“Woman is not a delicate flower”: The liberal feminists who are active in the new right

Abstract

The growth of La Libertad Avanza (LLA) that brought economist Javier Milei to the presidency of the Argentine Republic is part of a process that involves, among other elements, the “cultural battle” against “gender ideology.” This article seeks to show the complex and multiform character adopted by the activism of liberal feminists who adhere to this political space. To this end, from an ethnographic perspective, the narratives of women who participate in different groups, such as Mujeres Liberales or Pibas Libertarias, are analyzed. Their stories express the convergence between the legacy of the “Ni una menos” [Not one less] movement against sexist violence and the support for the struggles for the legalization of safe and free abortion, and spaces that are inscribed within the “new right.” We conclude that the self-proclaimed “liberal feminism” is built from two strands: on the one hand, with “radical feminism” and “hegemonic feminism” that they link with progressivism, the arrival in the State, and the promotion of socio-state regulations, such as gender parity and quota laws; on the other, with the most conservative positions within LLA, where these feminists are accused of being “leftist.”