Populism is widely understood to be a masculine style of politics due to its antagonistic and aggressive nature. Populism often centers a “strong leader” who is personable, tough, and willing to fight to protect “the people” from the threats posed by “the elite.” Gender politics literature tells us that people are less likely to see women as strong leaders, and generally want women to engage in a more civil version of politics. Literature on populism also tells us that populist politicians are predominantly male and will also use masculinity as political currency to show dominance over competitors. These facts would suggest that women cannot be successful using the populist style, but female politicians Kari Lake and Marjorie Taylor Greene have built formidable bases using a Trumpian populist style. This thesis intends to explain this apparent paradox by bridging the gap between gender politics literature and populist literature. I argue that female populist politicians make appeals to motherhood and religion in order to legitimize their roles as populist protectors and to connect to conservative feminine identity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46868 |
| Date | 13 September 2023 |
| Creators | Marhamati, Juliet |
| Contributors | Meade, Rachel |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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