Eviane Leidig, "The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Jan 31, 2024
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Eviane Leidig, expert on the role of women in far-right extremism, discusses the world of far-right women influencers who spread a hateful ideology on social media. She reveals their strategic content creation, the weaponization of technology, and the irony in their lifestyle. Leidig also highlights the challenges in combating the far-right movement online and the use of seemingly innocent content as a disguise for extreme beliefs.
Far-right women influencers strategically use social media to spread their hateful ideology by presenting themselves as authentic and accessible.
Far-right women influencers employ aesthetics and lifestyle content to attract and normalize their extreme views within their audience.
Deep dives
The Rise of Far-Right Women Influencers on Social Media
This episode of the podcast explores the rise of far-right women influencers on social media platforms. These influencers gained popularity during the alt-right years and continue to be political commentators. They strategically use their social media presence to convey political messages and ideologies, often disguised within seemingly non-political content such as motherhood blogging. By framing motherhood as an empowering act within the far-right movement, these women shape their followers' views on traditional gender roles and the importance of women in the movement. Despite claiming not to be political themselves, their intentional content creation and posting activities make their political motivations clear.
The Irony in Far-Right Women Influencers Benefiting from Feminist Gains
Far-right women influencers enjoy the benefits of feminist and women's rights movements, despite their anti-feminist stance. They attend college, hold jobs, publish books, and own property, all accomplishments made possible by these movements. However, they promote a narrow understanding of feminism which aligns with their far-right ideologies and prioritize traditional gender roles. By using empowering language and framing femininity as an alternative to mainstream feminism, they attempt to normalize their extreme views and gain acceptance within their audience.
The Aesthetics and Rhetoric of Far-Right Women Influencers
Far-right women influencers strategically employ aesthetics and visuals to make their content more digestible and appealing to their audience. They utilize alternative platforms with familiar layouts, mirroring those of mainstream media outlets, but present their own far-right perspectives. By incorporating lifestyle content like mommy blogging or food blogging, they attract and retain followers. These influencers navigate a fine line by using holistic and all-natural aesthetics while promoting far-right ideologies, effectively blending in with the influencer culture but with a different political agenda.
The Challenges of Combating Far-Right Content Online
Combatting far-right content online presents numerous challenges. These influencers frequently employ tactics to circumvent moderation, such as manipulating text or visuals to avoid flagging. Platforms often struggle to recognize the harmful and hateful nature of their content, as it is often coded and veiled under non-political subjects. There is a blind spot regarding the way these influencers promote extremist views while seemingly adhering to platform guidelines. Consequently, few actions are taken against these influencers, allowing them to continue spreading their ideologies.
On mainstream social media platforms, far-right women make extremism relatable. They share Instagram stories about organic foods that help pregnant women propagate the “pure” white race and post behind-the-scenes selfies at antivaccination rallies. These social media personalities model a feminine lifestyle, at once promoting their personal brands and radicalizing their followers. Amid discussions of issues like dating, marriage, and family life, they call on women to become housewives to counteract the corrosive effects of feminism and champion the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which motivated massacres in Christchurch, El Paso, and Buffalo.
Eviane Leidig offers an in-depth look into the world of far-right women influencers, exploring the digital lives they cultivate as they seek new recruits for white nationalism. Going beyond stereotypes of the typical male white supremacist, she uncovers how young, attractive women are playing key roles as propagandists, organizers, fundraisers, and entrepreneurs. Leidig argues that far-right women are marketing themselves as authentic and accessible in order to reach new followers and spread a hateful ideology. This insidious—and highly gendered—strategy takes advantage of the structure of social media platforms, where far-right women influencers’ content is shared with and promoted to mainstream audiences. Providing much-needed expertise on gender and the far right, this timely and accessible book also details online and offline approaches to countering extremism.
Rameen Mohammed is a community organizer based in Texas, a fellow for Muslim Counterpublics Lab and a soon-to-be law student.