Antifeminism, separation and rejection in political discourse

Abstract

The political scenario – at both national and international levels – is marked by polarization, giving rise to antagonistic discourses. As a result, disputes emerge over the “correct” way of being, acting, and existing in the world. In this context, women are enveloped by discourses that seek to frame them within either a conservative or a progressive standard. Thus, practices of silencing directed at certain forms of subjectivation to the detriment of others are reproduced within political discourse. Based on this context and on the theoretical-methodological principles of Foucauldian Discourse Studies, this article investigates how a discursive clash among women is established, separating and rejecting certain forms of subjectivation through antifeminist discourse in the political arena. To this end, we selected a video published in October 2024 by Ana Caroline Campagnolo, a state deputy affiliated with the Liberal Party (PL-SC), who regularly produces conservative and antifeminist content on her Instagram profile. In the post analyzed, the politician from Santa Catarina reacts to a letter sent by a feminist group whose aim was to express support for influencer Cíntia Chagas after she became a victim of domestic violence. For the archaeogenealogical analysis, we extracted segments from the video and selected statements that dialogue with other material-discursive practices within the associated field (Foucault, 2020). The results indicate the reproduction of practices of female silencing carried out by women themselves, who advocate for a mode of subjectivation grounded in conservatism and rooted in sexist discourses. Its maintenance is governed by antifeminist principles that separate women from one another and reject forms of subjectivation that do not conform to a given will to truth (Foucault, 2014). This process, in turn, leads to certain women not being recognized (Butler, 2015) as such, with their lives being apprehended as unworthy and even malignant. In this way, the discourse of female rivalry – constructed over centuries as something natural – is reproduced and reinforced.