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Gender in The Age of the Strongman

Bolmgren, Nike LU (2024) STVK04 20241
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The 21st century has witnessed a revival of authoritarian and populist leaders, a new wave that has fundamentally changed the political landscape, earning it the title: The Age of the Strongman. This evolving style of leadership has been driven by “angry white men”, notably strengthening masculinity as a symbol of political authority. However, in recent years, the strongman archetype has met a rising challenger: the strongwoman. In 2022, Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni achieved unprecedented electoral success, paving the way for women in far-right politics. Through the lens of a multimodal Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA), this study delves into how these two female leaders’ self-representations exploit the power dynamics... (More)
The 21st century has witnessed a revival of authoritarian and populist leaders, a new wave that has fundamentally changed the political landscape, earning it the title: The Age of the Strongman. This evolving style of leadership has been driven by “angry white men”, notably strengthening masculinity as a symbol of political authority. However, in recent years, the strongman archetype has met a rising challenger: the strongwoman. In 2022, Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni achieved unprecedented electoral success, paving the way for women in far-right politics. Through the lens of a multimodal Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA), this study delves into how these two female leaders’ self-representations exploit the power dynamics between masculinity and femininity in their far-right populist leadership. By applying the poststructuralist feminist concepts, gender performativity and gender hegemony, to their 2022 electoral campaigns, the research unveils that the admired hegemonic masculinity is not confined to male leaders but has been effectively performed by Le Pen and Meloni. The masculine portrayal is also balanced with a maternal and empathic femininity, embodying “the mother of the nation”, seamlessly aligned with the nativist ideals of far-right populism. (Less)
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author
Bolmgren, Nike LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Unveiling the gendered dynamics of Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni’s electoral campaigns 2022
course
STVK04 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni, far-right populism, gender hegemony, multimodal FCDA
language
English
id
9152297
date added to LUP
2024-07-18 11:06:50
date last changed
2024-07-18 11:06:50
@misc{9152297,
  abstract     = {{The 21st century has witnessed a revival of authoritarian and populist leaders, a new wave that has fundamentally changed the political landscape, earning it the title: The Age of the Strongman. This evolving style of leadership has been driven by “angry white men”, notably strengthening masculinity as a symbol of political authority. However, in recent years, the strongman archetype has met a rising challenger: the strongwoman. In 2022, Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni achieved unprecedented electoral success, paving the way for women in far-right politics. Through the lens of a multimodal Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA), this study delves into how these two female leaders’ self-representations exploit the power dynamics between masculinity and femininity in their far-right populist leadership. By applying the poststructuralist feminist concepts, gender performativity and gender hegemony, to their 2022 electoral campaigns, the research unveils that the admired hegemonic masculinity is not confined to male leaders but has been effectively performed by Le Pen and Meloni. The masculine portrayal is also balanced with a maternal and empathic femininity, embodying “the mother of the nation”, seamlessly aligned with the nativist ideals of far-right populism.}},
  author       = {{Bolmgren, Nike}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Gender in The Age of the Strongman}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}