The Ruling Discourse on Proper Womanhood in the Hungarian Parliament

The Ruling Discourse on Proper Womanhood in the Hungarian Parliament

Hungary

political discourse

FIDESZ-KDNP coalition

gender hierarchy

proper womanhood

motherhood

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.

Annus, Irén

International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal; Vol. 16 No. 1 (2014); 5-20

International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal; Tom 16 Nr 1 (2014); 5-20

2300-8695

1641-4233

Lodz University Press

2014-09-25

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

application/pdf

eng

info:eu-repo/semantics/article

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion