The Gender Agenda's Agenda
How 'Tabloid Media Sensationalist Scumbag[s]' Mobilize Affect to Promote Transphobia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2292247 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bertrand Desjardins (0000-0002-8243-4317, Deakin University, corresponding author), Taryn Hepburn (0000-0002-8397-397X, Carleton University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 817-833 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Inquiry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/soin.70001 |
| OpenAlex | W4407647185 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 26 |
In 2023, Australia's 7NEWS Spotlight released The Gender Agenda, a documentary that purportedly, '[uncovers] the irreparable damage being visited on a generation of confused kids wrongly diagnosed as transgender.' Using critical discourse analysis and affect theory, we analyze the documentary's argumentative strategies. We conclude that in the absence of compelling factual evidence, Spotlight uses emotion to convince audiences to distrust gender transition, sowing fear to orient cisgender audiences away from trans populations. Spotlight mobilizes hostile affects when condemning Australia's affirmative healthcare model, implicitly encouraging audiences to orient themselves away from trans-inclusive policies and contest the affirmative care model. By analyzing how The Gender Agenda produces fear, we demonstrate how anti-trans sentiment is created and disseminated. Additionally, we link transphobic activism in Australia to the broader conservative turn sweeping the West
Affect (linguistics) · Media studies · Political science · Sensationalism · Sociology · Transgender · Transphobia · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media Studies and Communication · Media, Gender, and Advertising
Ontopower
Abduction
Critical discourse analysis
From The Cultural Politics of Emotion
A call for saying “gay”
The German transgender self-determination law
Insidious Concern
GID as an Acceptable Minority; or, The Alliance between Moral Conservatives and “Gender Critical” Feminists in Japan
An Affinity of Hammers
Sympathy, Fear, Hate
Abortion—Reactionary theocracy rises in America, while declining elsewhere
Is gender-critical feminism feeding the neo-conservative anti-gender rhetoric? Snapshots from the Italian public debate
Peeing under surveillance
Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis
The Growth of the Anti-Transgender Movement in the United Kingdom. The Silent Radicalization of the British Electorate
No Future
Trans inclusive no more? Allies and adversaries of gender self-identification in Sweden
Cisnormative Empathy
We're the Normal Ones Here
Transnormativity
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |