Gender Crisis in Poland, Catholic Ideology and the Media

Abstract

The author discusses the “anti-gender” debate initiated by the Catholic Church in Poland, which has proclaimed a deepening crisis of family and society and has accused gender ideology of being responsible. At the end of 2013, a campaign emerged within the Church to undermine gender theories and to put blame on gender theorists for societal flaws. The discourse has been elaborated on in the media and has created an atmosphere of friction and unrest between academics involved in gender studies and church representatives. The nation has been divided in its understanding and acceptance of gender, with people heavily influenced by sermons in local churches and by the Catholic press. This paper contains a critical analysis of the Church’s stand point on gender issues in Poland and the results of a survey of public opinion carried out by the author. Denial and rejection of gender theories by the Polish Catholic Church should not be ignored. This denial may have a negative impact on women’s rights and their position in Polish society and undermine the work of multiple generations of researchers, suffragettes and feminists. Moreover it is highly offensive to diverse communities and therefore should be highlighted and addressed in the wider context. The article should be treated as a viewpoint based on media discourse analysis and a small scale empirical research, based on interpretative paradigm.