What you see is <i>not</i> what you get: The incorporation of women in radical right parties

2025/05/22 by Vered Porzycki, Odelia Oshri, Shaul R. Shenhav · 2 voices · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Gender Politics and Representation #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Populism, Right-Wing Movements

paper · doi:10.1177/14651165251340336

Abstract

In recent years, an increasing number of women have been elected as candidates by radical-right parties. Does this trend toward feminization of the radical right improve the substantive representation of women's interest? Our investigation reveals that instead of moderating their positions on gender roles in response to increased female visibility, radical-right parties have further radicalized their ideology, as evidenced by their parliamentary discourse. We analyze speeches delivered in the European Parliament between 2009 and 2023 by delegates from nine parties, four of which are radical-right. Results show that a higher proportion of women in radical-right parties is associated with their representatives’ greater preoccupation with conservative ideology on gender issues. The article discusses the implications of its findings for the study of gender and anti-democratic politics.

Citations

• Sexism and racism: Old-fashioned and modern prejudices.
• Why Women Avoid the Radical Right: Internalized Norms and Party Reputations
• ‘Women and children first!’ Anti-immigration parties and gender in Norway and the Netherlands
• Gender and right-wing populism in the Low Countries: ideological variations across parties and time
• Gendering the vote for populist radical-right parties

Cited by

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Discussions

• This is a very interesting observational paper for those working on gendered dynamics of far-right, descriptive rep & femonationalism Does women's descriptive rep. lower anti-gender discourse among f [bsky, 54 points, 3 comments]
• The specific example that right-wing parties in the European Parliament actually use women to promote sexist policies comes from this study by Porzycki, Oshri, and Shenhav doi.org/10.1177/1465... [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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• Why Women Avoid the Radical Right: Internalized Norms and Party Reputations