Lesson 1.1: What is ‘Anti-Gender’ Politics? Origins, Uses & Controversies
We start with explaining the origins, definitions, and political uses of the term ‘anti-gender’ politics, including scholarly debates and critiques.
2. ‘Anti-Gender’ & ‘Gender Ideology’
In academic research, anti-gender refers to political, religious, and civic mobilisations that target what is labelled ‘gender ideology’ – a term deliberately constructed to discredit feminist, queer, and trans movements (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017; Grzebalska, Kováts & Pető, 2017; Graff & Korolczuk, 2022).
The phrase ‘gender ideology’ is intentionally vague. It gathers together many different fields – from reproductive rights to LGBTIQ+ recognition and gender studies – and reframes them as dangerous or illegitimate.
Scholars such as Kováts, Grzebalska, and Pető describe ‘gender ideology’ as a ‘symbolic glue’ – a flexible frame that unites actors with otherwise divergent worldviews: right-wing populists, conservative church networks, centrist nationalists, and trans-exclusionary feminists. Because the term is so elastic, it absorbs multiple fears, including anxieties about demographic decline, globalisation, secularism, or ‘elite’ cultural influence.
Key concepts |
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| Moral panic: a social reaction in which a group is constructed as a threat to societal values. | Symbolic glue: how gender acts as a unifying narrative connecting otherwise unrelated political demands (e.g. nationalism, migration, education). |
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'Anti-gender 'mobilisations are sometimes described as a backlash: However, the idea of backlash must be used carefully. In many contexts, there was little or no prior progress to ‘reverse’. |
'Anti-gender' mobilisation can arise: |
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In other words, anti-gender campaigns do not always respond to progressive achievements – they frequently pre-empt them, producing a climate of fear or moral panic to justify restrictive policies. |
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