Parties of attract the male electorate more than the feminine, and their structures are generally controlled by men. This was, at least until the beginning of the century, the predominant reading among political scientists.
In recent decades, however, signs have emerged that the phenomenon is not intrinsically masculine, with the great projection achieved by women such as the Italian Prime Minister and the leader of the French ultra right.
In Brazil, they also gained traction in their pockets figures such as former first lady, president of PL Mulher, and the senator. Michelle as a possible presidential candidate in 2026 to represent the Bolsonaro clan, although there is still resistance to his name by some allies of the former president.
Researchers who focus on the subject point to at least three strategic functions performed by women on the radical right.
First, to apply a moderation varnish, softening the group’s image and normalizing more extreme guidelines. This is often through conservative references to, or God, in countries where religion is very present, such as Italy and Brazil.
Mantra de Meloni, for example, follows this line: “I’m giiorgia, I’m a woman, I’m a mother, I’m Italian, I’m a Christian!” Michelle, in turn, has as biography on Instagram: “wife, mother, volunteer and servant of the Lord.” These references are constant by the former first lady, who has said that “the woman has to be.”
by Diana Z. O’Brien, Professor of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis (USA), showed that parties led by women are seen as more moderate than men led by men, regardless of syllabus. The survey was based on public opinion data on 269 subtitles in 35 countries, from 1976 to 2016.
“Women have gained more spotlight on the far right by a brand -cleaning strategy,” says political scientist Lilian Seretti, a researcher at CEBRAP (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning). “The far right has always been associated with men, the use of political violence, aesthetics and a more virulent discourse.”
The second function embraced by the radical right leaders is to bring the party closer to the female electorate. In the 2022 presidential election, for example, Michelle was considered essential to trying to decrease among women.
France is an example of a country in which the strategy seems to have worked. Between the 2019 and 2024 elections, it won ten points between the female electorate, growing from 20% to 30%, according to the Ipsos Research Institute.
At the end of March, Le Pen was and was prevented from running public office for five years, but did not lose the mandate of deputy.
In 2012, political scientist Nonna Mayer was already pointing in an article published in Parliamentary Affairs magazine that the candidate in the presidential election of that year could signal the erosion of the historical standard of female support from women to radical right parties and candidacies.
Finally, with the rise of women in their paintings, parties of this line seek more legitimacy to talk about gender themes and doubt the commitment of the left to the feminist agenda.
Last year, after an ex-girlfriend accused President’s youngest son Luís Claudio, Michelle used the case to criticize the petista. “Today we see who is the misogynist, who uses women to climb the ramp and then closes the door in their face, which promises and does not fulfill,” she said at a PL event.
Damares did the same in a publication on Instagram: “And the silence of leftists and feminists remains, deafening. It was anyone close or who supports the right have seen, right?” The inquiry into the case was filed by the Civil Police, which evaluated there was no evidence of the accusation.
In Europe, ultra -right policies use women’s identity to move broader guidelines defended by the group.
In the name of women’s protection, leaders such as Meloni and Le Pen often associate foreign and/or Muslim men with sexual harassment crimes, reinforcing the anti-immigrant discourse of their parties. The French also heads the agenda, Islamic veil, from the idea of female autonomy.
This strategy was coined by sociologist Sara Farris, from Goldsmiths University (United Kingdom), such as fonationalism. “It is the term I introduced to describe both the exploitation of feminist ideas by right-wing nationalist parties in Islamophobic campaigns and the endorsement of some anti-Isly age feminists in the name of women’s rights,” she said.
In Brazil, where the radical right does not mobilize an external enemy, the function of female leadership presents itself differently, says the co -author of the book “Feminism in dispute”.
“We have a very capitalized religious ecosystem. The extreme right in these gender issues is rooted in this system and uses themes and values that have to do with family models [tradicional]”She says.
Solano states that the far right has disputed feminism rather than taking on a totally antipheminist stance. “It stands like the legitimate guardian of female values, as one that truly seeks empowerment and female emancipation based on conservative values.”
Political scientist Lilian Sepretti notes that right -wing parties have defended punishment policies to combat violence against women. “In the case of PL, which would be the most extreme right party in its national executive, including armament policies for women,” he says.
She states, like Solano, that the presence of more women in these subtitles is also based on the defense of the traditional family. “One of the slogans of the PL is that taking care of women’s health is to take care of the nation. The woman is a body of.”
Solano states that the former first lady could represent a conservative evangelical female base. For her, an eventual candidacy of a woman on the radical right will not escape the following archetype: “The empowered woman, financially independent, and at the same time owner of the home, of the family. A woman of faith.”
