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Fearing separation from capitalist paternity : A psychosocial analysis of revanchist anti-gender consumer activism against Disney

de Krijger, Floris ; Ulver, Sofia LU and Zanoni, Patrizia (2025) In Consumption Markets and Culture 28(1). p.71-95
Abstract
Drawing on political readings of Freud, this paper probes the anxieties and fears driving anti-gender consumer activism, an emerging form of consumer politics in which a cisheteronormative subject defends his consumer privileges in the name of “the family.” We examine how American anti-gender activists opposed Disney’s shift from its conservative, family-oriented brand image. We argue that this campaign is driven by infantile fears of losing the ideo-affective guardianship conservative brands have historically offered to privileged consumer groups. These consumer activists aim to resolve this perceived threat of brand abandonment through anti-brand revenge. This study enriches current discourse-centric analyses of far-right consumer... (More)
Drawing on political readings of Freud, this paper probes the anxieties and fears driving anti-gender consumer activism, an emerging form of consumer politics in which a cisheteronormative subject defends his consumer privileges in the name of “the family.” We examine how American anti-gender activists opposed Disney’s shift from its conservative, family-oriented brand image. We argue that this campaign is driven by infantile fears of losing the ideo-affective guardianship conservative brands have historically offered to privileged consumer groups. These consumer activists aim to resolve this perceived threat of brand abandonment through anti-brand revenge. This study enriches current discourse-centric analyses of far-right consumer activism by probing its underlying psychosocial dynamics. Additionally, it contributes to scholarship on the marketing of the heteronormative family by revealing how conservative brands not merely disseminate family ideology but also function as paternal love objects themselves, satisfying infantile consumers’ desires for attention, moral guidance, validation and protection. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Drawing on political readings of Freud, this paper probes the anxieties and fears driving anti-gender consumer activism, an emerging form of consumer politics in which a cisheteronormative subject defends his consumer privileges in the name of “the family.” We examine how American anti-gender activists opposed Disney’s shift from its conservative, family-oriented brand image. We argue that this campaign is driven by infantile fears of losing the ideo-affective guardianship conservative brands have historically offered to privileged consumer groups. These consumer activists aim to resolve this perceived threat of brand abandonment through anti-brand revenge. This study enriches current discourse-centric analyses of far-right consumer... (More)
Drawing on political readings of Freud, this paper probes the anxieties and fears driving anti-gender consumer activism, an emerging form of consumer politics in which a cisheteronormative subject defends his consumer privileges in the name of “the family.” We examine how American anti-gender activists opposed Disney’s shift from its conservative, family-oriented brand image. We argue that this campaign is driven by infantile fears of losing the ideo-affective guardianship conservative brands have historically offered to privileged consumer groups. These consumer activists aim to resolve this perceived threat of brand abandonment through anti-brand revenge. This study enriches current discourse-centric analyses of far-right consumer activism by probing its underlying psychosocial dynamics. Additionally, it contributes to scholarship on the marketing of the heteronormative family by revealing how conservative brands not merely disseminate family ideology but also function as paternal love objects themselves, satisfying infantile consumers’ desires for attention, moral guidance, validation and protection.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Consumption Markets and Culture
volume
28
issue
1
pages
24 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:105010697260
ISSN
1025-3866
DOI
10.1080/10253866.2025.2511970
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bf9c2929-f75e-4e67-b7b9-03063b5210ed
date added to LUP
2025-09-25 15:05:56
date last changed
2025-09-26 04:01:45
@article{bf9c2929-f75e-4e67-b7b9-03063b5210ed,
  abstract     = {{Drawing on political readings of Freud, this paper probes the anxieties and fears driving anti-gender consumer activism, an emerging form of consumer politics in which a cisheteronormative subject defends his consumer privileges in the name of “the family.” We examine how American anti-gender activists opposed Disney’s shift from its conservative, family-oriented brand image. We argue that this campaign is driven by infantile fears of losing the ideo-affective guardianship conservative brands have historically offered to privileged consumer groups. These consumer activists aim to resolve this perceived threat of brand abandonment through anti-brand revenge. This study enriches current discourse-centric analyses of far-right consumer activism by probing its underlying psychosocial dynamics. Additionally, it contributes to scholarship on the marketing of the heteronormative family by revealing how conservative brands not merely disseminate family ideology but also function as paternal love objects themselves, satisfying infantile consumers’ desires for attention, moral guidance, validation and protection.}},
  author       = {{de Krijger, Floris and Ulver, Sofia and Zanoni, Patrizia}},
  issn         = {{1025-3866}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{71--95}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Consumption Markets and Culture}},
  title        = {{Fearing separation from capitalist paternity : A psychosocial analysis of revanchist anti-gender consumer activism against Disney}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2025.2511970}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/10253866.2025.2511970}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}