albany before for marriage equality, school budgets, rallies, and Occupy Albany so I've been there and done that. But sometimes you can't get to the headquarters. I enjoy taking photos of what is going on and sending them out to social media to spread the word. With Hobby Lobby though I could stand outside and protest but I didn't this time. I took an idea and ran with it to make it bigger and more noticeable.

Yes, I can write letters and send emails, but are they really going to read them? Again social media is how news travels and ideas are passed around with lightning speed.

You've gathered something valuable in the modern world: attention. So what's next?

Stay sane and use this power for good not evil. To keep fighting the fight for women's rights and health care in America. I refuse to believe that in the country I was born and raised in, that just because I am a woman that I get treated like a second class citizen. I fight for equal rights for all Americans. We are all equal & love is love.

This interview was conducted via email. It's been lightly edited.