Desperate Tradwives: How far-right women weaponise social media – with Marie Le Conte and Eviane Leidig
Nov 29, 2023
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Marie Le Conte and Eviane Leidig discuss the dangerous tactics of far-right women on social media, normalizing extremist ideas and prescribing traditionalism as an antidote to unhappiness. They explore the content and motivations of these influencers, the fantasy of traditional motherhood, personal stories of radicalized women, and the role of social media in amplifying extreme ideologies.
Far-right female influencers successfully normalize extreme ideologies on mainstream social media platforms.
Many far-right women attribute their unhappiness to feminism and advocate for a return to traditional gender roles.
Deep dives
The Role of Women in Spreading Extremism Online
In the podcast episode, academic Dr. Evya Lydick discusses her book about the role of women in spreading extremism on the internet. She highlights how young, attractive women are playing key roles as propagandists, organizers, fundraisers, and entrepreneurs within the far-right movement. These influential women started their political activism on platforms like YouTube and later shifted to posting lifestyle content on Instagram. They promote a vision of society where women are homemakers and men are the primary breadwinners, denying women the right to vote. Their success lies in their relatability, accessibility, and responsiveness to their audiences.
Radicalization Journeys of Far-Right Women
Dr. Lydick shares insights into the ideological journeys of far-right women. Many of them grew up in middle-class households and pursued education and corporate careers. However, they later experienced feelings of depression and unhappiness, attributing it to feminism and its perceived control over their lives. They present traditionalism as an antidote to feminism, advocating for a society with clear gender roles where women are solely homemakers and men hold dominant positions. These women aim to change cultural and social norms rather than solely focusing on electoral politics to achieve their vision.
The Influence and Popularity of Far-Right Women Online
The podcast explores the influence and popularity of far-right women on social media platforms. These women strategically use their attractiveness and relatability to their advantage, tapping into aspirations and lifestyle aesthetics of their followers. They tailor their content, such as political commentary and lifestyle-related posts, to target specific demographics. While they attract large male audiences on YouTube, they gain more female followers on Instagram by sharing content related to motherhood, cooking, and homemaking. Despite receiving misogynistic backlash, they successfully normalize and legitimize extreme far-right ideas to mainstream audiences.
The far-right is often associated with angry white men — but their female counterparts might be even more dangerous.
Dr Eviane Leidig, a postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University and author of The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization. She joins Marie Le Conte in The Bunker, to discuss how these women weaponise social media to disseminate extremist ideologies.
“These women are normalising and legitimising extreme ideas to mainstream audiences; they are not on fringe platforms, they are very much out in the open.” – Eviane Leidig
“There is a moment in which all these women describe feeling deeply unhappy and depressed with their lives — they attribute this to feminism, and prescribe traditionalism as the antidote.” – Eviane Leidig
Written and presented by Marie Le Conte. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.