Reactionary aesthetics and the politics of dark femininity

Abstract

In recent years, feminist politics have faced a renewed reactionary backlash. Drawing on Jilly Boyce Kay's articulation of the ‘femosphere’ and Asa Seresin's ‘heteropessimism’ as key theoretical frameworks, we explore how women in the femosphere advance reactionary politics by promoting bioessentialism, political fatalism, and neoliberal ideology. To do so, we explore the contours of ‘dark femininity,’ a digital feminine aesthetic blending femme-fatale imagery with advice promising women romantic and financial success if they ‘tap into’ their ‘dark side’ to attract a ‘high-value’ man. Using a critical thematic analysis of 1946 Instagram posts from a prominent (yet anonymous) dark feminine influencer, we investigate how this influencer participates in, and advances, gender regulation, heteropessimism, and neoliberal ideology in backlash times. We argue that the dark feminine influencer's aesthetics and discourse reveal mediated anger about heterosexual relationships but submit to the fatalistic belief, just like her manosphere counterparts, that heterosexual culture is beyond repair and must therefore be gamified and ‘beat.’ In closing, we propose hetero respair as an alternative social imaginary and political project that offers a caring, hopeful vision for heteroculture.