THE RULING DISCOURSE ON PROPER WOMANHOOD IN THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT Cover Image

THE RULING DISCOURSE ON PROPER WOMANHOOD IN THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT
THE RULING DISCOURSE ON PROPER WOMANHOOD IN THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT

Author(s): Irén E. Annus
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Political Theory, Sociology, Politics and society
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Hungary; political discourse; FIDESZ-KDNP coalition; gender hierarchy; proper womanhood; motherhood

Summary/Abstract: Starting with a debate in September 2012 on the incorporation of domestic violence as a distinct offence in Hungary’s new Criminal Code, the issue of gender and proper womanhood has regularly re-surfaced in statements made by ruling coalition MPs in parliamentary debates. Drawing on discourse analysis, this study investigates a selection of these statements in the context of the government’s current policy and public discourse. The paper argues that these discourses outline an essentialist model reflective of a dominant ideology that is traditional, Christian, patriarchal and heteronormative, which, by hinting at women’s accountability for certain social ills, also allows for a chain of associations that ultimately results in the subversion of the overall social status of women, dividing and marginalising them further and discrediting any claims or actions aimed at establishing a more egalitarian society in the country.

  • Issue Year: 16/2014
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 5-20
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: English
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