White nationalism is an ideology on the rise. Thus, it is important to understand why many men and women chose to engage with the ideology. This study aims to deepen the understanding of how women in online white-nationalist communities construct their gender through discursive practices, by using theories and concepts developed by Judith Butler and V. Spike Peterson. By researching this mostly uncharted phenomenon this study provides insight into how gender roles and white-nationalist ideas intersect and how the female users on Stormfront.org self express in relation to these ideas. Using netnography and thematic analysis the users' posts were presented in themes that illuminate different aspects of how they construct their gender. The key findings of this study reinforce earlier studies in emphasizing the role of motherhood and child rearing as essential parts of being a woman. They also show how femininity and white skin are constructed as inseparable, as women can not have one without the other. The need for a woman to have knowledge about white culture and to be educated is also a recurring theme. Lastly, the study also concluded that a renegotiation of the gender roles is taking place on the forum, where some users object to the overly traditional ideals of how a woman should be, requesting a more progressive way to view gender within white nationalism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-446440 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Hörmark, Andreas, Sundin, Tobias |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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