Marginalized identities have started to develop as a tag-line for elections. Touting a female prime minister, senator, president or any other position of power has been seen as a form of feminism and progress.
Exit polls in late September projected an overwhelming promise for the Italian right-wing Brothers of Italy party. Leading woman Giorgia Meloni is poised to serve as Italy’s first female prime minister. But as discussion about the implications of Meloni’s imminent election spread across the internet, we should be careful not to let her identity as a woman in a male-dominated field overshadow her belligerent attitude toward the LGBTQ community, immigrants and women. So-called girlbossing shouldn’t excuse fascism.
In recent years, Meloni revived the neo-fascist Brothers of Italy and led the party to victory last month. With a woman of notable power as the prospective prime minister, women and other historically marginalized groups in Italy might anticipate progressive policy that advances their interests. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Her party’s alliance has previously shut down a bill that would have made violence toward the LGBTQ community a hate crime. She also currently plans to curb immigration by blocking refugee rescue boats from docking in Italian ports. Additionally, in the wake of Meloni's election, thousands of people protested in support of abortion rights due to her intention to limit the number of abortions in Italy.
These policies reveal Meloni not as an ally to women, immigrant Italians or numerous other marginalized groups in Italy, but a dangerous signal warning the direction of Italian politics toward white nationalism.
Referred to on Twitter as “the second-coming of Mussolini,” Meloni is under a sizable magnifying glass. Her gender identity has already been at the forefront of the discussions among international leaders about her election. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The election of the first woman prime minister in a country always represents a break with the past, and that is certainly a good thing.” But it’s not. Instead of praising Meloni’s gender, we should focus on the magnitude of harm her policies will likely cause to millions of Italians. Representation doesn’t mean anything if she doesn’t put it to good use.
Using one’s race, gender, sexuality or other identity to justify the oppression of minority groups isn’t a phenomenon limited to Italy. For instance, the tenure of Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the U.K., did not lead to substantive change for women within the United Kingdom. Thatcher suspended child benefits — traditionally an issue that centered women — and blamed working mothers for bringing up a “crèche generation.” While touting herself as a powerful woman, she disparaged single and working-class women throughout the U.K.
Other prominent figures, such as U.S. House Representatives Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene have used their identities as women to tout harmful rhetoric. Boebert and Greene have routinely espoused anti-abortion and anti-LGBT rhetoric. Positioning themselves as wives and mothers, these women claim to support women, families and children while actually doing the opposite: attempting to restrict access to abortions and childcare. Believing that women can’t perpetrate egregious harm against other women disallows women the full humanity they deserve. Their policies have real and dangerous consequences for people throughout the U.S. and Meloni is no exception.
While some might claim Meloni is paving the way for other women in politics, realistically she is only furthering her own career while hindering those policies that would help others, such as expanded reproductive rights and employment quotas.
Giorgia Meloni is just the latest instantiation of a wider trend of using one’s identity to conceal or justify regressive policy. Praise for her identity has superseded scrutiny of her policy. We must remember to pay close attention to direct policies and planks offered by candidates, rather than giving people free passes for their identities. Fascism is fascism, no matter who wields the power.
The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is composed of Isabelle Bellott-McGrath, Rachel Broun, Evelyn Cho, Ellie Fivas, Marc Goedemans, Aayam Kc, Elyn Lee, Saanvi Nayar, Shruti Nemala, Nushrat Nur, Sara Perez, Ben Thomas and Kayla Robinson.
