Anti-gender Narratives as a Discursive Form of Gender-Based Violence: A Comparative Study Between Italy, UK, and the US

Anti-gender movements have recently mobilized in many Western coun-tries against gender equality and sexual diversity, thwarting the implementation of anti-discrimination policies and gender mainstreaming approaches. These groups use a deceptive narrative based on terms like gender ideology, i.e., a rhetorical device which demonizes feminist stances and LGBTQ+ rights. This contribution considers anti-gender rhetoric as a discursive form of gender-based violence. Joining the tenets of gender and critical discourse studies, it investigates qualitatively the discursive strategies and tropes found in some online newspapers articles from three selected countries: Italy, the UK, and the US. The comparative analysis follows the Discourse Historical Approach and shows similarities and differences in the use of anti-gender discourse to attack LGBTQ+ social citizenship. The contribution also offers insights on the transcultural circulation of this rhetoric, on the role it plays in legitimizing misogynistic and homotransphobic sentiments, and the challenges it poses to combating gender-based violence.