Patriotism, sentiment, and male hysteria: Putin’s masculinity politics and the persecution of non-heterosexual Russians

Abstract

ABSTRACTA contributing factor to the current persecution of Russian non-heterosexual individuals is Vladimir Putin’s overcompensating masculinist wish to claim Russia’s role as a global powerhouse. While most scholars tend to define Putin’s performance of masculinity as a confident and charismatic leader, a James Bond type of a super hero action man, such dazzling façade of (hyper)masculine bravado belies deep anxieties and vulnerabilities resulting in political overcompensation. The discourse analysis of the speech acts in two of Putin’s public national addresses – the 1999 Millennium Manifesto and the 2013 Valdai Address – uncovers the signs of masculinity in crisis, or, as Pussy Riot has put it, ‘male hysteria’. Putin’s visions of Russian national identity and the use of emotional rhetoric visible in his ‘paternalistically sentimental’ statements helped justify discriminatory antigay legislation. Borrowing from Ahmed, non-heterosexual Russians have become for Putin the ideal ‘displaced object’ of national bad feeling: borne out of his insecurities and projected onto the nation’s cultural and historic identity.