Discursive Alliances in Opposition to Gender Equity – Convergence of Right-Wing Antifeminism and Femonationalism with the Political Mainstream?

Antifeminism and femonationalism are central to far-right actors: They mobilize against feminism and gender equity, and simultaneously brand themselves as ‘true’ feminists. This paradox only dissolves with an understanding of the inherently gendered nature of nationalism, in which women need to be protected not only from allegedly dangerous and patriarchal foreign men but also from feminism, which threatens their destined role as mothers within the ethnic people’s community. Antifeminism and femonationalism are based on socially shared sexist and racist stereotypes that are highly connectible to the societal and political mainstream and can function as a common denominator to more legitimized mainstream actors. Against these considerations, my study tackles the following questions: How are feminism and gender equity framed by right-wing and more mainstream actors, and how does the framing of these issues differ or intersect among these actors? Is there overlap between these frames that can be defined as discourse coalitions, and if so, which particular narratives is this overlap based on? In digital spaces, a strong antifeminist backlash coexists with progressive feminist discourses, which makes these spaces a meaningful object of analysis for this research. This study conducts a quantitative content analysis of 18 German genuine online media, including right-wing hyperpartisan, fundamentalist and meninist medias’ websites as well as legacy media’ online outlets. Right-wing actors are expected to be found in discourse coalitions with actors with otherwise adversarial agendas, which base on socially shared sexist and racist stereotypes that play out in a common framing of the feminist movement or its agenda.