The Right-wing and Populist proclivity toward Romantic-style
feminine figures continues with Nye Borgerlige the latest party to form in
Denmark. From Yulia Tymoshenko's nationalist hair-style to the rather dishy M5S
mayor of Rome, to the host of American Right-wing Sarah Palin-esque sleeveless
short-skirters and even to some degree Marine LePen, the tendency to look to
these ultra-feminine matronly/desire figures continues.
While LePen is hardly the object of lust or very feminine for
that matter, and most men will find AfD's Frauke Petry as perhaps something
less than attractive, there is real push toward a kind of strong but somewhat
repulsive and distorted femininity at work within the Right. I always thought
that someday the Right would put forward a 'hot babe' as a candidate. I was
even writing a futuristic science-fiction story about it in 2008... and then
Sarah Palin came along. She was in many ways what I had envisioned though I
must confess there were many things about Palin that I found shocking. She was
even beyond what I had imagined such a candidate would be. I think the Trump
parade of surgery enhanced women also plays into this larger picture.
These Right-wing candidates appeal to women voters, pull at
sentimental cultural and nationalist heart-strings and as is apparent from the
FOX News/Right-wing world, men seem to like it. As I've written before it's the
getting your agenda accomplished by the poster girl. Posters don't seem to be
as trendy as they once were but I remember in the 1980s the bikini girl with a
machine gun style depictions were pretty popular. There's a certain kind of guy
who is attracted to that kind of imagery.
Reading the article on the new Nye Borgerlige party and
seeing its leader I had to chuckle. They've been making the news since 2015 and
I've seen her before but this is the first time I've read a proper article on
their movement. They run the risk of splitting the Danish Right but the story
(to me) is the trend toward female leadership and the increasing extremism of a
now rather emboldened European Right.
See also:
I also find it interesting that the right-wing of Europe is pretty insistent on the legacy of Feminism (in the more cultural sort), divorce, and gay rights. While that's not new, it's interesting to see it imported to an American context with the popularity (and perhaps fall) of someone like Milo, a hyper-flamboyant fairy.
ReplyDeleteIn someways, this is the world that the Betty Freidan's and Gloria Steinem's of the world created.
Yes indeed and it has invaded the Church too.
ReplyDeleteLook at Penny Young Nance's 'Feisty and Feminine'. This is a woman who is the head of Concerned Women for America. She doesn't understand what femininity is, let alone the Christian variety.
And then just today I see a guy from a local Evangelical Church that's running for office. He's a stay-at-home dad.
Just announcing that in public would have finished his campaign just a 20 years ago. The cultural transformation has been profound.
But Feminism is different in Europe. It's maybe a little less offensive in some ways. I don't know much about this Milo guy. I first caught his name with regard to the Berkeley thing. Is he like Pym Fortuyn a Right-wing gay guy or something? And then what he made some kind of paedophilia comment?
Have you seen the new male make-up models? I wrote a post on that a few days back. I'll get around to posting it soon.
I can totally understand some of the grievances of feminism. There was a great deal of hypocrisy and the double-standard should be loathsome to Christians but obviously our culture has jumped off the cliff. I don't think there's any going back.
I've been introduced to Milo within the last couple months. He was an editor of Breitbart who was extremely harsh and petty with identity-politics types. He gained a rave following among Alt-Right. To see what I mean by Hyper-flamboyant, just put his name in google and see how he dresses for his lectures and circuits. He is not just gay, but George Michael gay. The pseudo-paedophilia thing was really a last straw sort of thing. But he represents this turn towards a conservatism shorn of most of what we'd call traditional life.
DeleteBut this is something I've expected. What is the soul of the Conservative movement? It's machismo, valorizing military feats, daisy dukes, cars, etc. This also marks the reveling in Medieval history that has become more politique. This will, in different ways and forms, combine with the kind of Evangelicalism that, now washed of any ethical demand (i.e. Christianity is a relationship, not a religion; its about grace etc etc etc.) or sobriety, will become a potent mix for the decades to come.