Barcelona Metropolis

A highly notable phenomenon today is the rise of right-wing women to power. From Marine Le Pen in France to Giorgia Meloni in Italy, we’re seeing similar trends. Meloni’s case offers valuable insights into the nature of this trend and feminism as a whole.

The election of Italy’s first female Prime Minister through a far-right party has sparked many questions among feminists and the general public. While some, particularly those outside Italy who are less familiar with the fascist past of Brothers of Italy, raised immediate concerns, others have either toned down their criticism or welcomed the change. For instance, Daniela Missaglia, writing in Panorama, described it as a historic moment and suggested that Giorgia Meloni could become a legend in the future. After quickly dismissing [gendered] lexical issues (“Un premier, una premier, masculine, neutral, feminine – call it what you like”), the article, which uses Giorgia Meloni’s first name, focuses on her personal life (something that would rarely happen with a man) without touching on her political views. It concludes by evaluating the ongoing challenges and asserting: “If Giorgia succeeds in this challenge, which is already a part of history, she could even become a legend”.

However, what the article overlooks is that being a legend isn’t necessarily a positive thing. Take, for example, the other powerful woman mentioned by Missaglia: Margaret Thatcher, whom she describes as “unforgettable”. Certainly, Thatcher hasn’t been forgotten by working-class women or by people of other genders whose interests she failed to defend. This highlights a key issue when discussing the “Thatcher legend” or the emerging legend around Giorgia Meloni: both feed into the myth of “women who dared”, achieving success while hiding behind a glittering facade of “female chauvinism” – the sexism that both legends perpetuate. But feminism is not the same as female chauvinism, which implies the moral and political superiority of women in general or of certain women in particular. Feminism is about challenging gender discrimination for everyone.

Giorgia Meloni, much like Thatcher, has repeatedly spoken out against quotas for women and any structural gender policies aimed at dismantling the deeply rooted sexism and misogyny in Italian political culture. A few months after her election, it has become clear to those paying close attention what was already evident: Meloni, like the (unfortunately) “unforgettable Thatcher”, is just the latest version of the queen bee myth. Looking at the hive from a distance and seeing a female in charge might give the impression of a political system free from gender discrimination. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this is a mere optical illusion. Far from living in freedom, the vast majority of the bees are in a state of submission because the entire hive operates under a system and culture of domination.

Thus, the press is right to point out that this first female Prime Minister comes from a party called Brothers of Italy. Where are the “sisters”? That’s precisely the point: the queen bee can rule because she is the only woman in a world of men. It’s therefore no surprise that the emphasis was placed on the language, including articles and pronouns, which were immediately downplayed in other contexts. Meloni’s insistence on being referred to in the masculine [form of the word in Italian], as “the president”, is not a minor detail but the core of the queen bee mythology, which reflects a political world where the second sex is not invited to participate.

Reinforcing “manocracy”

It’s no coincidence that women who rise to the highest state positions are often right-wing women. Meloni’s election, in fact, only reinforces what might be called “manocracy”, especially at a time when patriarchy is being challenged. This is, therefore, a literally reactionary move. If patriarchy refers to the rule (arché) of the patriarch, meaning the male as the sole and undisputed head of the family, we can confidently say that it has been questioned in all countries where men are no longer the sole breadwinners. However, this hasn’t impacted manocracy at all, meaning the power (cratos) of men, which continues to survive and even thrive where patriarchy seems to be in decline.

In this context, Meloni’s role as Prime Minister is symptomatic of a crucial shift in our era, where the patriarchal system is faltering. While some are caught up in the collective paranoia of a “fatherless” society, male privilege paradoxically continues to thrive. As feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir noted, “man” remains not only a specific gender but also the term for humanity as a whole. That’s why Meloni insists on being addressed as “il Presidente” [using the male form of the noun in Italian]. To use de Beauvoir’s expression, we can say that we live in a manocracy because, compared to heterosexual men, women – both cis and trans – as well as LGBTIQ+ individuals, non-binary people and those of multiple genders, are all treated as the “second sex”.

The nation as a mythical concept

The choice of the slogan “God, family, fatherland”, with its clear fascist undertones, reminds us how authoritarian ideologies are grounded in the belief that some people are inherently superior to others and therefore have the right to dominate them. Meloni’s God is the one of the Trinity – “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”, which reflects a religion so misogynistic that, as De Beauvoir noted, it does not spare its god from the most brutal death (crucifixion) but avoids the disgrace of him being born from a genuine female body (Immaculate Conception). The revered Madonna takes on the typical female roles of support, mediation and caregiving. Yet, in the official triad of divinity, she is replaced by an unnamed “Spirit”, alongside the Father and the Son.

Women, excluded from the trinity invoked by Meloni’s God, find little betterment in the patria, which is distinctly not a matria. Consider that the English term “native land” can mean both “motherland” and “fatherland” – referring to the land of both mothers and fathers. In Meloni’s slogan, however, the land belongs solely to fathers. The choice of the term “patria” rather than “Italy” is central to the narrative of national greatness, its decline and potential revival through the party, reflecting a typical neofascist ideology.

Consider, for instance, Donald Trump’s campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again!” The terms “United States” or “Italy” suggest a state territory home to people from a wide array of cultures, including immigrants. In contrast, referring to “America” or “patria” invokes mythical, ancestral concepts tied to “our (paternal) blood”, which serve to both define and exclude those deemed “different”. The triad is completed by invoking the family, which Meloni clearly associates with the God-sanctioned and patria-supported Catholic culture. As she effectively highlighted in her notable keynote speech in the summer of 2022: “Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby; yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology… No to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass immigration…” Racism, sexism, transphobia and homophobia are invoked and mutually reinforced, much like in all the neo-authoritarian and neofascist movements currently spreading across the globe.

Giorgia Meloni being a woman but not a feminist and flaunting her role as a mother on social media, is not a contradiction at all. You can be female without being a feminist, just as you can be a man and still be a feminist. In fact, if we are to have any hope of ending sexism, there should be more men who embrace feminism. Workers’ rights were achieved because wealthy individuals joined labourers and workers in solidarity, yet there are still very few men who have made feminism their main cause. The Karl Marx or Friedrich Engels of feminism has yet to emerge – male thinkers who have devoted themselves to feminism in the same way Marx and Engels did to the cause of the proletariat.

Promoting the legend of the first female Prime Minister and perpetuating the queen bee mythology in government only serves to reinforce the illusion that everything has changed, while ensuring that, in reality, nothing does. This approach is a classic Italian strategy, immortalised in the novel and subsequent cult film The Leopard. It’s no coincidence that this election occurred at a historic moment when Italy was beginning to make significant strides on gender issues. Furthermore, the fact that this queen bee is notably feminine, unlike previous figures like Nilde Iotti, amplifies the illusion: the more visible her womanhood, the less we question her uniqueness as the sole woman in power. Lastly, in an era where gender fluidity and diverse sexual orientations are increasingly visible, the gender binary of overt femininity and dominant masculinity represented by this government also effectively soothes many homophobic and transphobic anxieties. The natural family is protected, along with God and the patria.

However, feminism does not mean simply adding a fortunate woman to the club of oppressors. It’s not about creating illusions of female empowerment to hide the fact that the second sex continue to be excluded and oppressed in a country that remains deeply misogynistic and homophobic. Feminism is about ending gender oppression, but this goal cannot be achieved if other forms of domination and authoritarianism are overlooked. If feminism is only seen as the liberation of a few women, it not only leaves other marginalised genders out but also perpetuates the existing framework of gender discrimination. This is what intersectional feminists like Audre Lorde and bell hooks refer to as the “general politics of domination”: sexism, racism and classism reinforce each other because they instil the belief that certain people are inherently superior and thus have the right to dominate others. Gender oppression cannot be eradicated without also addressing racism, economic exploitation, transphobia and heterosexism. Life is so interconnected that one cannot be free in a society where others are not. This is what anarcho-feminism asserts: domination is a complex web of issues that must be tackled according to their urgency, but we must remember that they all reinforce and sustain one another. As Emma Goldman put it, anarchism is the teacher of the unity of life. Therefore, feminism is not about female chauvinism and queen bees, but about achieving freedom for everyone.