Abstract
The term ‘toxic masculinity’ (TM) was coined in the 1990s by sociologists and psychologists. It has since been appropriated by scholars and commentators interested in gendered behaviours, policies and outcomes in politics. However, despite the attention belatedly being paid to masculinities as part of that research, the analysis of, specifically, TM’s part in shaping political practices remains underdeveloped. This article proposes a move in this direction by designing a conceptual framework for exploring TM inside political parties. We adapt findings from the original TM literature to generate a series of indicators of TM spanning the vital realms of party political activity: its policy positions, accompanying discourse and the formal and informal practices – often behind the scenes – that express the party’s values, broader ethos and outlook. We then test the framework using a paired comparison of two parties of the populist right where we might expect to see relatively high levels of TM: the Alternative for Germany and the UK Independence Party. Our empirical findings give us confidence that drawing on the concept of TM can provide us with novel insights into the interplay between masculinity and political party cultures. We also hope that it will inspire a significant body of new research into TM in political parties from across the party spectrum as well as globally.
Highlights
In politics as in society, toxic masculinity – known in Mandarin as ‘straight male cancer’ (Kesvani, 2018) – has become an important focus for public discussion around, as well as the theoretical and applied research into, gender-based violence, misogyny and the mistreatment of women in public life
It is little surprise that we lack a systematic means for making sense of toxic masculinity’s effects on political party practices, as opposed to those emanating from anti-feminism or hegemonic masculinity more generally. This piece of exploratory research takes a step in that direction by, first, proposing a conceptual framework for interpreting toxic masculinity’s influence in political party cultures and, second, testing it for concept and face validity (Gerring, 2006, 48) on two right-wing parties in Western Europe where we might expect to see gendered behaviour in its starkest forms: Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) and the UK Independence Party (Ukip)
Our headline conclusion is that the AfD and Ukip show, consistently through their histories, all six indicators of toxic masculinity in our framework
Summary
In politics as in society, toxic masculinity – known in Mandarin as ‘straight male cancer’ (Kesvani, 2018) – has become an important focus for public discussion around, as well as the theoretical and applied research into, gender-based violence, misogyny and the mistreatment of women in public life. It is little surprise that we lack a systematic means for making sense of toxic masculinity’s effects on political party practices, as opposed to those emanating from anti-feminism or hegemonic masculinity more generally (covered and see Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005; Howson, 2006; Elias, 2008; Haider, 2016, 558) This piece of exploratory research takes a step in that direction by, first, proposing a conceptual framework for interpreting toxic masculinity’s influence in political party cultures and, second, testing it for concept and face validity (Gerring, 2006, 48) on two right-wing parties in Western Europe where we might expect to see gendered behaviour in its starkest forms (building on Mudde and Kaltwasser, 2015): Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) and the UK Independence Party (Ukip). The purpose of this article is to stimulate a dialogue about the merits and methods of including toxic masculinity as a specific category this research
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
