The “best interest of a child” in anti-gender mobilizations : framing protection, mobilizing fear

Kuhar, Roman (avtor), Alnıaçık, Ayşe (avtor), Altan-Olcay, Ozlem (avtor), Gregersen Beyer, Andreas (avtor), Fernández-Vázquez, Guillermo (avtor), Lavizzari, Anna (avtor), Muszel, Magdalena (avtor), Smrdelj, Rok (avtor)

Researchers of anti-gender mobilizations emphasize the central role of child well-being narratives, yet this aspect remains underexplored. This article addresses that gap by focusing on how the “best interest of a child” is strategically used in anti-gender campaigns across Denmark, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. Using framing theory, we analyze how this frame is constructed, emotionally charged, and politically instrumentalized. Based on a critical frame analysis of 128 documents, we show that the “best interest of a child” frame shifts across contexts and is mobilized to serve different ideological aims while retaining a stable rhetorical core: the assertion that children must be protected. A child appears as a rights-bearing subject or passive object, biologically fixed or easily influenced, and at risk of sexualization or brainwashing. Our findings highlight the narrative’s flexibility and internal contradictions, offering a novel lens for understanding the discursive dynamics of anti-gender mobilizations.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: anti-gender mobilizations, children, gender ideology, discursive framing, child protection, sex education
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FF - Filozofska fakulteta
• Različica publikacije: Recenzirani rokopis
• Datum objave: 27.04.2026
• Leto izida: 2026
• Št. strani: Str. 1-25
• Številčenje: Vol. , iss.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-182522
• UDK: 305
• ISSN pri članku: 2515-1096
• DOI: 10.1332/25151088Y2026D000000142
• COBISS.SI-ID: 278203395
• Datum objave v RUL: 14.05.2026

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: European journal of politics and gender
• Založnik: Bristol University Press
• ISSN: 2515-1096
• COBISS.SI-ID: 71256674

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: antigenderske mobilizacije, otroci, koristi, ideologija spola, diskurzivno okvirjanje, zaščita otrok, spolna vzgoja

Projekti

• Financer: EC - European Commission
• Številka projekta: 101061748
• Naslov: Feminist Movements Revitalizing Democracy in Europe
• Akronim: FIERCE