A study by the Universitat Jaume I analyses the arguments of anti-feminist discourses



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## A study by the Universitat Jaume I analyses the arguments of anti-feminist discourses

07/03/2023 |
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* [![ argumentari-anti-feminista Maria_Medina_23DLL06](/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2023/2/argumentari-anti-feminista/Maria_Medina_23DLL06.jpg)](#)

Anti-feminist social discourse uses criticism of the concepts of sex and gender, public subsidies or association with communism as arguments to refute feminist proposals and the milestones achieved, according to the study carried out by Maria Medina-Vicent, a researcher at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, in the article "Reacciones discursivas frente al movimiento feminista en el Estado español. Un análisis de la literatura antifeminista" published in the journal *Revista Española de Sociología*.

The author attempts to answer a series of questions: what are the focal points of the attacks in anti-feminist discourses, what concepts of feminist theory do they use, and which feminist intellectuals do they attack? From her work, the author points out that "this analysis allows us to be closer to understanding the discursive acrobatics employed by the anti-feminist ranks, a fundamental question in order to democratically confront the setbacks that these reactive and conservative positions want to carry out with respect to achieving and maintaining gender equality in our society".

The lecturer from the Department of Philosophy analysed two of the works published in response to the proliferation of manuals and informative guides on the main ideas of feminist theory aimed at the general public, "Prohibir la manzana y encontrar la serpiente. Una aproximación crítica al feminismo de cuarta generación" by Un Tío Blanco Hetero and Leyre Khyal, and "Manual para defenderte de una feminazi: y otros asuntos de alta necesidad" by Cristina Seguí. The tone of the two works differs notably: the former is based on a reflection on feminist currents, the latter employs much more polemical language using epithets that disparage the movement.

According to the conclusions of the study, these discourses that are "reactive" to feminism have found a place in the media and in the social sphere and have become "part of the social imaginary about feminism" and even "drink" from its tensions or internal debates in order to position themselves against it. The author explains that "while feminist discourses are on the rise, the same is true of anti-feminist discourses" and considers it necessary to continue researching the arguments they use because they are increasingly engraved in the social imaginary.

Through the literature, this research framed within the project "Mediatisation of women's rage: frameworks of intelligibility and communicative strategies of politicising transformation", financed by the Spanish Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020, has made it possible to identify four outstanding axes that shape anti-feminist discourses in the Spanish state: criticism of fourth-generation feminism, the rethinking of the concepts of sex and gender, the question of public subsidies for gender equality and, finally, the association of feminism with communism.

In the first case, it can be seen that this anti-feminist literature attacks feminism by focusing on currents such as queer theories, which are blamed for the alteration of the established order, because they imply the loss of traditional values related to the family. In the second case, there is a critique of the conceptions of "sex" and "gender" that would link up with the criticism made from within feminism towards feminist currents centred on identity politics which, for example, in the opinion of Nancy Fraser (an American political philosopher and feminist), generate a focus of feminist discourses that prioritises a symbolic transformation, when in reality this transformation should be centred on the material structures of society.

Furthermore, both works mention feminist authors who are characterised by controversial statements on gender equality, such as Sommers' *Who Stole Feminism* (1994), in which she points out that part of the feminist movement reappropriates women's experience by promoting a dangerous scenario that sets women against men.

The article also comments on the arguments put forward in the two works on the relationship between the feminist movement and Spanish political parties, especially left-wing parties such as PSOE or Unidas Podemos, which the authors of the works analysed accuse of offering subsidies for feminist research or centres for battered women and which they claim "should be eliminated because they respond to partisan political interests".

The intersection of the four axes analysed gives rise to a discursive stance opposed to feminism “despite the fact that both works recognise the importance of the concept of equality (although without analysing the type of equality they are talking about)”, comments Medina-Vicent. The analysis of the works has also allowed the author to detect a set of important concepts, among which she has highlighted ‘feminazi’ and ‘gender ideology’. Cristina Seguí identifyies the former with "left-wing women, extremists and enemies of right-wing women".

**Article**

“Reacciones discursivas frente al movimiento feminista en el Estado español. Un análisis de la literatura antifeminista”. Maria Medina-Vicent. *Revista Española de Sociología* (RES), <https://doi.org/10.22325/fes/res.2023.150>

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