Article published In:
Journal of Language and SexualityVol. 11:1 (2022) ► pp.57–79
Enregistering “gender ideology”
The emergence and circulation of a transnational anti-gender language
Mobilizations against gender equality and sexual diversity have gained political traction globally despite their
hyperbolic modes of action and conspiracist rhetoric. These anti-gender campaigns rally around “gender ideology,” a trope used to
anathemize feminist and LGBTQIA+ activism/scholarship. This paper argues that anti-genderism is a register – a conventionalized
aggregate of expressive forms and enactable person-types – of which “gender ideology” is the most famous shibboleth. The paper
shows how inchoate collections of words, modes of action, and images of people (i.e. signs) have been enregistered into the
cohesive but heterogeneous whole of anti-genderism through semiotic processes of clasping, relaying, and grafting (Gal 2018; 2019). The paper offers a
sociolinguistic analysis of anti-genderism to understand the challenges it poses to the enfranchisement of women, queer, trans,
and nonbinary people.
Keywords: “gender ideology”, anti-genderism, enregisterment, register, metapragmatics
Article outline
- 1.The challenges ahead
- 2.Anti-genderism as a register
- 3.Forging metapragmatic labels: The “totalitarian feminist”
- 4.Expansion: Relaying discursive arenas of action
- 5.Graftings: Turning rights vocabulary inside out
- 6.Conclusion: Unexpected coalitions and queer refusal
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References (64)
Agha, Asif. 2003. The
social life of a cultural value. Language and
Communication 231: 231–273. 
. 2007. Language
and Social Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Anatrella, Tony. 2007. Homosexuality
and homophobia. In Lexicon: Ambiguous and Debatable Terms Regarding
Family Life and Ethical Questions, Pontifical Council for the
Family (ed), 425–444. Front Royal, VA: Human Life International.
Barát, Erzsébet. 2021. Populist
discourse and desire for social justice. In The Oxford Handbook of
Language and Sexuality, Kira Hall & Rusty Barrett (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Barreiro, Ignacio. 2007. Verbal
engineering. In Lexicon: Ambiguous and Debatable Terms Regarding
Family Life and Ethical Questions, Pontifical Council for the
Family (ed), 927–946. Front Royal, VA: Human Life International.
Bernini, Lorenzo. 2020. Queer
Theories: An Introduction. New York: Routledge.
Borba, Rodrigo. 2019. Gendered
politics of enmity: Language ideologies and social polarisation in Brazil. Gender and
Language 13(4): 423–448.
. 2021. Disgusting
politics: Circuits of affects and the making of Bolsonaro. Social
Semiotics 31(5): 677–694.
Borba, Rodrigo, Hall, Kira & Hiramoto, Mie. 2020. Feminist
refusal meets enmity. Gender and
Language 14(1): 1–7.
Borba, Rodrigo & Milani, Tommaso. 2017. The
banality of evil: Crystallised structures of cisnormativity and tactics of resistance in a Brazilian gender
clinic. Journal of Language and
Discrimination 1(1): 7–33.
Burgraff, Jutta. 2007. Gender. In Lexicon:
Ambiguous and Debatable Terms Regarding Family Life and Ethical Questions, Pontifical Council for the
Family (ed), 399–408. Front Royal, VA: Human Life International.
Butler, Judith. 2019. Anti-gender
ideology and Mahmood’s critique of the secular age. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion 87(4): 1–13.
Case, Mary Anne. 2016. The role of the popes in the
invention of complementarity and the Vatican’s anathemization of gender. Religion and
Gender 6(2): 155–172.
. 2019. Trans formations in the
Vatican’s war on “gender
ideology.” Signs 44(3): 639–664.
Cooper, Melinda. 2017. Family
Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism. New York: Zone Books.
Corrêa, Sonia. 2018. A
política do gênero: um comentário genealógico. Cadernos
Pagu 531: e185301.
Corrêa, Sonia & Kalil, Isabela. 2020. Políticas
Antigénero en America Latina: Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: ABIA.
Corredor, Elizabeth. 2019. Unpacking
“gender ideology” and the Global Right’s antigender
countermovement. Signs 44(3): 613–638.
Gal, Susan. 2018. Registers
in circulation: The social organization of interdiscursivity. Signs and
Society 6(1): 1–24.
. 2019. Making
registers in politics: Circulation and ideologies of linguistic authority. Journal of
Sociolinguistics 23(5): 450–466.
. 2021. Gender
and the discursive authority of far-right politics. Gender and
Language 15(1): 96–103.
Gal, Susan & Irvine, Judith. 2019. Signs
of Difference: Language and Ideology in Social
Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Garbagnoli, Sara. 2016. Against
the heresy of immanence: Vatican’s “gender” as a new rhetorical device against the denaturalization of the sexual
order. Religion &
Gender 6(2): 187–204.
Graff, Agnieszka & Korolczuk, Elzbieta. 2017. “Worse
than communism and Nazism put together”: War on gender in
Poland. In Anti-gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing against
Equality, Roman Kuhar & David Paternotte (eds), 175–194. London: Rowman and Littlefield.
. 2021. Anti-Gender
Politics in the Populist
Moment. London: Routledge.
John Paul II. 1988. Mullieres
dignatatem. Vatican City. <[URL]>; accessed October 8, 2021.
. 1994. Lettera
di Giovanni Paolo II alle famiglie Gratissimam Sane. Vatican City. <[URL]>; accessed October 8, 2021.
. 1995a. Evangelium
vitae. Vatican City. <[URL]>; accessed October 8, 2021.
. 1995b. Lettera
del papa Giovanni Paolo II alle donne. Vatican City. <[URL]>; accessed October 8, 2021.
Junqueira, Rogério. 2019. A
invenção da “ideologia de gênero”: A emergência de um cenário político-discursivo e a elaboração de uma retórica reacionária
antigênero. Psicologia
Política 18(43): 449–502.
Konnelly, Lex. 2021. Nuance
and normativity in trans linguistic research. Journal of Language and
Sexuality 10(1): 71–82.
Korolczuk, Elzbieta & Graff, Agnieszka. 2018. Gender
as “Ebola from Brussels”: The anticolonial frame and the rise of illiberal
populism. Signs 43(4): 797–821.
Kuhar, Roman & Paternotte, David (eds). 2017. Anti-Gender
Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing Against
Equality. London: Rowman and Littlefield.
Leap, William & Motschenbacher, Heiko. 2012. Launching
a new phase in language and sexuality studies. Language and
Sexuality 1(1): 1–14.
Mad’arová, Zuzana. 2015. Love
and fear: Argumentative strategies against gender equality in
Slovakia. In Anti-Gender Movements on the Rise? Strategising for
Gender Equality in Central and Eastern Europe, Heinrich Böll Foundation (ed), 33–42. Berlin: Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Mayer, Stefanie & Sauer, Birgit. 2017. “Gender
ideology” in Austria: Coalitions around an empty
signifier. In Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing Against
Equality, Roman Kuhar & David Paternotte (eds), 23–40. London: Rowman and Littlefield.
Milani, Tommaso. 2020. No-go
zones in Sweden: The infectious communicability of evil. Language, Culture, and
Society 2(2): 7–36.
Miskolci, Richard & Campana, Maximiliano. 2017. “Ideologia
de gênero”: Notas para a genealogia de um pânico moral contemporâneo. Sociedade e
Estado 32(3): 725–747.
Moragas, Mirta. 2020. Políticas
Antigénero en America Latina: El Caso de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA). Rio de Janeiro: ABIA.
O’Leary, Dale. 1995. Gender –
The Deconstruction of Women: Analysis of the Gender Perspective in Preparation for the Fourth World Conference on
Women. <[URL]>; accessed October 13, 2020.
. 1997. The
Gender Agenda: Redefining Equality. Lafayette, LA: Vital Issues.
Paternotte, David. 2015. Habemus
gender! Autopsie d’une obsession vaticane. In Habemus Gender!
Déconstruction d’une Risposte Religieuse, David Paternotte & Sofie van der Dussen (eds), 7–22. Brussels: EUB.
. 2019. Backlash:
A misleading narrative. Engenderings <[URL]>; accessed October 8, 2021.
Paternotte, David & Kuhar, Roman. 2017. “Gender
ideology” in movement: Introduction. In Anti-Gender Campaigns in
Europe: Mobilizing Against Equality, Roman Kuhar & David Paternotte (eds), 1–22. London: Rowman and Littlefield.
Paul VI. 1965. Messaggio
del Santo Padre Paolo VI alle donne. Vatican City. <[URL]>; accessed August 28, 2020.
Pearce, Ruth, Erikainen, Sonja & Vincent, Ben. 2020. TERF
wars: An introduction. The Sociological Review
Monographs 68(4): 677–698.
Pius XII. 1950. Humani
generis. Vatican City. <[URL]>; accessed August 28, 2020.
Quinlan, Casey. 2016. Pope
calls teaching about gender identity “ideological
colonization.” ThinkProgress. <[URL]>; accessed August 2, 2020.
Ramirez, Gabriela Arguedas. 2020. “Ideología de Género,” lo
“Post-Secular,” el Fundamentalismo Neopentecostal y el Neointegrismo Católico. Rio de Janeiro: ABIA.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1985. Rapporto
sulla Fede. Alba: San Paolo.
. 1997a. Préface. In L’Évangile
face au Désordre Mondial, Michel Schooyans, i–iv. Paris: Fayard.
. 1997b. La
Sal de la Tierra. Madrid: Libros Palabra.
Revoredo, Óscar. 1998. La
Ideología de Género: Sus Peligros y
Alcances. Lima: Conferencia Episcopal Peruana. <[URL]>; accessed August 29, 2020.
Russell, Eric. 2019.
Les
Hommen: The language of reactionary masculinity. Gender and
Language 13(1): 94–121.
Sauntson, Helen. 2020. Conflicting
discourses of “democracy” and “equality”: A discourse analysis of the language of pro- and anti-LGBTIQ+ inclusion in the
relationships and sex education guidance for schools in England. Trabalhos em Linguística
Aplicada 59(3): 1995–2016.
Sauntson, Helen & Borba, Rodrigo. 2021. Silence
and sexuality in school settings: A transnational perspective. In The
Handbook of Solitude, Silence and Loneliness, Julien Stern, Malgorzata Walejko, Christopher Sink & Wong Ho (eds), 174–188. London: Bloomsbury.
Schooyans, Michel. 1997. L’Évangile
face au Désordre
Mondial. Paris: Fayard.
Sommers, Christina. 1994. Who
Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Trujillo, Afonso López. 2007. Preface. In Lexicon:
Ambiguous and Debatable Terms Regarding Family Life and Ethical Questions, Pontifical Council for the
Family (ed), xiii–xxii. Front Royal, VA: Human Life International.
Vatican. 2000. Famiglia, Matrominio e
“Unioni de Fatto” <[URL]>; accessed September 28, 2020.
Wodak, Ruth. 2021. Politics
of Fear: The Shameless Normalization of Far-Right
Discourse. London: Sage.
Zimman, Lal. 2020. Transgender
language, transgender moment: Towards a trans linguistics. In The
Oxford Handbook of Language and Sexuality, Kira Hall & Rusty Barrett (eds). New York: Oxford University Press.
. 2021. Beyond
the cis gays’ cis gaze: The need for a trans linguistics. Gender and
Language 15(3): 423–429.
Zottola, Angela & Borba, Rodrigo. forthcoming. “Gender
ideology” and the discursive infrastructure of a transnational conspiracy
narrative. In Discourses Of and About Conspiracy
Theories, Massimiliano Demata, Ruth Breeze, Virginia Zorzi & Angela Zottola (eds). London: John Benjamins.
Cited by (28)
Cited by 28 other publications
Bergozza, Marina, Francesca Coco & Scott Burnett
Esposito, Eleonora
2024. Discourse, intersectionality, critique: theory, methods and practice. Critical Discourse Studies 21:5 ► pp. 505 ff. 
Esposito, Eleonora & Angela Zottola
2024. Intersecting hostilities around the European migration crisis: the case of Carola Rackete and the Sea-Watch 3. Critical Discourse Studies 21:5 ► pp. 522 ff.
Gray, John
2024. Living in Anti‐Intellectual Times: Addressing Transgender Inclusion in Second Language Teaching and Teacher Education. TESOL Quarterly 58:2 ► pp. 932 ff.
Rebollo-Bueno, Sara
2024. Anti-genderism in the Spanish radical right’s propaganda discourses. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict
Zottola, Angela
2024. LGBTQ+ and Feminist Digital Activism,
Cesarino, Letícia
2023. New media, nationhood and the anti-gender kaleidoscope. Gender and Language 17:1 ► pp. 102 ff.
Cuba, Ernesto
2023. Review of Rodrigo Borba (ed.) (2020) 'Discursos Transviados: Por uma Linguística Queer'. Gender and Language 17:2 ► pp. 1 ff.
Galai, Yoav
2023. Political Visual Literacy. International Political Sociology 17:3
Hadodo, Matthew John
2023. Hellenes and Romans: Oppositional characterological figures and the enregisterment of Istanbul Greek. Journal of Sociolinguistics 27:5 ► pp. 486 ff.
Jones, Lucy
2023. Language, gender and sexuality in 2022. Gender and Language 17:2 ► pp. 1 ff.
Knisely, Kris Aric
2023. Gender‐justice beyond inclusion: How trans knowledges and linguistic practices can and should be re‐shaping language education. The Modern Language Journal 107:2 ► pp. 607 ff.
Knisely, Kris Aric
2024. Toward trans multilingualisms: student attitudes toward and experiences with trans linguacultures in French. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 27:5 ► pp. 643 ff.
Lawson, Robert & Laura Coffey-Glover
2023. Introducing mediated discrimination: Intersections of gender, sexuality and media discourse. Discourse, Context & Media 56 ► pp. 100739 ff.
Maia, Junot de Oliveira & Daniel do Nascimento e Silva
2023. Afrontando a necropolítica no Brasil: recursos linguísticos arrojados e artivismo como formas de sobreviver. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada 23:3
Mihelj, Sabina, Katherine Kondor, Václav Štětka & Fanni Tóth
2023. The ambivalences of visibility: News consumption and public attitudes to same-sex relationships in the context of illiberalism. European Journal of Communication 38:6 ► pp. 571 ff.
Russell, Eric Louis
2023. Linguistic engagement as public health. Gender and Language 17:1 ► pp. 111 ff.
Silva, Daniel N. & Allison Dziuba
2023. Reclaiming presence. Gender and Language 17:1 ► pp. 54 ff.
Tebaldi, Catherine
Tebaldi, Catherine & Dominika Baran
2023. Of tradwives and TradCaths. Gender and Language 17:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Zottola, Angela, Lucy Jones, Louise Mullany & Alison Pilnick
2023. “I got confused when they said ‘you’re a girl’”: Trans Men’s Life Histories and the Regulation of Gender. In Masculinities and Discourses of Men's Health [Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender and Sexuality, ], ► pp. 249 ff.
Šorli, Mojca
2023. Kdo ali kaj nam kroji svobodo govora. Alternator
Baran, Dominika
2022. 'Rainbow plague' or 'rainbow allies'?. Gender and Language 16:3 ► pp. 286 ff.
Baran, Dominika
2023. Defending Christianity from the ‘rainbow plague’. Gender and Language 17:1 ► pp. 77 ff.
Bogetić, Ksenija
2022. Politics of resignification. Gender and Language 16:3 ► pp. 195 ff.
Kuhar, Roman & Milica Antić Gaber
2022. Women as a linguistic footnote. Gender and Language 16:3 ► pp. 241 ff.
Silva, Daniel & Junot Maia
2022. Digital rockets: Resisting necropolitics through defiant languaging and artivism. Discourse, Context & Media 49 ► pp. 100630 ff.
Zottola, Angela & Rodrigo Borba
2022. Chapter 20. “Gender ideology” and the discursive infrastructure of a transnational conspiracy theory. In Conspiracy Theory Discourses [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 98], ► pp. 465 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.