Applying Double Standards – Calculated Ambivalence in Right-Wing Populist Representations of Gender Relations

Abstract

Calculated ambivalence is a rhetorical principle that is keenly used in party programs, political advertising, consent-oriented genres such as commemorative speeches, diplomatic genres and half-hearted apologies. It serves the function to suggest the compatibility of diverging political and ideological interests and positions, to address different groups of voters simultaneously, to break taboos without taking the responsibility for it and to avoid a clear positioning. It can result from the involvement of different authors writing a text together. The article looks at the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and at how these right-wing populists employ – both as oppositional and as governing politicians – the principle of calculated ambivalence in their representations of gender relationships in order to make the traditional men’s party appear more women-friendly.