Right-wing parties have surged to power in Italy and Greece. Spaniards vote tomorrow, it may be for a right-wing government. What explains this trend? Economic stagnation has exacerbated frustrations, especially around masculinity. Men can no longer provide for their families single-handedly. Right-wing leaders have gained popularity by celebrating motherhood, vilifying feminists and scape-goating migrants.
Alice, I’m a big fan of your writing (and mind). I don’t know if you take requests, but I’m very curious if any research has been done about attitudes toward women and performance in women’s cycling. Except for a handful of Italians, the Northern Europeans and Brits (and Americans) seem to dominate. And we haven’t seen the same rise of Latin American women’s cyclists like in the men’s tour. (This year’s Tour de France Femmes — only the second in 55 years — just wrapped up and was very exciting!)
That's funny. I come from a family of hardcore cyclists. I don't think it's surprising that women would fare better in outdoor sports if they live in countries with weak constraints on female mobility, well-maintained roads, and safe countryside (speaking as someone who got punched in the face in the outskirts of Oaxaca).
I don't disagree with the piece, and don't know much about domestic Italian politics, but...a female prime minister seems like an unlikely vehicle for patriarchal nostalgia, no? Religious nationalism, sure, and from what little I know of Meloni that appears to describe her. But isn't she the antithesis of patriarchy? She doesn't come from a political family, unlike Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Park Geun-Hye, or any other Asian women who became leaders in patriarchal societies because of the appearance of an inherited right.
Alice, I’m a big fan of your writing (and mind). I don’t know if you take requests, but I’m very curious if any research has been done about attitudes toward women and performance in women’s cycling. Except for a handful of Italians, the Northern Europeans and Brits (and Americans) seem to dominate. And we haven’t seen the same rise of Latin American women’s cyclists like in the men’s tour. (This year’s Tour de France Femmes — only the second in 55 years — just wrapped up and was very exciting!)
That's funny. I come from a family of hardcore cyclists. I don't think it's surprising that women would fare better in outdoor sports if they live in countries with weak constraints on female mobility, well-maintained roads, and safe countryside (speaking as someone who got punched in the face in the outskirts of Oaxaca).
Oh no! My wife and I are moving to Oaxaca in November 😬 (the first state to legalize abortion in Mexico!)
I don't disagree with the piece, and don't know much about domestic Italian politics, but...a female prime minister seems like an unlikely vehicle for patriarchal nostalgia, no? Religious nationalism, sure, and from what little I know of Meloni that appears to describe her. But isn't she the antithesis of patriarchy? She doesn't come from a political family, unlike Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Park Geun-Hye, or any other Asian women who became leaders in patriarchal societies because of the appearance of an inherited right.
She has explicitly marketed herself on being anti-feminist and a mother and a Christian.
She's said, why assume a woman is a feminist?
I think women may be able to get away with endorsing traditional gender roles without seeming like they are anti-women.
Plus in Italy, the mother figure is revered. So I think it's a stretch, but not an impossible one.