EDITORIAL – If you’re ever at a soccer game in the U.S. and feel out of place or don’t know where to go, you can always sit with The Plastics SG.
Sit With The Plastics – U.S. Soccer’s Newest Inclusive Supporters Group
Last Word On Soccer sat down with Moria (she/her) and Meredith (she/her/them/they/theirs) of The Plastics to hear about their mission and how their progressive, inclusive supporters group got started.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/cO51LYfiLI
— The Plastics SG (@ThePlastics_SG) August 14, 2020
Women, Trans, Nonbinary, Queer: Come Sit With The Plastics
The mission statement on The Plastics SG’s website says they exist to create space for supporters of all MLS/NWSL/USL teams who are women, trans, non-binary, and/or identify as queer. They try to do this through organizing, fundraising, and activism.
“The Plastics is a radically inclusive space within supporters culture, which is something that was missing,” Moria said in the interview. “I think it’s very clear from the response that people were looking for a group like The Plastics and so I’m overjoyed to see that.”
In the early spring of 2020, a picture of femme LAFC supporters went viral. Among the praise the photo received, there was also a lot of hate and accusations of the pictured fans being fake, or “plastic.”
This led to a post on Twitter by Meredith, who joked that she was going to start her own supporter’s group and the only requirement was that you had to take at least 45 minutes to get ready in order to join. That idea soon took off and The Plastics SG was born.
Remember these fans? The ones you called plastic? The ones who plan their outfits like you wish your manager planned his lineups? These are the kinds of fans we are. We’ll cut you with our stiletto nails and look perfect doing it. 💅🏼 #theplasticsSG pic.twitter.com/9QLe7CqH7U
— The Plastics SG (@ThePlastics_SG) March 6, 2020
“Something I found to be true in a lot of aspects of life but especially in supporters culture is women in pretty dresses with red lipstick are so often underestimated. And that is such a mistake,” Moria said.
The Plastics SG embodies that spirit. Don’t underestimate a pretty face, or discount a fan that takes 45 minutes or more to get ready.
“As long as you identify with our mission of kind of being on the outskirts of soccer society and actively anti-racism, anti-facism, anti-homophobia, then you’re a Plastic.”
That 45 minutes to get ready is not a hard and fast rule, though, as Meredith explained.
“We believe that you can support however you want to support. If you don’t wear makeup and you’re most comfortable in hoodies and blue jeans you can still be a plastic. If you want to wear a custom-made ball gown like those amazing LAFC supporters: Do that. It’s basically just however you feel comfortable to support your team. However you feel comfortable presenting, even though that may vary on some days, depending. As long as you identify with our mission of kind of being on the outskirts of soccer society and actively anti-racism, anti-fascism, anti-homophobia, then you’re a Plastic.”
The name “The Plastics” is a reference to the movie Mean Girls. Their motto, “Sit with the Plastics” and “You can sit with us” is a reference to a line in that movie where someone says “You can’t sit with us.” This phrase was chosen to highlight inclusivity and the concept that anyone is welcome to sit with The Plastics Supporters Group.
Who Is Not Invited To Sit With The Plastics?
Because DLH is a white supremacist and anyone arguing against that… pic.twitter.com/uyfMmSBsZh
— The Plastics SG (@ThePlastics_SG) August 29, 2020
While their message is one of “aggressive inclusivity,” not everyone is invited to sit with the Plastics.
“The only people that aren’t welcome are people that are filled with hate,” Moria said. “Anyone can sit with us, everyone can sit with us, but not if you’re a racist, not if you’re homophobic, not if you’re transphobic, not if you perpetuate any kind of hatred.”
“For me personally [The Plastics] means having a place that’s accepting and open no matter how you want to support, how you want to look while you support, what you identify as, it doesn’t matter, Meredith said. “It’s kind of giving a place to everyone who’s felt alienated by hyper-masculine soccer culture … Just finally making our own space where we can be ourselves and support our own teams how we want.”
Organizing, Fundraising, And Activism Of The Plastics SG
If you sit with The Plastics, you’ll also have a front row seat to all of the causes they support and activism they do. This includes creating merchandise, affiliations with teams and supporters groups, and hosting live streams – all of which is done to benefit charitable causes. Recently, they collaborated with Motorik FC to create this unique kit:
https://twitter.com/MotorikFC/status/1319732231200493574?s=20
“Our jersey itself is a charity endeavor as well. Fifty percent of the proceeds are going to an organization called NCCJ of the Piedmont Triad which is an organization based in North Carolina that provides anti-bias and anti-racism trainings,” Moria explained. “But they also host a really incredible program every year for their students and participants called ANYTOWN, which is kind of an inclusive safe space for these students to explore a variety of topics.”
All of The Plastics’ affiliations and merchandise have that same message of aggressive inclusivity.
“I think that summarizes us up really well and summarizes ‘you can sit with us’ thing. Aggressively inclusive, aggressively diverse, aggressively anti-fascist and anti anything that’s bigoted,” Meredith said.
One hell of a good day to check the mailbox. Gracias @ThePlastics_SG for the wonderful collaboration. Gracias @LosVerdesATX members who each and everyday bring their ideas and amazing art to be the best soccer community Austin can ask for. & gracias @CapCitySC for the stickers. pic.twitter.com/3rod1tAkf3
— Gabriela Navarro (@gabynavarro24) October 14, 2020
#OperationFierceLove Raises Over $1,500 To Sponsor Kits
#OperationFierceLove is another project that Plastics community members are working on.
“[#OperationFierceLove] started as a desire to sponsor a Motorik FC for a queer black supporter and send that to them with a handwritten letter,” Moria said. “Since then has turned into a giant project. Last I checked they’d raised over $1,500 in order to sponsor Motorik Plastics kits for queer, black, indigenous, or people of color.”
https://twitter.com/TheAuracl3/status/1316063349545852929?s=20
Follow the hashtag #OperationFierceLove for more information.
The Plastics Wouldn’t Be Possible Without The Help Of Its Community
While the leaders of The Plastics are frequently in the spotlight, Moria and Meredith are quick to heap praise on their community.
“The generosity of our community continually shines through … We genuinely have generous, caring, loving people that have built up the Plastics Community,” Meredith said. “We do a lot of work but we don’t do as much work as our community does. So shout out to them for always coming through with like every fundraiser.”
If you want to join The Plastics, become an affiliate, or create your own Plastics SG for your local club, reach out to @ThePlastics_SG or email them at [email protected].
As they say, anybody and everybody is welcome to sit with The Plastics.
Do you like wearing pink? (Be honest!)
Do you like wearing pink on Wednesdays? (It’s what we do 💕)
Do you consider yourself a member of @ThePlastics_SG?
Do you want to be a part of something special and fabulous? 💖
Slide into our DMs if this applies to you! pic.twitter.com/zmxaCK1PX6
— The Plastics SG (@ThePlastics_SG) October 24, 2020
