Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
According to Eviane Leidig, when people think about the far-right, they often think about "angry young men". However, there are actually quite a number of women in the movement; some of which are very visible and hold prominent positions. In her latest book, The Women of the Far Right, Leidig shares the results of her research into these women. Based on her ethnographic research, she explains how far-right female micro-celebrities use their visibility on mainstream social media platforms to contribute to the far-right's long-term meta-political objectives, and how their content and presence helps to "normalize and legitimize" the ideology of the far-right. These women will often share aesthetically pleasing pictures that fit the informal rules and affordances of online platforms like Instagram, while simultaneously promoting a "far-right utopia" in which women are happily married mothers that support their far-right husbands in their struggle to protect a particular type of masculinity and division of gender roles. As such, pictures of, for instance, their honeymoons, gardening with their children and cooking for their husbands take on clear political connotations.
According to Eviane Leidig, when people think about the far-right, they often think about "angry young men". However, there are actually quite a number of women in the movement; some of which are very visible and hold prominent positions. In her latest book, The Women of the Far Right, Leidig shares the results of her research into these women. Based on her ethnographic research, she explains how far-right female micro-celebrities use their visibility on mainstream social media platforms to contribute to the far-right's long-term meta-political objectives, and how their content and presence helps to "normalize and legitimize" the ideology of the far-right. These women will often share aesthetically pleasing pictures that fit the informal rules and affordances of online platforms like Instagram, while simultaneously promoting a "far-right utopia" in which women are happily married mothers that support their far-right husbands in their struggle to protect a particular type of masculinity and division of gender roles. As such, pictures of, for instance, their honeymoons, gardening with their children and cooking for their husbands take on clear political connotations.
