The public representation of Marine Le Pen: a woman politician like any other?

Since the 20th century, following the expansion of the right to vote to women in many countries, the political landscape, historically masculine, experienced a wave of feminisation. However, there is still an under-representation of women compared to men in the media. When they are represented, we witness an over-representation of their bodies and appearance, together with a whole range of feminine stereotypes. Moreover, they face a double standard: despite having the same status as men politicians, they are judged according to different rules. What is expected from them is often contradictory: too feminine and they are considered as incompetent, too masculine and they lose their status as women^[1]Leroux, Pierre, and Sourd, Cécile. 2005. « Des femmes en représentation ». Questions de communication 7/2005 : 73-86. https://doi.org/10.4000/questionsdecommunication.4076. 

Given that extreme right-wing parties are usually built on a patriarchal model in which women were little present in the voter base^[2]Hentges, Gudrun, und Nottbohm, Kristina. 2017. „Die Verbindung von Antifeminismus und Europakritik. Positionen der Parteien „Alternative für Deutschland“ und „Front National“. … Continue reading, one has to wonder, by taking the case of France, which portrait is made of Marine Le Pen in the media, at the head of the Front National (FN) since 2011 (renamed Rassemblement National (RN) in 2018) and why is this image of her so singular. How does she establish her legitimacy by compromising with women politicians’ representation in the media and the patriarchal values inherent to the RN? 

A woman at the head of the RN: a representation between tradition and modernity

Birgit Meyer, specialised researcher in gender policies, highlights several strategic techniques of self-representation that women leaders from extreme right-wing parties use^[3]Meyer, Birgit. 2019. “The Discreet Charm of Populism: The Role of Gender and Female Politicians in the AfD and Front National/Rassemblement National”. In Stifled Progress – International … Continue reading. Three of them are applied by Marine Le Pen. 

First of all, extreme right-wing women politicians position themselves as inspiring models for their feminine electorate: like modern women who are able to effortlessly combine personal and professional life. This is what Marine Le Pen claims to be: a working woman, particularly in a masculine environment, and who raises her children alone.  

Secondly, the stereotypes that are attributed to extreme right-wing women politicians give a softer image of conservative, xenophobic and nationalist policies which constitute their program. Indeed, Marine Le Pen insists on being herself a mother. In 2015, she wrote on her website’s homepage “Mother of three young children^[4]Boudillon, Julie. 2005. « Une femme d’extrême droite dans les médias. Le cas de Marine Le Pen ». Mots, Les langages du politique 78/2005 : pp. 79-89.  https://doi.org/10.4000/mots.392 ”. The prominence of the family has the effect of reinforcing the stereotype of the woman as a wife and mother as well as the consideration that family is a central part of society where women have a role to play^[5]Hentges, Gudrun, und Nottbohm, Kristina. 2017. „Die Verbindung von Antifeminismus und Europakritik. Positionen der Parteien „Alternative für Deutschland“ und „Front National“. … Continue reading. 

Thirdly, extreme right-wing women politicians adopt a “role of normalisation of the unthinkable^[6]Hentges, Gudrun, und Nottbohm, Kristina. 2017. „Die Verbindung von Antifeminismus und Europakritik. Positionen der Parteien „Alternative für Deutschland“ und „Front National“. … Continue reading” by mentioning taboo subjects (such as nationalist or xenophobic stances) assuming that it would become an “accepted standard of conduct^[7]Hentges, Gudrun, und Nottbohm, Kristina. 2017. „Die Verbindung von Antifeminismus und Europakritik. Positionen der Parteien „Alternative für Deutschland“ und „Front National“. … Continue reading” because even women defend it. In this way, “the gender framing is […] capable of neutralising the ‘extremist’ framing^[8]Hentges, Gudrun, und Nottbohm, Kristina. 2017. „Die Verbindung von Antifeminismus und Europakritik. Positionen der Parteien „Alternative für Deutschland“ und „Front National“. … Continue reading” of parties like the RN. The prominence of her femininity and her presentation as a modern woman is a political strategy of Marine Le Pen against Islam. She legitimises her anti-Islam ideas by adopting a speech defending women’s rights, especially in her 2017 program: “defending women’s rights: combatting Islamism that sets back fundamental freedoms^[9]Programme of the National Front for the 2017 presidential elections https://rassemblementnational.fr/pdf/144-engagements.pdf” . 

To talk about this issue, Sara Farris, researcher and feminist activist, forged the concept of femonationalism. Femonationalism refers to “the exploitation of feminist thematics by nationalists and neoliberals in their anti-Islam campaigns […] and the participation of some feminists and femocrates in the stigmatisation of muslim men under the banner of gender equality^[10]Farris, Sara R. 2017. “Introduction. In the Name of Women’s Rights”. In In the Name of Women’s Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism, edited by Sara R. Farris. Durham: Duke University Press.” because they consider “sexism and patriarchy as nearly exclusive domains of the Other muslim^[11]Farris, Sara R. 2017. “Introduction. In the Name of Women’s Rights”. In In the Name of Women’s Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism, edited by Sara R. Farris. Durham: Duke University Press.” as opposed to Western countries that are “places of ‘superior’ gender relationships^[12]Farris, Sara R. 2017. “Introduction. In the Name of Women’s Rights”. In In the Name of Women’s Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism, edited by Sara R. Farris. Durham: Duke University Press.”. 

One of the major impacts of these strategic techniques of presentation according to Cécile Leconte^[13]Leconte, Cécile. 2020. « Dire le genre à l’extrême-droite en Allemagne et en France : une étude comparée des techniques de présentation de soi de Marine Le Pen (FN) et Frauke Petry (AfD) … Continue reading, professor at IEP of Lille, is to feminise and modernise populist parties of the radical right, or even to de-demonize them to make them seem less radical^[14]Hentges, Gudrun, and Nottbohm, Kristina. 2017. „Die Verbindung von Antifeminismus und Europakritik. Positionen der Parteien „Alternative für Deutschland“ und „Front National“. … Continue reading, which is what

Marine Le Pen is trying to achieve with her party, for a long time antifeminist and based on patriarchal values, in order to ensure a political and electoral success^[15]Leconte, Cécile. 2020. « Dire le genre à l’extrême-droite en Allemagne et en France : une étude comparée des techniques de présentation de soi de Marine Le Pen (FN) et Frauke Petry (AfD) … Continue reading. 

The image of extreme right-wing women given by the media: the case of Marine Le Pen

The media deliver to the public a particular image of political figures based on their own analysis and on the image that politicians convey of themselves. The transmitted image of women and men politicians differ but are all women politicians analysed in the same way in the media or are extreme right-wing women analysed differently?  

Women from extreme right-wing political parties face the same double standard than the rest of the feminine political class – and sometimes even harsher. Indeed, extreme right-wing parties are founded on masculine values and on the traditional division of the sexes. We ask these women to embody the values of the party and to showcase their femininity in order to soften its image^[16]Leroux, Pierre, and Sourd, Cécile. 2005. « Des femmes en représentation ». Questions de communication 7/2005 : 73-86.  https://doi.org/10.4000/questionsdecommunication.4076. They have to prove their competencies by showing characteristics known as “masculine” as authority or ambition, but as soon as they do it, they are accused of lacking femininity^[17]Leconte, Cécile. 2020. « Dire le genre à l’extrême-droite en Allemagne et en France : une étude comparée des techniques de présentation de soi de Marine Le Pen (FN) et Frauke Petry (AfD) … Continue reading.  

Furthermore, the image of Marine Le Pen tends to be masculinised in the media. At the start of her ascent in the FN in the 2000’s, she is physically compared to her father by being called, for example, “the son of her father^[18]Leroux, Pierre, and Sourd, Cécile. 2005. « Des femmes en représentation ». Questions de communication 7/2005 : 73-86.  https://doi.org/10.4000/questionsdecommunication.4076” or “Le Pen in skirt^[19]Leroux, Pierre, and Sourd, Cécile. 2005. « Des femmes en représentation ». Questions de communication 7/2005 : 73-86.  https://doi.org/10.4000/questionsdecommunication.4076” . She is constantly compared and related to her father: in 2021, she was interviewed in the television programme Ambition intime and protested: “Until when what I do or say will stop being seen in comparison to what my father did or said?^[20]Haddad, Marie-Pierre. 2021. « ‘Une Ambition intime : Marine Le Pen en a ‘un peu marre’ d’être associée à Jean-Marie Le Pen ». RTL, 5 … Continue reading” In addition, she is often described as being the crossroads of genders, with her blond hair and her husky voice^[21]Boudillon, Julie. 2005. « Une femme d’extrême droite dans les médias. Le cas de Marine Le Pen ». Mots, Les langages du politique 78/2005 : pp. 79-89.  https://doi.org/10.4000/mots.392 being pointed out. Her femininity is highlighted but diverts from, and is even opposed to feminine stereotypes that would be “discreet and charming^[22]Boudillon, Julie. 2005. « Une femme d’extrême droite dans les médias. Le cas de Marine Le Pen ». Mots, Les langages du politique 78/2005 : pp. 79-89.  https://doi.org/10.4000/mots.392”. Yet, this masculinising analysis from the media, sometimes cultivated by Marine Le Pen herself, which seems to simply be negative and demeaning at first sight, is an asset for the party. As a matter of fact, according to Jean-Marie Le Pen, the legitimacy and the success of the party lie in masculinity: he declared in 2021 in his video logbook that there should be “a renewal of manliness^[23]SudOuest et AFP. 2021. « Rassemblement national : le parti doit retrouver as ‘virilité’, selon Jean-Marie Le Pen ». SudOuest, 30 … Continue reading” to support the survival of the party. 

Another image that can be connected to extreme right-wing women is the “hustler prostitute^[24]SudOuest et AFP. 2021. « Rassemblement national : le parti doit retrouver as ‘virilité’, selon Jean-Marie Le Pen ». SudOuest, 30 … Continue reading” , especially by the media who are hostile to them. Marine Le Pen is sometimes described in a degrading, and even vulgar and insulting manner. In 2002, the newspaper Marianne wrote: “The caravan of the Front National settled in the mining Pas-de-Calais. Marine Le Pen, with a tight skirt and high heels, attracts the public behind this new showcase. She harangues the journalists^[25]SudOuest et AFP. 2021. « Rassemblement national : le parti doit retrouver as ‘virilité’, selon Jean-Marie Le Pen ». SudOuest, 30 … Continue reading” . The description with words like “caravan”, “attracts” or “harangues” is unequivocal: Marine Le Pen would be a prostitute that plays with her femininity to attract the voters. Similarly in 2012, the same newspaper published an article calling Marine Le Pen a “fascinating bitch^[26]Le Monde et AFP. 2015. « ’Salope fascisante’ : Marine Le Pen déboutée en appel contre Nicolas Bedos ». Le Monde, 18 … Continue reading” . On the eve of the presidential election of 2017, the newspaper L’Express ran as headline “Le Pen […] flirts like crazy” and presented the candidate as a flirt^[27]Bonnefoy, Geoffrey. 2017. « Présidentielle : Le Pen étrille Macron et drague à tout-va ». L’Express, 24 … Continue reading.  

Considering that men are very rarely confronted with the same type of representation by the media, this description is considered as media sexism^[28]Law No. 2014-873 of 4 August 2014 for real equality between women and men. Media sexism encompasses the under-representation of women in the media but also their representation according to “objectivating and stereotyped versions^[29]Haraldsson, Amanda. 2016. „Women’s political ambition and representation. The democratic consequence of media sexism”. PhD diss., University of Göteborg.” . In this manner, “the media can signal that women and traditional feminine characteristics are less adapted to politics, thus reducing the electorate’s trust in women^[30]Haraldsson, Amanda. 2016. „Women’s political ambition and representation. The democratic consequence of media sexism”. PhD diss., University of Göteborg.” . This proves that in addition to being offensive for women, media sexism can also have an impact on their electoral success. 

Conclusion 

Marine Le Pen is considered according to classic stereotypes of women politicians: sexism, double standard and sexualisation are at work. Nonetheless, the media are often harsher with her due to her extreme comments, the ideology of the party she represents, and by reference to her father. Le Pen is at the head of a party that embodies masculine characteristics and conveys sexist values. Moreover, she has a particular way of using her femininity, which cannot be found in other women politicians: she manipulates it for the purpose of an anti-Islam policy. Finally, the representation of Marine Le Pen made by the media is relatively negative, which can disadvantage her compared to a man, but she can also use it as a strategy to serve the cause of her party.