TradWife, TradLife: Women of the Alt-Right

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Description

Today, members of the alt-right are spreading their ideologies via mainstream social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, creating an online global community of extremists and anti-establishment influencers. This phenomenon has received much media attention in recent years but, given the prominent discussions around masculinity in these communities, the role of women within this movement has been overlooked. This is the first in-depth look into the world of female alt-right influencers online. Eviane Leidig explores how the women of the alt-right who have gained social media popularity, such as Lauren Southern, use mainstream social media platforms in order to build audiences and recruit followers. At the core of their message is modelling a tradwife (or traditional wife) lifestyle centred on issues of dating, relationships, marriage, and family life. These female alt-right influencers help create the image of a community based on friendship and adventure, which spans a global Alt-Right network. Leidig puts forward solutions for how we can counteract the online influence of the alt-right, through internationally driven approaches of content regulation.

Author Bio

Eviane Leidig is a researcher specializing in the far-right, gender, and online radicalization. She is currently an affiliate at the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, Norway. Eviane is also a founding member of the London-based Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, and an Associate Fellow at the Global Network on Extremism and Technology. She regularly consults for policymakers such as the U.S. Department of State, the European Commission, and national and regional intelligence agencies. Her work has appeared in Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera, BBC, and Radio Free Europe. Eviane holds a PhD in sociology.