Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6600-3322

Date Available

5-6-2025

Year of Publication

2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Gender and Women's Studies

Faculty

Carol Mason

Faculty

Jenn Hunt

Abstract

This dissertation explores how anti-immigration and anti-(trans)gender campaigns in the United States engage in an identity politics in which a group benefiting from heteronormative, white supremacist, and nationalist social structures discursively positions itself as an oppressed minority facing an elitist, oppressive, and parasitic establishment. While anti-transgender and anti-immigration platforms represent two distinct issues, they need to be situated within the broader context of right-wing politics. With a focus on the construction of parenthood, my dissertation juxtaposes these two forms of right-wing campaigns through a mixed-method approach by tracing the depiction of two parental figures that have recently emerged in right-wing politics: 1) the ‘concerned parent’ who is wary of the influence of ‘gender ideology’ on their child(ren) and is portrayed as a morally upstanding citizen and 2) the ‘bad’ immigrant parent who is depicted as so morally deficient that they supposedly ‘deserved’ to have their children separated from them under the Trump administration’s 2018 ‘zero tolerance’ policy. Combining a textual analysis of popular right-wing books, interviews with and first-person accounts of ‘gender critical’ parents, and a digital ethnography (‘netnography’) of FoxNews.com comment sections, provides insight into unique data illustrating the complexities of right-wing campaigns and how their cis-heterosexist and white nationalist appeal can reach beyond politically right-leaning circles.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.46

Funding Information

Financial support for this project was provided by the University of Kentucky’s Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women (2022-23) and the Bonnie Jean Cox Graduate Research endowment (2019).

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