Patriarchal Discourses and Anti-feminine Attitudes in Romanian Political and Media Cultures
Patriarchal Discourses and Anti-feminine Attitudes in Romanian Political and Media Cultures

Summary/Abstract: This paper has three main research objectives. The first is to analyze the main types of representations and roles attributed to women in the Romanian political sphere. The second is to describe the social roles ascribed to women in various fields of visual culture. By overviewing several discourses used in fields like media, advertising and cinema this analysis searches for clues in the inner mechanisms of contemporary Romanian social dynamics. The final and overall objective is to provide a map of the representations of women in both public and private space in Romania today. The research focus is to sum-up the main elements of what could be called the “Romanian imaginary” with respect to the representations of femininity, womanhood and, generally, the relationship between males and females. Finally, this relationship between men to women is used as an indicator and as an explanatory tool for understanding the more profound mechanisms that are operating in the deep rooted biases of Romanian society. By using a series of case studies from the political sphere and the media, the author searches for arguments that would explain the formation and the continuation of a patriarchal culture, dominated by a “macho men” mythology.

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