Perceptions of Women in the Far-Right
A Comparative Ideology Analysis of Far-Right Perceptions of Women.
Elin Eriksson Uppsala University
Department of Government Development Studies C Supervisor: Helen Lindberg Bachelor Thesis | Spring 2021 Word Count: 12 921
Pages: 38
ABSTRACT
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This bachelor’s thesis aspires to contribute to the field of research concerning women and far-right extremism. Scholars have during recent years called attention to the surge of far-right extremism and female participation in jihadi terrorism. However, when these fields of research meet, various knowledge-gaps are distinguishable. The explicit research gap that this thesis aims to fill concerns a lack of comparative research on how men and women in the extreme-right perceive women. To fill this gap, this thesis aspires to describe how women are perceived, on a sex-disaggregated basis, in the far-right extremist movement by answering the research question: How do the female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ? Using the gender-separated US extreme-right group Proud Boys/Proud Girls as a typical case, the study performs an ideology analysis to distinguish how the groups perceive women. Thus, this study contributes to the field by presenting a comparative analysis of how the extreme right perceive women.
The results of the study suggests a difference in how Proud Boys and Proud Girls perceive women as the former conveys a more misogynist perception whereas the latter adheres to a more empowering view of women.
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Key Words: Far-right, Women, Alt-right, Alt-lite, Misogyny, Conservative Feminism, Proud Boys, Proud Girls
Table of Content
1. INTRODUCTION………..4
2. PREVIOUS RESEARCH………..5
2.1. Far-right Extremism in the US………..6
2.2. Women and Terrorism/Extremism...………..6
2.3. Research Gap and Research Question………...7
3.THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………....8
3.1. Alt-Right………....8
3.1.1. Misogyny………...……….... 9
3.2. Alt-Lite………....………..………....9
3.2.1. Anti-Feminism…….……...………...…....………....…………...10
3.3. Conservative Feminism………..……….10
3.3.1. Maternalism………..11
4.METHODS AND MATERIAL………....12
4.1. Research Design………..12
4.1.1. Case: Proud Boys and Proud Girls………...13
4.2. Ideology Analysis………..………..…………..….14
4.2.1. Ideal Types………...………15
4.2.2. Tools of Analysis: The Triadic Model of Freedom………...……...16
4.3. Operationalization………....…………...17
4.4. Material…………...………...……...………..19
4.5. Validity & Reliability………..20
4.6. Joint Coding Scheme………...22
5. RESULTS & ANALYSIS……….23
5.1. Does the state of being a woman encompass any intrinsic value?...24
5.2. Is anything referred to as threatening the ideal female societal role?...25
5.3. What characteristics are used when women are described?...26
5.4. Summary of Results…...…….………....………....……….28
5.4.1.What do references to a woman signify?...28
5.4.2.What roles are women perceived to have/should have?...28
5.4.3.What does descriptions of femininity imply?...29
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS………..30
6.1. Summary of Study………..30
6.2. Limitations of Study………...31
6.3. Contributions and Future Research………....31
7. REFERENCES………..34
7.1. Social Media………...………34
7.2. Other………...………....35
Appendix 1……….38
List of Abbreviations
ADL = Anti-Defamation League AOG= Army of God
FIS= Femininity Ideology Scale GTI= Global Terrorism Index INCEL = Involuntary Celibacy KKK= Ku Klux Klan
MGTOW= Men Going Their Own Way MMA= Mixed Martial Arts
SPLC = Southern Poverty Law Centre WKKK= Women’s Ku Klux Klan
1. Introduction
In later years notable increases in far-right extremist1movements and terrorist attacks have been observed. The 2019 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) reports “In North America, Western Europe, and Oceania, far-right attacks increased by 320 percent over the past five years”
(Institute of Economics and Peace, 2019:3). Statistics of terrorist2attacks in the US since 9/11 show that 114 people have been killed by right-wing attacks whilst 107 people have lost their lives in jihadist attacks. This entails that, as of 2020, the majority of terrorist attacks in the US are to be attributed to far-right extremism3(New America, 2021). Seeing as the right-wing’s objectives aim to impede matters such as gender equality and inclusive development
(Murphy, 2020), it is arguably important to further investigate the ongoings of far-right extremism.
Scholars have previously outlined terrorist features, religious as well as left- and right-wing, to largely correspond with masculinity. This further entails that men have been pointed out as perpetrators whilst women have been seen as victims or entirely excluded. This ignorance of women’s agency has paved the way for the contemporary increases in female presence and variation of female roles within jihadist terrorism (Bloom and Lokmanoglu, 2020). Bloom points out how ”Once an occasional occurrence, the use of women is growing at an alarming rate. Using female recruits provides the terrorist organizations with a comparative advantage, particularly the element of surprise” (2011:1). Despite the advances of the extreme-right, the knowledge about gendered aspects of 21st-century far-right extremism is limited.
Nevertheless, a gender perspective is crucial to ensure that women cannot be used to avert current security efforts as has been the case with the jihadist employment of women (Bloom, 2011).
Therefore, this thesis aspires to combine the literature on far-right extremism with the growing literature on women and terrorism. Due to the limited research on the gendered aspects of contemporary right-wing extremism, the overall purpose of this thesis is to
3Extremism may be defined as “someone having beliefs that most people think are unreasonable and unacceptable” (Cambridge Dictionary).
2Terrorism may be defined as “(threats of) violent action for political purposes” (Cambridge Dictionary)
1Far-Right entails the contemporary political, social, and religious movements that are all linked by their radical ideologies that fall outside of mainstream conservatism (ADL, 2021a).
examine how a certain far-right extremist group that can be seen as representative of the far-right movement as a whole perceive women.
Furthermore, while some, albeit limited, research on how extreme-right men and women perceive women exists, these have not been compared. Thus, the ambition is to contribute with a comparative analysis describing possible similarities and differences between male and female far-right extremists’ perception of women. Therefore, the contributions of this thesis may be deemed valuable in the sense that it aspires to differentiate the inherent
perceptions of the current radical right-wing. The hope is to contribute to the comprehension of the gendered aspects of the present extreme-right to inhibit continuous generalization of the movement. Thus the research question has been formulated as follows: How do the female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ?
This thesis commences by reviewing previous research on far-right extremism and women and terrorism. Following, the research-gap is clarified and the purpose, overarching research-question and sub-questions are presented. The study then reviews the three ideologies, alt-right, alt-lite and conservative feminism, that all encompass different ideas concerning womanhood. Following, the ‘Methods and Material’ section outlines the research design and ideology analysis method. The analysis consists of a within-case analysis of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys which recently split into an all-female chapter, Proud Girls. Lastly, the conclusion of main findings and challenges is presented before references and appendix.
2. Previous Research
This chapter briefly reviews the two academic fields that this study aspires to contribute to.
When combining the literatures of far-right extremism and women and terrorism, a gap is distinguishable since the research on women in the present extreme-right movement is limited. As will be explained in this chapter, the new far-right is mostly active in the US.
Thus, this study focuses on American far-right extremism as will be further discussed in the case selection section (4.1).
2.1. Far-right Extremism in the US
Scholars have during recent years illuminated a new phenomenon rising in the shadow of the post 9/11 American ‘War on Terror’; the 21st-century far-right extremism (LaFree & Freilich, 2016). Previous research has pointed out how the general idea of terrorism has become synonymous with foreign threats, mainly Islamist extremism. However, the largest current threat is rather right-wing extremism, as pointed out by LaFree & Freilich (2016). Since the mid-nineteenth century, social and political violence has been associated with far-right ideologies. The groups that adhere to the extreme-right ideologies might differ, but the foundational notions are essentially the same today as they were in the 1850s amongst the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), mainly featuring white supremacy, antisemitism, and misogyny
(Campion, 2020: Matusitz & Berisha, 2021). Ensuingly, violent far-right extremism has been intensifying, primarily in the US, since the early 21-st century. Casualties resulting from this ideology, have been caused by mass shootings and attacks (New America, 2021).
Up until the former US President Donald Trump’s election campaign in 2016, the new right-wing movement had mostly been active in online forums and was, therefore, able to function and grow relatively inconspicuously, as stated by ADL (2021a). However, to support Trump’s campaign, the new extreme-right stepped into the light of current politics in 2016 (ADL, 2021a). Ever since the values of the right-wing have spread throughout the US as well as Europe (New America, 2021). An analogy that is commonly used to describe the
radicalization process into the extreme-right and its values is the ‘Red Pill’ (Kutner & Harper, 2019). Within the right-wing, this metaphor is used to describe how a person can be
‘red-pilled’, by becoming race realists and realizing how men are oppressed by women’s empowerment (Kutner, 2020). This illustration further calls attention to an important skill of the new far-right, they predominantly function through social media and online memes as opposed to previous right-wing organizations’ more public approaches. Hence, the movement has grown in the shadow to a size that is still uncertain (Stern, 2019).
2.2. Women and Terrorism/Extremism
Due to the ignorance of women’s agency in extremism, various terrorist groups have started to increasingly recruit women (Bloom and Lokmanoglu, 2020). As such, there is growing literature on women’s radicalization as well as their roles in extremist groups. Mia Bloom (2011) is one of several scholars who have outlined women’s radicalization into religious terrorism and discussed their roles in jihadist extremism. Similarly, there are also a few
studies that compare male and female participation and recruitments within jihadist terrorism (Pearson & Winterbotham, 2017). Thus, the literature on women and terrorism almost
exclusively focuses on religious terrorism implying that there is still much unknown about the correlation between women and non-religious terrorism.
To remedy the lack of research on women and the current far-right extremism, Darby (2021) closely investigates the motives and roles of three far-right extremist American women.
Darby highlights the active presence of women in the present-day extreme-right and further points out the importance of acknowledging this female agency since it is just as dangerous as male presence. Moreover, Matusitz and Berisha (2021) discuss women’s roles in religious, left-wing and right-wing terrorism. However, Matusitz and Berisha’s research illustrates women’s inclusion in earlier far-right organizations, which further points out the lack of knowledge about the current extreme-right movement. In a sociological essay, Stinton (2019) examines women’s radicalization into the current far-right movement. Similarly, studies by Campion (2020) and Latif et al. (2020) present research that outlines designated female roles within the far-right movement. Mainly, they found three general roles: mothering, agents of violence, and providers of sexual satisfaction for the male members. The research mentioned in this section are the most descriptive pieces of women’s involvement in the radical-right movement that currently exists. However, except for Darby’s limited, albeit relevant material, there is no research on how today’s far-right women themselves perceive womanhood.
Contrary to the difficulty of finding research on female far-right extremism, much has been published about men and far-right extremism. As such, there also exists a field of research that discusses male right-wing extremists’ perceptions about women. The issue with this field is its inherent tendency of generalizing all extreme-right perceptions of women to stem from misogyny (Main, 2018). As further described in the theory chapter, much of the far-right movement correlates with the “manosphere” and online subcultures such as “involuntary celibates” (INCEL) or “men going their own way” (MGTOW). These groups are known to spread both anti-feminist and misogynist content (Kutner & Harper, 2019).
2.3. Research Gap and Research Question
As becomes apparent in the previous sections, the current field of research within far-right extremism and women and terrorism contains some affirmations about male far-right
extremists’ idea of women, albeit a generic one, whilst even fewer studies exist that describe
female far-right extremists’ view on women. Hence, the explicit research gap that this thesis aims to fill concerns a lack of comparative research on how men and women in the
extreme-right perceive women. To fill this gap, this thesis aspires to describe how women are perceived, on a sex-disaggregated basis, in the far-right extremist movement. By pursuing this purpose, this thesis hopes to contribute with a more precise idea of how the perception of women varies within the far-right movement. These kinds of nuances may serve important purposes not only to the academic field itself, but also to current efforts that strive to inhibit radicalization. To accomplish this purpose, the study aspires to answer the following
overarching question: How do the female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ?
To answer this overarching research question, three sub-questions have been formulated to guide the analysis. These questions are later operationalized:
1) What do references to a woman signify?
2) What roles are women perceived to have/should have?
3) What do descriptions of femininity imply?
3. Theoretical Framework
To answer the research question about how female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ, this chapter reviews three theories that are present in the far-right context. Each ideology is first outlined as a whole and then a separate section follows on the ideology’s general attitude towards women.
In accordance with the ideology analysis method, further explained in chapter 4, these ideologies are later used as categories that the material is sorted into.
3.1. Alt- Right
In 2008, the term “Alt-Right”, was coined to identify a growing extreme-right movement advocating the preservation of the “white identity” and “Western civilization” (Main, 2018).
By appealing widely to different far-right extremists, the alt-right has evolved into a new ideology that combines several different right-wing notions. Mainly, the alt-right rejects mainstream conservatism and instead turns to white supremacy, racism, antisemitism, and misogyny. The movement has pursued its ideology, through rallies, online campaigning, and attacks, according to ADL (2021a ). Bates further explains that during the 2017 ''Unite the Right'' rally in Charlottesville, far-right extremist James Alex Jr Fields drove into a crowd
with his car, injuring dozens. Whilst driving, Jr Fields repeatedly yelled ‘white sharia’ (Bates, 2020:23). The concept was constructed by the alt-right and signifies the idea that “white men should adopt their own version of what they perceive as the Islamic practice of enslaving women'' (Bates, 2020:23). Through the advocacy of raping white women for the sake of ensuring the “purity of the white” race, a fundamental streak of misogyny is distinguishable within the alt-right ideology (Bates, 2020:22).
3.1.1. Misogyny
Misogyny is commonly defined as “primarily a property of individual agents (typically, although not necessarily, men) who are prone to feel hatred, hostility, or other similar
emotions toward any and every woman, or at least women generally, simply because they are women” (Manne, 2017:32). Misogyny is mainly present in the alt-right within an online subculture that has developed alongside the alt-right: the so-called “manosphere”. Home to a wide range of misogynist opinions, ranging from anti-feminism to undiluted hatred for women, the manosphere illustrates the variation of opinions concerning women within the ranks of the alt-right (Bates, 2020:17). The foundational similarity between the manosphere and the alt-right is their efforts to reinforce the idea that “the sacred purpose of men is to have sex, procreate, and dominate” and that “all women exist purely as sexual vessels, either to satisfy men or to bear (white) children” (Bates, 2020:22).
There is a growing idea, involuntary celibacy, within the far-right movement that women are to blame for misfortunes and loneliness. More specifically, “incels assail what they believe are the social injustices wrought by genetic determinism and female preferences that have relegated them to the margins of society” (Hoffman et al., 2020:565). The Incel ideology stems from a male deprival of sex which is referred to as a fundamental human right (Bates, 2020).
3.2. Alt-Lite
The second most prominent ideology within the present-day extreme-right is the alt-lite. As its name suggests, the alt-lite ideology encompasses several far-right notions to a less extreme extent compared to the alt-right ideology. Instead of the hardline white supremacist and anti-Semitic notions that the alt-right promotes, the alt-lite are defined as Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, and antiglobalist (Main, 2018:226). To exemplify, the alt-lite has
energetically supported the former US President Trump’s commitment to building a wall to
inhibit migration and thereby preserve the “American culture” (Fozdar and Low, 2015). As such, the alt-lite conviction has been referred to as a hybrid of the alt-right ideology and mainstream conservatism (Main, 2018:213). The most apparent way to separate the two ideologies is to consider the alt-lite a less extreme version of the alt-right. Difficult as it may be, the distinction is important since the two ideologies are present in the same far-right movement.
3.2.1 Anti-Feminism
When it comes to the alt-lite perception of women, the most prominent idea can be described as anti-feminist (Stern, 2019). Opposite to mainstream feminism, this ideology embodies disbelief in social, economic, and political equality between the sexes. These opinions stem from the traditional notion that places men in the public sphere and women in the private sphere (Jordan, 2016). The public sphere has traditionally entailed male jurisdiction of matters such as politics and economics. In contrast, the private sphere rather entails female domestication and duties bound to the household, including reproduction, livelihood provision, and caring for the children and elders. As a result of these roles, this traditional view of society features an unequal power balance between the sexes (Stern & Nystrand, 2006:45).
The cornerstone of anti-feminist notions features a conviction that feminism counteracts the goal of gender equality as it “empowers and privileges women over men” (Jordan, 2016:20).
In contrast to the explicit misogynistic character of the alt-right, the alt-lite rather advocates the persistence of traditional gender roles. To exemplify this difference, one can compare the previously discussed values of the misogynist Incel subculture and alt-lite websites with articles titled “Feminism is a Cancer that is Metastasizing everywhere” (Stern, 2019:19).
Thus, the alt-lite vigorously opposes women’s empowerment, yet they do not advocate extreme misogynist opinions as those present amongst Incels.
3.3. Conservative Feminism
This study has chosen to gather a conservative feminist ideology rather than employing mainstream feminism. This decision stems from the fact that despite the right-wing’s
anti-feminist rhetoric, all-female groups such as Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK) and Proud Girls still emerged from the traditionally all-male far-right (Matusitz & Berisha, 2021).
Hence, an ideology that encompasses extreme-right women’s perspectives arguably seems important to include. Conservative feminism is not as clearly defined as other strands of the feminist ideology. The most common description of the ideology reflects a backlash effect to the rapid growth of radical feminism and its progressive initiatives of sexual politics that aspires to radically alter the balance of traditional gender-roles (Stacey, 1983).
At its core, conservative feminism stems from essentialist feminism. Contrary to the Simone de Beauvoir and the constructivist feminist belief that gender is a patriarchal generated social construct, the essentialist school argues that physical attributes determine gender at birth (Vachhani, 2020). From these notions, Luce Irigaray developed the culture of sexual
difference which contends that the biological differences of the sexes should be recognized, but the order of female subordination has to be reconsidered for women to be able to
construct their own identities (Vachhani, 2020). Thus, conservative feminism advocates that both sexes should receive identical treatment in terms of equality and justice (Dillard, 2005).
The primary premises of conservative feminism can subsequently be summarised as rejecting politicization of sexuality and opposition to male superiority whilst supporting the
nuclear-family archetype and biologically based sex differences (Levant et al., 2007).
3.3.1. Maternalism
The interest of mothers is a subject that brings otherwise disparate conservative women’s agendas together. A common conservative critique against radical feminists is their tendency to diminish the value of women’s fundamental role as caretakers. Whereas radical feminism considers gender roles to constrain women, the conservative feminism advocates that motherhood enables women agency and importance (Stacey, 1983). Conservative feminism places the aspiration for gender equality in the context of maternalism. Namely, conservative women commonly promote women’s equal rights whilst protecting their role as mothers (Matusitz & Berisha, 2021:119). This notion was present in the WKKK where motherhood was used to normalize racism in the sense that women obtained agency by acting to protect the white race, as in their children (Coleman, 2017).
In terms of abortion rights, conservative feminism objects to radical feminists’ notion that being pro-choice is in women’s best interest (Schreiber, 2018: 70). Another factor that usually motivates the conservative anti-abortion opposition is religion. One American organization that advocated this idea is the Army of God (AOG) that pursued extreme anti-abortion
violence in the late 20th century. Their most notorious attacks being the killings of abortion doctors (Matusitz & Berisha, 2021:96).
4. Methods and Material
As the field of research currently lacks a comparative analysis, this study aims to clarify how men and women in the current far-right movement perceive women. A qualitative method was chosen instead of the quantitative since the research question requires an understanding of underlying notions in the material rather than the material in itself (Esaiasson et al., 2012:210). To accomplish a comparative analysis, this chapter outlines a blueprint plan for the study. In brief, the study resembles a case study that analyzes online content by
conducting an ideology analysis. Ideal types are used to create clear categories and the analytical tool ‘triadic model of freedom’ is employed to enhance the analysis questions’
ability to categorize the content into the ideal types.
4.1. Research Design
Considering the time frame and the lack of previous research on the area, a case study may arguably serve as the most fruitful design in terms of achieving a comprehensive idea of how the far-right perceives women. Yin defines the case study design as “investigating a
contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (2003:13). The purpose of this thesis requires a comparison between male and female far-right extremists. Hence, this study compares two units that exist in the same place. This method is commonly referred to as a within-case analysis (Esaiasson et al., 2012:108). In brief, a far-right extremist group that encompasses but separates male and female members has been chosen as a typical case of far-right extremist groups.
Contrary to most other designs, the case study does not have that many pre-decided regulations. Similarly, the case study is often criticized for the difficulty to generalize the results. The problem concerns the ability to extend the singularity of the study. Yin (2003:10), however, counters this critique by illuminating the difference between analytical
generalization and statistical generalization. In brief, the aim of the case study is to expand the theoretical knowledge, not to specify the commonness of a certain phenomenon. The ability to generalize also depends upon the case and its connection to the phenomenon as a
whole. Therefore, this thesis has chosen a case that is highly representative of the present-day extreme-right movement.
4.1.1. Case: Proud Boys and Proud Girls
The population that the thesis aims to study is the current far-right movement. To do this within the scope of a bachelor’s thesis, a case that is typical for the movement as a whole had to be selected (Esaiasson et al, 2012:164). During the 2020 presidential election debate, former US President Donald Trump was urged to condemn the growing far-right movement in the US. Instead, Mr.Trump referred to the far-right extremist group Proud Boys and urged them to “Stand down, Stand by” (Wending, 2020). The Southern Poverty Law Center (2021) has declared the Proud Boys a general hate group, meaning that the network adheres to various ideologies generated by hate. The group was founded in 2016 by the media
personality Gavin McInnes in New York (ADL, 2021b). As such, 2016 makes for a natural starting point of the analysis. Since the group is still active, the time frame ranges from 2016 until present day4.
Since the second unit of analysis, Proud Girls, has evolved as a separate chapter within the Proud Boys organization, they will be introduced after Proud Boys has been reviewed. The Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes first introduced the group as “western chauvinists” in 2016 (SPLC, 2021). This concept is used to define the group as a “fraternal drinking organization”, defending the western culture from threats such as Islam and far-left extremists, e.g. anti-fascists (ADL, 2021b). However, Kutner (in Kutner & Harper, 2019) maintains that this definition may be durable on paper, but in reality, the use of alcohol in this context is used as an excuse for racist, anti-feminist, and white supremacist online
exclamations and actions. SPLC (2021) describes Proud Boys to be transphobic, misogynistic, islamophobic, and anti-immigration.
Similar to the internal division of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the 1920s that created the Women’s Ku Klux Klan, Proud Boys recently split into an only women’s chapter, Proud Girls (Coleman, 2017). Before the division that took place last year, women had only been included in the group as “Proud Boys’ Girls”. This membership only symbolized a close affiliation, such as mother or spouse, to a Proud Boy (SPL, 2021). The Proud Boys-researcher
4Precise end date for the collection of material: 15th of May 2021.
Samantha Kutner motivates the exclusion of women from the Proud Boys organization to stem from a sense of contemporary demasculinization (Kutner, 2020). Due to this attitude MMA fighter Tara LaRosa initiated Proud Girls for women who agree with Proud Boys’
ideology but have been excluded due to their gender(Zidan, 2021).Proud Girls describes itself as “the sanctioned female wing of the Proud Boys, representing the new diversity of America's greatest male fraternity” (@proudgirlsusa, 21/12/2020).
The sole creation of the Proud Girls illustrates the active existence of women in the current far-right movement. Also, the group is geographically representative as the majority of the members are located in the US, whilst a minority is spreading in Europe and Canada (Stern, 2019:19). This implies that besides their extensive inclusion of various extreme-right notions, Proud Boys/Proud Girls is a case that is representative of the geographical and gendered width of the present far-right movement. Using a case that is typical for, and does not differ from, the population as a whole, the result is more likely to be generalizable (Esaiasson et al., 2012:164). Considering this requirement for generalization, Proud Boys/Proud Girls is a fitting representative example of the far-right population, and thus it is deemed as relevant to utilize as a case for the purpose of this study.
4.2. Ideology Analysis
Considering the purpose of this thesis, to examine how the current extreme-right perceives women, a method able to identify underlying meanings within various contents seems suitable. Therefore, an ideology analysis has been chosen to guide the study. In brief, the ideology analysis entails that the material found will be sorted into categories resembling the established ideologies.
Before describing the uses of the method further, it is important to understand what the concept “ideology” implies. In basic terms, ideologies consist of a number of ideas that together devise different conceptions regarding reality and the normalization of values.
In political science, the term ideology is often used in a more narrow manner to signify a specific goal that one aspires towards (Bergström & Boréus 2005:150). The political scientist Herbert Tingsten further developed this narrow approach by suggesting an ideology to encompass three elements (Bergström & Boréus 2005:159). The first element concerns the fundamental values that an ideology adheres to. These values regard issues such as justice or
human nature. The second element is a shared understanding of reality, meaning the
presumptions the ideology expresses concerning the current society. Lastly, the third element features encouragements of desirable actions such as certain kinds of governance or behavior (Bergström & Boréus 2005:159).
As a research method, the ideology analysis is quite unrestricted and can therefore be molded in accordance with the aim of the study that employs it. Seeing as this thesis pursues a
descriptive purpose, the ideology analysis is employed to distinguish ideas and opinions present amongst the Proud Boys/Proud Girls (Bergström & Boréus 2005:177). The ideology analysis is moreover known for its effectiveness in unveiling implicit notions within different texts and contents. Seeing as the material that this study sets out to analyze tends to express implicit opinions solely meant for members of the far-right to understand, the ideology
analysis arguably suits the process of understanding the underlying meanings of such material (Bergström & Boréus 2005:160-164). The ideology analysis is almost identical to the idea analysis. To separate these two, the latter is described as smaller components of the former.
Thus, societal and political ideas together create an ideology. Since this study aims to achieve a more wholesome description of how women are perceived, the ideology analysis was chosen as it enables a broader analysis whereas the idea analysis provides a more narrow analysis (Bergström & Boréus, 2005: 149-159).
4.2.1. Ideal Types
The ideology analysis is used to sort perceptions of women found in the material into categories representing the chosen ideologies. To manage this task, one can adopt the analytical tool ideal types. The ideal type was developed by the acknowledged sociologist Max Weber to easier differentiate ideologies. Ideal types are constructed ideals that
accentuate common features of real-world phenomenons (Esaiasson et al., 2012:140). This means that ideal types can be used to simplify reality by illustrating the most ultimate extent of some features that in theory reflect a certain phenomenon. Thus, ideal types are used to establish to what extent a real-world phenomenon resembles the theoretical ideal type. In this study, ideal types are employed to clarify the differences between the ideological categories which simplifies the sorting of material (Esaiasson et al., 2012:140: Beckman, 2005:25-28).
As illustrated below, the ideologies found within the present far-right movement can be illustrated as a scale, ranging from the alt-right as the most extreme right, to mainstream conservatism as the least extreme. Since the chosen ideologies should correlate with the study’s research question concerning the perception of women and their role in society, a conservative feminist ideology is used instead of mainstream conservatism. As such, this study adopts the ideal types of alt-right, alt-lite and conservative feminism to analyze how women are perceived within the current extreme-right. The ideal types are presented in the joint coding scheme on page 22.
Figure 1. Far-right ideological spectrum
4.2.2. Tools of Analysis: Triadic Model of Freedom
Esaiasson et al. (2012:137) highlight the importance of how the categories used to structure and simplify the material are constructed. Therefore, some sort of guideline is helpful when constructing the categories and establishing a procedure for categorization. A common technique is to ask the material a few pre-constructed questions and then categorize the content based on how it answers the questions. This section reviews the tools used to
construct the questions, and how these tools enhance the questions’ ability to relate content to the ideal types.
To ensure that the analysis questions are able to categorize contents according to ideology, Tingsten’s three inherent elements of ideologies have been used as a foundation. This means that the questions are constructed to distinguish inherent values, ideas about reality, and action-driven encouragements that may exist in the material. To enhance the ability to apprehend any ideological indications that the material might reflect, three questions have been formulated that encompass the three elements of ideology. To simplify the complexity of Tingsten’s concepts, and thus make them more empirically applicable, the analytical tool, the triadic model of freedom, has been adopted.
Ball et al. (2014) contend that a fundamental part of all ideologies is their purpose of
defending and extending freedom. This essential role of freedom makes for an ideal basis for separating and contrasting ideologies. To illustrate how freedom is conceived in various statements, Ball et al. (2014:10) use the triadic model of freedom. The model incorporates three features that together constitute conceptions of freedom, an agent (A), an obstacle that the agent has to overcome (B), and a goal that the agent aspires to reach (C). These factors create statements concerning freedom in the following sense: A is, or is not, free from B to achieve, be, or become C (Ball et al., 2014:11).
Figure 2: The Triadic Model of Freedom
To simplify Tingsten’s three elements of ideology, these may be transformed into the more empirically functional constituents of the triadic model of freedom. The first element, intrinsic values of the ideology, may be easier to analyze if one considers these values to concern agents. Thus, this element of ideologies may be found by analyzing how agents are described. The second element, conceptions concerning reality, could be analyzed as
obstacles. This implies that statements about factors that inhibit agents can tell us something about how ideologies perceive reality. Lastly, the third element, encouragements, can be more easily distinguishable if one considers what goals the encouragements promote and how these can be correlated to the different ideologies.
4.3. Operationalization
To answer the overarching research question, ”How do the female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ?”, its sub-questions (see page 8) have been operationalized. Thus, the analysis questions (A,B,C) below build on the research question’s three sub-questions (1,2,3). By applying
analysis questions to the material, categorizing the content according to the three ideal types is simplified. Similarly, the triadic model of freedom is used to separate the questions for a more comprehensive operationalization of perception of women.
To understand how a certain context perceives the prescribed agent, one can study what factors are needed to establish the agent’s worth. To measure the first sub-question, “What do references to a woman signify?”, one can begin by establishing whether the woman as an agent in a certain context has an intrinsic value. Thus, the first analysis question concerns the most fundamental part of the concept woman; Womanhood implies the state of being a woman (Cambridge dictionary).This means to question if the state of being a woman is dependent on the presence of other actors, or not. By analyzing if another agent's presence determines a woman's worth, one may distinguish whether a woman is perceived to have an intrinsic value. To exemplify, are men or children present in a statement to imply that a woman’s elemental worth reflects her function as a spouse or mother? If so, this means a woman's elemental worth does not have any intrinsic value. However, if a woman is
mentioned without referring to her function for other agents, this means that her state of being a woman has intrinsic value. This creates analysis-question A: In the context of this
statement, does the state of being a woman encompass any intrinsic value?
For a more comprehensive operationalization, two factors that target other significations of women than the mere state of being a woman have been included. The first reflects the second sub-question, “What roles are women perceived to have/should have?”, since roles are arguably a central part of women’s reality. The analytical tool obstacle helps to
distinguish what societal roles women are perceived, encouraged, or discouraged to obtain.
To exemplify, does the content convey women’s participation in the workplace to threaten their role as mothers? Thus, obstacle makes it possible to analyze conceptions of the societal hindrances women are free from, but also what inhibits them from the role that the statement in question wishes her to have. This creates analysis-question B: In the context of this
statement, is anything referred to as threatening the ideal female societal role?
Lastly, the third constituent used to operationalize perception of women regards the qualities that are used to describe women. Thus stemming from the third sub-question “What do descriptions of femininity imply?”. By considering the analytical tool goal, encouragements, and exclamations about how women should or should not behave, look or act may be
analyzed and categorized to grasp how men and women perceive what counts as feminine.
Femininity implies qualities or characteristics that are associated with womanhood, the state of being a woman (Cambridge dictionary). Traditionally, femininity is seen as the opposite of masculinity and thus commonly translates into certain attributes such as compassion,
dependency, sensitivity, and maternalism (Levant et al, 2017:374). To measure femininity, the analytic tool Femininity Ideology Scale (FIS) is adopted, further explained on page 21. This creates analysis-question C: What characteristics are used when women are described?
4.4. Material
In terms of material, the selection has been strategic to enhance the study’s ability to engage with its purpose. Due to the contemporary character of the object of this study, the range of material primarily focuses on social media as a first-hand source. Seeing as Proud Boys and Proud Girls mainly function and recruit through various social media platforms, this type of material can arguably provide the most direct way to the far-right perceptions. A broad range of material has been pursued to minimize the risk of disregarding influential aspects.
Nevertheless, the risk with a broad selection is its tendency to be overwhelming (Esaiasson et al., 2012:220). This issue has been considered by utilizing effective analytical tools to
simplify the categorization and discarding of non-relevant data.
Since many of the groups’ websites have been either hacked or adjourned, both Proud Boys and Proud Girls have been reported to use the encrypted social media platform Telegram that enables more unrestricted conversations (Schwirtz, 2021). As such, Proud Girl’s Telegram account @proudgirlsusa and various Telegram accounts associated with Proud Boys such as
@westernchauvinist and @proudboysoklaholma are used as primary sources. Similarly, material has also been found by studying some members' private social media channels. The online platforms used are almost exclusively Telegram, YouTube, Podcasts, and Twitter (see section 7.1).
In the process of locating primary sources, I have encountered a few online viruses that have hacked and rendered my computer inoperative several times. Therefore, as a researcher, I sometimes had to resort to safer routes to relevant material. Therefore, secondary sources that report on material no longer available, or too complicated to get by in person, are to some extent also used in the analysis. Mainly, these resembled various Internet-based sources such as online newspapers and research websites. To obtain material from a variety of sources, the
databases Factiva and Google scholar were used. At first, primary and secondary material that contained any mention of women and either Proud Boys or Proud Girls were selected.
Subsequently, this selection was further narrowed by the analysis questions (A,B,C) to ensure that the mention of women actually conveyed the groups’ perception of women. This also adds to the repeatability of the study since all material is relatively accessible online.
Considering the lack of acclaimed and academic material, the investigation has been forced to use a variety of sources whose credibility occasionally had to be evaluated. Therefore, source criticism has been a constant part of the analytic work. To determine the probability that the information is credible whilst rooted in reality, the four criteria authenticity, time,
dependency, and tendency have been considered (Esaiasson et al., 2012:279). Seeing as the far-right movement often is associated with sarcastic rhetoric (Kutner & Harper, 2019), it is not entirely unlikely that biased, false, or dependent information might appear. This is further discussed in the limitations section (6.2).
4.5. Validity & Reliability
To remedy the potential issue of validity, it is important to use appropriate tools of analysis since these facilitate the systematic proceeding of the analysis. Therefore, this study has constructed clear analytical tools to maximize consistency whilst diminishing the likelihood of biased interpretations. Adopting ideal types that stem from established ideologies enhances the transparency of categorization. It should be mentioned, however, that the common
technique of using opposite ideologies as ideal types could not be applied in this study (Esaiasson et al., 2012:141). Seeing as this investigation concerns far-right extremist ideology, it would not be fruitful to use the opposite ideology of the far-left since these opinions are unlikely to exist within groups such as Proud Boys and Proud Girls. Thus, the chosen ideologies might seem quite similar since they represent the spectrum of the
extreme-right present in the current far-right movement. Nevertheless, it is still important to separate these ideologies, otherwise, no nuances would be distinguishable within the
movement, and ideas such as misogyny and anti-feminism would be considered the same.
The point concerning this likeness has been continuously considered throughout this study and remedied by referring to literature that previously has outlined the different ideologies respectively.
Due to the time frame of this thesis, some decisions in terms of the research design had to be made which has limited the paper in several ways. This paper is a within-case comparative analysis utilizing Proud Boys and Proud Girls as a representative case for the current far-right movement. The main limitation of the case study is that it produces findings that can be considered to have low external validity. To some extent, this issue has been remedied by using such a typical case of the present far-right movement. Nevertheless, it should still be highlighted that more cases would improve the generalizability of this study to the far-right movement as a whole. However, the case study enabled a more in-depth analysis which generates a high internal validity in the case of Proud Boys and Proud Girls. This is also relevant for the purpose of the study, to examine how a certain right-wing extremist group that can be seen as representative of the far-right movement as a whole perceive women.
When it comes to reliability, the fact that these errors are random and often depend upon the author and not the tools, subjectivity and thus nonsystematic interpretations are a common issue within qualitative studies. This is especially true when estimating what ideology the material should be categorized as. To avoid the tendency of subjective influence in these estimations, the strategy of employing reference points is utilized. This strategy simplifies the categorization of material that borderline two different categories by estimating in accordance with commonly known references. By referring to already known and publically tried matters or remarks, the prospect of subjective interpretations is reduced (Esaiasson et al., 2012:149).
For this reason, the Femininity Ideology Scale (FIS) has been consulted (see Appendix 1).
When analyzing descriptions of femininity, it may be difficult to estimate to what degree something resembles traditional femininity. To ease this concern, thus maximizing the accuracy of the analysis, an established measurement of traditional femininity has been adopted. FIS functions by including traditional gender-biased themes as sexuality, dependency, marriage, care-taking and career. FIS is a measurement consisting of 45 normative statements that may be agreed or disagreed with through a 5-point Likert-type scale where high points translate to a higher degree of endorsement of traditional femininity (Levant et al., 2007). By using an established measurement of traditional femininity, a point of reference is available to compare the material with if it is not obvious how a certain material should be categorized. Similarly, the triadic model of freedom has been employed to further avoid any biased categorization. This tool is efficient in clarifying the real-world function of ideologies by dividing their different perceptions of agents, obstacles, and goals
which simplifies the process of breaking down statements and categorizing their underlying notions. Thus, a more comprehensive and credible evaluation and categorization is facilitated.
4.6. Joint Coding Scheme Agent
(A)
Does the state of being a woman encompass any intrinsic
value?
Obstacle (B)
Is anything referred to as threatening the ideal female
societal role?
Goal (C)
What characteristics are used when women are described?
Alt-Right (AR)
AR:A) The state of being a woman has no intrinsic value.
A woman’s worth is dependent upon the presence of either a man or a child since these facilitate the woman’s worth as subservient.
AR:B) The misogynist character of the alt-right opposes any development that would alter the gendered hierarchy where women are subservient to men. Hence, any efforts to promote gender equality and women’s rights may be seen as threatening.
AR:C) Descriptions of female
qualities that imply clear inferiority or subservience. Commonly expressed through sexism, objectification, and highly traditional gender values. The material should to a high degree assent with the statements of the FIS scale. If ranked, the material should correspond with a 4/5 or a 5 when compared to the FIS statements.
Alt-Lite (AL)
AL:A) The state of being a woman has no intrinsic value.
A woman’s worth is commonly dependent upon the family as motherhood facilitates a woman’s worth within the family. AL:A differs from AR:A as a woman’s worth is dependent on her role in the family rather than general female subordination.
AL:B) Factors that allow the development of women’s independent role threatens the traditional nuclear family. This entails progressive societal, political, and economical factors that empower women from their previous roles as mothers within a nuclear family.
AL:C) Descriptions of female qualities that imply traditional female
“housewife” and motherhood. The material should neither agree nor disagree strongly with the statements of the FIS scale. If ranked, the
material should correspond with a 2/3, 3, or 3/4 when comparing to the FIS statements.
Conservative Feminism
(CF)
CF:A) The state of being a woman has an intrinsic value.
A woman’s worth is not dependent on another’s
presence. References to women should not be based on their significance to either men or the family.
CF:B) Conservative feminism believes in empowering women whilst protecting their maternal role. Hence, the ideology would perceive factors that impede gender equality as threatening since these inhibit women’s ability to participate in the public sphere as men do.
CF:C) Descriptions of female qualities as equal to male, female characteristics should not be referred to as inferior. Aspires for a more equal gender balance within the traditional roles. The material should to a high degree dissent with the statements of the FIS scale. If ranked, the material should correspond with a 1 or a 1/2 when comparing to the FIS statements.
Table 1: Joint Coding Scheme
5. Results & Analysis
This chapter presents and discusses the results of the investigation5. Firstly, the results are presented in a table portraying a brief overview of the categorized content of each analysis question. Following the table, the material which has been found and related to the ideal types will be presented more in depth in written form. Thereafter, the results are discussed and compared in more detail to answer the research question’s three sub-questions. The table below portrays the sex-disaggregated results of the analysis questions. Each box illustrates the most significant findings and the categories are ranked according to the size of the content they encompass. To understand the Results table below, please refer to the joint coding
scheme on page 22.
Proud Boys Proud Girls6
Agent (A) Does the state of being a woman encompass any intrinsic value?
No.
1) (AR:A) The majority of the content referred to women as being subservient to a man, entailing no intrinsic value.
2) (AL:A) A significant part of the material also conveyed women’s worth to depend upon motherhood and role in the family.
3) (CF:A) Very few statements implied that the state of being a woman encompasses an intrinsic value.
Yes.
1) (CF:A) A convincing majority of the content reflected the state of being a woman encompassing an intrinsic value.
2) (AR:A) Some content conveyed a woman’s value to depend on her worth to a man.
3) (AL:A) Very few statements indicated that a woman’s worth depends on her significance as a mother within a family.
Obstacle (B) Is anything referred to as threatening the ideal female societal role?
1) (AR:B) A majority of the content
conveyed the rise of female sexual liberty and decrease in monogamy and nuclear families threatening the female role as domesticated and bound to one man.
2) (AL:B) A considerable part of the content stated that the traditional family and the maternal role is threatened by the impact of feminism, women’s increased involvement in the public sphere.
3) (CF:B) No significant material was found.
1) (CF:B) The two most frequent trends of factors that threaten gender equality were the traditional blueprint idea that places women beneath men, and the men who attempt to reduce women’s equal participation in the public sphere.
2) (AL:B) Some material highlighted the threat that feminism poses to the traditional family ideal since
empowerment makes women disregard their traditional role as wives and mothers within a family.
3) (AR:B) No significant material was found.
6Much of the Proud Girls content conveyed feminist notions that are not entierly correspondent to conservative feminism. However, since this is the most “progressive”ideology the material was still categorized as
conservative feminism. This is further explained in the Concluding Remarks section.
5The content presented in this chapter involves some insulting and harsh language. These statements had to be included to fully illustrate the findings of the investigation.
Goal (C) What
characteristics are used when women are described?
1) (AR:C) Mostly, female appearances are judged on how they suit the male gaze.
Hence, features that are not traditionally regarded as beautiful/feminine are mocked. Women are described as emotional and not logical. The ideal woman is described as submissive and married/monogamist.
2) (AL:C) Much of the material describes women with maternal qualities. Mothers are often connected to religious qualities.
A mother with faith is described as wholesome. The housewife ideal is often described as happy and beautiful.
3) (CF:C) No significant material was found.
1) (CF:C) Most of the Proud Girls’ content describes women to be independent and equal to men. Women are often described as sexual beings, just like men. Women are urged to engage in violence since they, like men, are “ tough” and “badasses”.
2) (AL:C) A few statements used qualities that to some extent corresponded with motherhood, caregiver, and housewife to describe women.
3) (AR:C) Only a small amount of material conveying qualities that imply female subordination was found.
Table 2. Brief Illustration of the Results of the three analysis questions.
5.1. Does the state of being a woman encompass any intrinsic value?
AR:A. A majority of the Proud Boys content referred to women as being subservient to a man, thus it was categorized as alt-right (AR:A). Two major trends were found: memes and texts expressing sexism and misogyny to subjugate women to superior men, and statements that solely perceive women to have a value if she contributes to the continuation and well-being of the white race. The former trend contained posts referring to women as “keep your mouth shut unless you are sucking a proud boy’s cock” (@WisconsinProud,
15/12/2020). The other trend in the AR:A category resembles perceptions of women as a tool to ensure the white race’s survival. In conversations about threats endangering the white race’s survival, women’s value is defined as obedient tools of procreation
(@Thewesterchauvinist, 26/4/2021). In contrast, only a minority of the Proud Girls content used sexism and male presence to establish a woman’s worth. The only trend featured a perception of women as a tool to enhance male satisfaction such as “With each new pair of lips, PG performs the oral duties of a classy lady swallowing all she can for the cause!”
(@proudgirlsusa, 22/12/2020).
AL:A. Whereas AR:A encompasses perceptions of the female position as clearly subservient to both man and child, the AL:A material rather conveys motherhood to facilitate a female’s worth. Thus, reducing and misogynistic usage of sexism was an important factor that
separated AR:A and AL:A. Subsequently, the Proud Boys statements sorted into alt-lite
mainly referred to women as a cornerstone of the nuclear family, “it’s OK if your dream is to be a good wife and mother” (@WisconsinProud, 16/4/2021). While a significant part of the Proud Boys content was categorized as alt-lite, only a few Proud Girls statements could be placed in this category. Most were akin to the following post by Florida Proud Girls leader Kaitlin Bennett “I celebrated International Women's Day by cooking for my husband as all women should do” (@kaitmarieox, 9/3/2021). Like plenty of Bennett’s content, this post defends the housewife role as a counterpart to the male provider in a traditional nuclear family. With the emphasis on counterpart, thus not necessarily implying female inferiority, some Proud Girls material could be categorized as alt-lite since these regard women’s worth to depend upon her traditional role as caregiver in a family.
CF:A.Very few Proud Boys statements indicate that a woman’s worth is not dependent on another’s presence. Thus no significant Proud Boys content resembled conservative
feminism. Contrarily, CF:A proved to be the most common categorization of the Proud Girls material. Much of Proud Girls’ content reflects an attempt at adopting Proud Boys’ rhetoric and self-identification as superior to the opposite gender. Proud Girls’ attempt to alter the traditional gender balance enables the state of being a woman an inherent value whilst the state of being a man is not perceived as ultimately superior. To illustrate, Proud Girls reposted
@Thewesternchauvinist’s Telegram post “Women can save the west in the sheets, not the streets'', @proudgirlsusa answered this post: “Wouldn’t it be great if you boys were worth us staying in said sheets? Work on that, I prefer getting to my climax as well…” ( 23/12/2020).
5.2. Is anything referred to as threatening the ideal female societal role?
AR:B. Mainly, Proud Boys refer to factors that threaten the ideal alt-right female role as domesticated and bound to one man. Through their social media, Proud Boys have branded themselves as part of the Incel community (@WisconsinProud, 21/4/2021). By doing so, they indirectly adhere to the idea that “all women exist purely as sexual vessels, either to satisfy men or to bear (white) children” (Bates, 2020:22). Thus, developments allowing women independence is threatening to their perception of women’s subservient role. Judging by various posts that want to exclude women from the public sphere and instead conserve their place in the private sphere, Proud Boys seems to “fear” a potential shift of traditional gender roles. Similarly, statements such as “tell insta-thots and e-girls to stop being attention seeking whores and find a husband” and “let any "sexually liberated" single women know that
spending their 20s riding the cock-carousel isn't "empowering" it's wasting their only useful
years” (@Thewesternchauvinist, 28/3/2021) illustrate how Proud Boys prefer traditional female roles as subordinate and available to men. No Proud Girls content has been categorized as AR:B.
AL:B. The Proud Boys material conveys that the largest threat to women’s role within the traditional family and society concerns various impacts of female empowerment. Slogans such as “Freeze your eggs, free your career” (@OhioProudBoys, 24/3/2021) illustrate how women’s participation in the workspace directly threatens their role as mothers and thus the nuclear family ideal itself. To some extent, Proud Girls also perceive women’s increased participation in the public sphere to be threatening women’s role as mothers and caregivers within the traditional family. However, when motherhood is referred to, it is oftentimes rather seen as a hindrance for women to fully engage in the public sphere. Namely, Proud Girls advocates that women should engage in politics and street riots instead of staying home with the children (e.g. @proudgirlsusa, 21/12/2020). Proud Girls also express women’s relation to men as endangered when women are disregarding their traditional role as dutiful, but equal, wives or partners.
CF:B. Whereas no Proud Boys content implies support for women’s increased agency and participation in the public sphere, a majority of the Proud Girls content reflects these opinions. Proud Girls continuously point out that they are not Proud Boys’ Girls, opposing the idea that an attachment to a Proud Boy would be the only way to earn membership in the group. The following post illustrates how Proud Girls advocates for their empowered role within the movement, “We got you next time in DC, From sex slaves to badasses”
(@proudgirlsusa, 21/12/2020). The second pattern features statements condemning men who refuse to accept women as their equals. Commonly, these views are reflected in Proud Girls’
defense of the independent female role that they advocate. Proud Girls leader Tara LaRosa posted “I get five too. Just like the Proud BOY Chairman. Proud GIRLS are EQUAL in EVERY way!” (@proudgirlsusa, 27/12/2020).
5.3. What characteristics are used when women are described?
AR:C. Proud Boys’ descriptions of female qualities in relation to the public sphere commonly reflect emotionality and inferiority in terms of intellect. To exemplify, in 2017 Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes tweeted “When I hear women talk about politics and so
often put emotional claptrap over policy, I think, who let these bitches vote?” (SPLC, 2021).
Proud Boy’s assertions about women’s appearance seem to stem from the extent that the attributes in question satisfy the male gaze. Most content highly agrees with FIS statements as 23: A woman should have a petite body and 29: Women should have large breasts. Thus, features such as obesity, tattoos, small breasts, and clothing that are not traditionally regarded as feminine, are often used to exemplify how women should not appear. Also, the Proud Boys content correlates whiteness with femininity whereas non-whiteness is described as
non-feminine (e.g. @Thewesternchauvinist, Telegram, 3/4/2020). The Proud Girls content categorized as AR:C was a clear minority and does not contribute significantly to the analysis of Proud Girls’ description of female qualities.
AL:C. Proud Boys often portrayed the feminine woman as a beautiful and happy mother who raises her children, takes care of the household, and cooks for her husband which corresponds with FIS statement 17: A woman’s natural role should be the caregiver of the family. Women, mothers in particular, are commonly connected to religiousness; “Listen to us white women, you're doing nothing wrong by being a devoted mother and wife... It is honorable to walk the path of Christ, it is never bad” (@Thewesternchauivinist, 31/3/2021). Some of the Proud Girls content also conveyed female qualities corresponding with motherhood, caregiver, and housewife, but no mention of religion.
CF:C. Proud Boys rarely describe women with non-condescending attributes or attempts to establish them as equals. In contrast, nearly all the Proud Girls content uses descriptions that contradict all of the FIS statements. Mainly, contradictions to 27: A woman should not show anger, and 6: Women should have men make decisions for them. The group commonly urges its members to engage in street fights and violence which greatly contradicts the idea of the woman as gentle exemplified by the Proud Girls’ Oath, “I am a western shield maiden who refuses to apologize for craving street fights and right-wing dicks" (@proudgirlsusa,
21/12/2020). Much of the material refers to women as sexual beings in their own right. Thus, various statements reflect women, just like men, crave sexual satisfaction. Describing women like this dissents with many of the FIS statements, especially ones as number 11: A woman should not expect to be sexually satisfied by her partner. Also, whereas the Proud Boys content advocates traditional ideas of female physical attributes, Proud Girls rather opposes these statements. They promote a more liberal attitude to women’s appearance as their posts convey positivity to various ideas of beauty, body types, and apparel.
5.4. Summary of Results
This section discusses how the study answers the overarching research question “How do the female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ?”. To describe how the findings answer this overarching research question, the results are discussed and compared in accordance with the research question’s three sub-questions.
5.4.1. What do references to a woman signify?
To summarise the findings of the results, a clear distinction in how the male extremists in Proud Boys and female extremists in Proud Girls refer to women was found. Proud Boys, almost exclusively, referred to women as a supporting role. This means that women are rarely perceived to have an intrinsic value if she does not serve or support a man or child. For the most part, a misogynistic perception of women as subordinate and subservient to a man was conveyed above the anti-feminist percpetion which perceives women as mothers and a crucial part of the nuclear family. Contrastingly, Proud Girls rather referred to women as independent actors thus implying that being a woman has an intrinsic value. Contrary to the contexts that Proud Boys ascribe women’s worth, Proud Girls rarely refer to women’s primary worth to depend on their role as mothers or wives. This means that the perception of womanhood, as in the state of being a woman, differs between the groups as Proud Boys mostly convey the idea that women do not have an intrinsic value whereas Proud Girls advocates the opposite.
5.4.2. What roles are women perceived to have/should have?
The results indicate that, when it comes to women’s societal role, Proud Boys had a more conservative attitude whereas Proud Girls promoted more “progressive” ideas. Seeing as Proud Girls broke away from Proud Boys to increase their agency within the movement, it is not surprising that they do not perceive an empowered female role as threatening. Both groups, albeit to various extents, value women’s role within the traditional family. Proud Boys mostly venerates the housewife ideal by advocating a traditional maternal female role as bound to the family. Thus, women’s increased participation in the public sphere is often described negatively since it inhibits women’s primary role as caregivers. Proud Girls partly agree with this concern, however, they more often promote increased female agency within the public sphere. Interestingly, when it comes to the proceeding of women’s societal roles, Proud Girls values the relation to men above the maternal role. Rather than using their role as
