Authoritarian Hegemonic Masculinities and Gendered Rhetorics of the Protest

Abstract

This article uses the gender perspective to compare the 2020 Belarus protests and the Arab Spring and its aftermath in Egypt (2011–13). It argues that in both cases authoritarian militarized hegemonic masculinities, articulated through authoritarian body politics, attempted to suppress the protest movements. The latter, in turn, drew on a number of gendered images and symbols to perform its counter-hegemonic practices of resistance. The study employs discourse analysis and visual analysis methods and draws on a broad selection of data from Egyptian and Belarusian online newspapers and social media for the respective periods. The article concludes that, despite historical and cultural differences between the two countries, there are notable similarities in the ways gender is politicized and performed by both the regimes and the protest movements. These findings suggest a close connection between authoritarianism and militarized hegemonic masculinities, which can be established cross-regionally and cross-culturally.