Strongwomen? A Comparative Analysis of Gender Discourse in the Electoral Campaigns of Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni

2022 was a momentous year for female leaders in the populist radical right: in the Italian general elections, Giorgia Meloni at the helm of Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), and in the French presidential elections Marine Le Pen at the helm of Rassemblement National (RN) scored meaningful electoral results, despite different outcomes. This paper investigates the ways in which female populist radical right party leaders present themselves as female leaders as well as they frame gender-related questions. Theoretically, we innovatively rework the existing concepts of hegemonic femininity and of ‘strongmen’ to create the concept of ‘strongwomen’. Methodologically, we use qualitative discourse analysis of the TikTok and Twitter accounts of the two female leaders.