'Binders full of women' is debate's viral hit

By Jonathan Anker

updated 9:59 AM EDT, Mon October 22, 2012

NEED TO KNOW

Romney used phrase in answer regarding wage inequality
Tweets, Tumblr and parody accounts quickly seized on it
Tweet: 'I'd like to think that the binder that I am kept in is a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper'

Mitt Romney used phrase, "binders full of women," to answer question on wage inequality

What's the deal with 'binders full of women'?

Tuesday night's presidential debate had its "Big Bird" moment.

And it arrived when Mitt Romney answered a question on wage inequality by saying he received "binders full of women" as part of his efforts to find female cabinet members during his Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign.

And -- just like Big Bird -- these binders full of women quickly took over the Internet.

In addition to a pretty awesome Tumblr featuring some very literal photos of the phrase (including a revival of a former meme, Texts From Hillary) and a Facebook page with 250,000+ "Likes", a handful of parody Twitter accounts also quickly popped up.

@Romneys_Binders reached 10,000 followers before the debate was even an hour old by imagining just which women were in these binders...

Monica. twitter.com/Romneys_Binder…

— Romney's Binder (@Romneys_Binder) October 17, 2012

... and @RomneysBinder also emerged with tweets like, "Americans need jobs. I am now accepting applications for Secretary of the Interior. Good one for the ladies, yes?"

#BindersFullOfWomen also remained a trending topic on Twitter for most of the night and the phrase easily picked up where all things Big Bird left off from the first presidential debate:

I'll never forget the day I found my dad's stash of #bindersfullofwomen #debate

— Ben Brown (@Libraryben) October 17, 2012

I'd like to think that the binder that I am kept in is a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper #debate2012

— MJ Garcia (@VaHi_MJ) October 17, 2012

the law office of binder & binder: putting ladiez in your workforce since '83

— Whitney Jefferson (@twitney) October 17, 2012

"Binders?I have Moleskines full of women." -- Brooklyn misogynist. #debate

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 17, 2012

If you liked it then you should have put 3 rings on it. #BindersFullOfWomen

— Eddie Quiñones (@eddiequinones86) October 17, 2012

View Romney's 'binder' moment right here:

However, do not confuse those women and binders with these women and binders:

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