Short Abstract

This panel aims to analyse seemingly apolitical spheres and communities (sport, digital finance, lifestyle influencers and others) connected to pop and youth cultures in order to understand the polarising effects of gender and how anti-gender and masculinist ideologies are mainstreamed today.

Long Abstract

Gender and sexuality have become critical flashpoints driving political polarisation across contemporary Europe, with anti-gender and anti-feminist ideologies increasingly co-opted by the ultraconservative (far) right. This panel investigates this phenomenon by shifting the focus from institutional party politics to the sociocultural and embodied/affective practices where these ideologies are cultivated and mainstreamed. We argue that political polarisation is significantly reinforced by granular, seemingly non-ideological stimuli—"bits and pieces"—operating at discursive, material, and affective levels.

The panel seeks to understand how these dispersed elements consolidate masculinist, anti-gender, and misogynistic idearies within what we term patriarchal ecosystems. We specifically aim to analyse how traditional gender systems are restored and amplified through communities connected with pop and youth cultures. Our case studies may include, among others, sport subcultures (e.g., gymbros, MMA, crossfit followers), communities around digital finance (cryptobros), lifestyle influencers, MRA, tradwives and others. We aim to identify and study groups that promote assertive masculinities, masculinism, anti-feminism and misogyny through embodied and affective strategies that may include bodily discipline, cultivation of male strength and dominance, and economic, social and digital success.

By exploring these spheres which may initially appear detached from formal political campaigning, we aim to untangle how anti-gender meanings are circulated, often leveraging the affective impact and the viral reach of social media. This may provide a crucial lens for studying the mechanisms of polarisation and its complex entanglements with youth and pop cultures, offering insights into the current threats to gender equality and to European democracies.

The proposal is connected to the YOU-DARE project (Youth Debunking the Gendered Arguments of Far-Right Extremism, European Commission).

This Panel has 1 pending paper proposal.
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