{"id":63619,"date":"2019-01-06T10:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=63619"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:33","slug":"new-war-gender-studies","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/new-war-gender-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"The new war on gender studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The new war on gender studies\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Recently, a bag thought to contain a bomb was left outside the National Secretariat for Gender Research in Gothenburg, Sweden. The dynamite-shaped device inside turned out to be a fake, but the intent to threaten and scare was clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva Wiberg, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gothenburg,<\/a> expressed her grave concerns, saying some scholars are more exposed to hatred and violence than others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately, we have witnessed global story after story of government rollbacks on abortion provision, LGBTQ rights and now the closure of entire programs devoted to women\u2019s and gender studies. It is part of the populist playbook in places like Poland<\/a> and Hungary<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brazil\u2019s President Jair Bolsinaro put it bluntly in his inaugural address on Jan. 2. He will fight the \u201cideology of gender\u201d teaching in schools, \u201crespect our Judeo-Christian tradition\u201d and \u201cprepare children for the job market, not political militancy.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war on gender studies is a pillar in the authoritarian critique of liberalism. But for many scholars, it is a sign of the times for liberal democracies as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proponents use \u201cgender ideology\u201d and \u201cgender theory\u201d as a catch-all to oppose marriage equality, reproductive rights, sexual liberalism and anti-discrimination policy generally. In their book, Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe<\/em> researchers Roman Kuhar and David Paternotte note that several parts of Europe are facing new waves of resistance to \u201cgender theory.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This trend is a global concern, part of a neo-traditionalist turn in how we meet the challenge of sexual rights and gender identity in the 21st century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spike in hate crimes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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The extreme reaction against gender and sexual equality is indicated by the spike in hate crimes against sexual minorities<\/a>, in brutal acid attacks and in the countless #metoo testimonies. It has seeped into the policies of traditional conservative parties all over the world who cozy up to right-wing populists to salvage popular support<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ontario, the sex education curriculum has come under attack. Such straightforward things as teaching teens sexual consent and LGBTQ family structure have become political.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media companies have also engaged in moral panic. Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram have disproportionally limited online spaces of sex positivity and consensual erotic expression in the name of Community Standards.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A continuous battle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Anti-gender studies campaigns have a long history in all parts of the world, and they have long moved outside the borders of increasingly authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
\n In this 1979 photo, Bella Abzug, left, and Patsy Mink of Women USA sit next to Gloria Steinem as she speaks in Washington where they warned presidential candidates that promises for women\u2019s rights will not be enough to get their support in the next election. (AP Photo\/Harvey Georges)<\/span><\/span>
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These new campaigns transcend borders. They unite Catholics with Evangelicals, secularists and the devout<\/a>. They challenge academic integrity while shoring up government policy limiting reproductive rights, propping up a particular image of the family as natural and universal. Although they take on the appearance of a popular movement, they are often stage-managed and supported by popular politicians. The Vatican\u2019s role has been vital, with Pope Francis going on record at World Youth Day in 2016 saying gender theory is a form of \u201cideological colonization.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A product of the social movements of the New Left<\/a>, women\u2019s and gender studies departments (many are now gender and sexuality studies programs) never shied from the difficult task of exposing structural violence and inequality<\/a> through systemic studies of sexual violence, harassment, labour and racial inequity, citizenship, war and militarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although not without its own blind spots \u2014 feminist researcher Chandra Mohanty<\/a> famously pointed out the U.S. imperialism and colonialism within western feminist movements<\/a> \u2014 feminist studies have weathered various storms to hold universities, government and corporations accountable for failing to uphold minority rights around access to power, representation and equality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the appeal of this illiberal backlash is great. Although chiefly the preserve of right-leaning parties, even Ecuador\u2019s former leftist president Rafael Corr\u00eaa<\/a> trumpeted the claim in 2013 that feminists, LGBTQ activists, and gender warriors were actively mobilizing against traditional values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The austerity measures in Europe and the U.S. of the mid-2000s put added pressure on gender studies departments in the U.K. but also globally to prove their mettle<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new wave of violence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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The anti-gender studies movement has not been without violence. Professors, like Paula-Irena Villa, chair of Sociology and Gender Studies at the Ludwigs-Maximilian-University of Munich, receive hate mail after speaking about gender equality with the media. Feminists are regularly trolled online<\/a>. Calls to report teachers have surfaced in the U.S.<\/a> and Germany. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Agora no Sesc Pompeia: manifestantes p\u00f5em fogo em boneca de Judith Butler aos gritos de “queimem a bruxa” pic.twitter.com\/QABgnF2H9T<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 BuzzFeedNewsBR (@BuzzFeedNewsBR) November 7, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n