The performance of masculinities in the 2025 presidential elections in Romania
Băluță, Oana and Norocel, Ov Cristian LU
(2026)
In Women's Studies International Forum
116(May–June).
- Abstract
- This article examines the 2025 Romanian presidential runoff through the lens of gendered political leadership. It explores the contours of different types of masculinities in politics as performed by the two candidates, George Simion and Nicușor Dan. We analyse the political meanings of gender and sexuality in the candidates’ performances of masculinity and how these both reflect and contest Romania’s inter-imperial positioning. The study employs a mixed-methods research design anchored in Critical Discourse Studies, based on a systematically compiled corpus of more than 21 hours of televised debates and digital podcast interviews. The article contributes to scholarship on the gendered dimensions of political leadership, the centrality of... (More)
- This article examines the 2025 Romanian presidential runoff through the lens of gendered political leadership. It explores the contours of different types of masculinities in politics as performed by the two candidates, George Simion and Nicușor Dan. We analyse the political meanings of gender and sexuality in the candidates’ performances of masculinity and how these both reflect and contest Romania’s inter-imperial positioning. The study employs a mixed-methods research design anchored in Critical Discourse Studies, based on a systematically compiled corpus of more than 21 hours of televised debates and digital podcast interviews. The article contributes to scholarship on the gendered dimensions of political leadership, the centrality of masculinities in politics, and the role of gender in far-right mobilisation and anti-gender discourses. Analytically, it advances the concept of inter-imperiality to illuminate how gendered leadership is shaped by intersecting geopolitical, ideological, and cultural forces. Empirically, the study provides a novel comparative reading of two performances of masculinity in Romanian politics. Simion embodies a vigilante masculinity, positioning himself as a militant defender of “the people”. He conflates anti-institutional populist rhetoric with an affective register that frames him as the authentic protector of children, the family, and national morality, while articulating an inter-imperial populist stance. In contrast, Dan enacts a pragmatic technocratic masculinity, presenting himself as a rational leader grounded in expertise and institutional stability. By monopolising the political field into a centre-right position, he pre-emptively forecloses ideological competition while promoting an inclusive, family-oriented leadership model. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/45f03a1c-688a-4782-b618-5cefeb317df9
- author
- Băluță, Oana
and Norocel, Ov Cristian
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- masculinities, inter-imperiality, presidential elections, Far-right politics, anti-gender strategies, Romania
- in
- Women's Studies International Forum
- volume
- 116
- issue
- May–June
- article number
- 103291
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105028450549
- ISSN
- 0277-5395
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.wsif.2026.103291
- project
- Gender struggles in the new conjuncture. Gender, sexuality and the future of human rights in the 21st century
- Centring European Inter-imperial Peripheries - An Exploratory Workshop
- Networked resistances
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 45f03a1c-688a-4782-b618-5cefeb317df9
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-20 14:15:04
- date last changed
- 2026-06-26 09:17:29
@article{45f03a1c-688a-4782-b618-5cefeb317df9,
abstract = {{This article examines the 2025 Romanian presidential runoff through the lens of gendered political leadership. It explores the contours of different types of masculinities in politics as performed by the two candidates, George Simion and Nicușor Dan. We analyse the political meanings of gender and sexuality in the candidates’ performances of masculinity and how these both reflect and contest Romania’s inter-imperial positioning. The study employs a mixed-methods research design anchored in Critical Discourse Studies, based on a systematically compiled corpus of more than 21 hours of televised debates and digital podcast interviews. The article contributes to scholarship on the gendered dimensions of political leadership, the centrality of masculinities in politics, and the role of gender in far-right mobilisation and anti-gender discourses. Analytically, it advances the concept of inter-imperiality to illuminate how gendered leadership is shaped by intersecting geopolitical, ideological, and cultural forces. Empirically, the study provides a novel comparative reading of two performances of masculinity in Romanian politics. Simion embodies a vigilante masculinity, positioning himself as a militant defender of “the people”. He conflates anti-institutional populist rhetoric with an affective register that frames him as the authentic protector of children, the family, and national morality, while articulating an inter-imperial populist stance. In contrast, Dan enacts a pragmatic technocratic masculinity, presenting himself as a rational leader grounded in expertise and institutional stability. By monopolising the political field into a centre-right position, he pre-emptively forecloses ideological competition while promoting an inclusive, family-oriented leadership model.}},
author = {{Băluță, Oana and Norocel, Ov Cristian}},
issn = {{0277-5395}},
keywords = {{masculinities; inter-imperiality; presidential elections; Far-right politics; anti-gender strategies; Romania}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{May–June}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Women's Studies International Forum}},
title = {{The performance of masculinities in the 2025 presidential elections in Romania}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/240860092/B_lu_Norocel_2026_WSIF_Masculinities_in_2025_elections_Romania.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.wsif.2026.103291}},
volume = {{116}},
year = {{2026}},
}