Populism and Queer Masculinities: Hegemony, Hybridity, and Fake Subversion

Abstract

Current research conceptualizes the gender performance of populist leaders in terms of toxic hypermasculinity expressed through their sexist, misogynist, and transphobic rhetoric. This article challenges and complicates this perspective. As hegemonic masculinities, which formerly gained their power through their invisibility, are increasingly contested, they engage in a strategic hybridization by borrowing aesthetic elements from marginalized identities. In contrast to the established hypermasculinity thesis, we contend that right-wing populists, exemplified by Donald Trump, incorporate queer elements in their embodied gender performances. Trump’s masculinity appropriates the subversive spirit of queerness. It conveys reactionary content through rebellious aesthetics, which results in fake subversion. By drawing together insights from populist research with masculinities studies and queer theory, the article makes sense of (1) why Trump employs queer aesthetics, (2) why his followers appreciate his queer performance, (3) why the queer dimension of his masculinity goes unnoticed, and (4) what new light the case of Trump’s queerness sheds on the concept of hybrid masculinities.