A Discourse Analysis of Masculinity Construction as Climate Change Denial : Hegemonic Masculinity Pushes Back

Sammanfattning: This thesis sets out to understand if climate change denial is a way in which industrial hegemonic masculinity is constructed through American conservative political discourse. Rooted in ecofeminist theory and feminist discourse analysis, its main material is the Republican Platform of 2016 with the addition of Fox News and statements by Republican high-profile politicians. It focuses on the presence of value dualisms based on masculinity/culture as opposed to femininity/nature. It finds that hegemonic industrial masculinity devalues femininity and nature as one through the promotion of traditional values of independence, growth and development. It concludes that hegemonic masculinity’s push-back against nature-as-femininity in the time of climate change is a gendered struggle over power.