“Danish Women Put Up With Less”: Gender Equality and the Politics of Denial in Denmark

Marie  Leine; Henrik Hvenegaard Mikkelsen; Atreyee Sen

doi:0.1177/1350506819887402

“Danish Women Put Up With Less”: Gender Equality and the Politics of Denial in Denmark

Marie Leine, Henrik Hvenegaard Mikkelsen, Atreyee Sen

1 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Denmark is a country that has been heralded for its high levels of gender equality for decades. One would have expected, then, that the recent EU report that ranked Denmark as the EU-member country with the highest occurrence of physical violence towards women would have created a public uproar. Yet the few reactions to the study in the media were generally characterized by skepticism regarding the study’s comparative scope. The notion was widely circulated that Danish women experience behavior as “violent” that women in other countries would consider ordinary. It was argued that “Danish women put up with less”—and that the report was, in effect, invalid. In this article we outline the discursive space that emerges when the mass media seeks to tackle symptoms of inequality in Denmark. We argue that the ideology of gender equality comes to construct a dominant discourse, which silences symptoms of inequality. Thereby, gendered violence in Denmark is rendered invisible in public awareness.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	European Journal of Women's Studies
Antal sider	15
ISSN	1350-5068
DOI	https://doi.org/0.1177/1350506819887402
Status	Udgivet - 1 maj 2020

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FN’s Verdensmål

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0.1177/1350506819887402

Citationsformater

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abstract = "In 2014, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights ranked Denmark as the European Union country with the highest occurrence of male physical violence and sexual assault against women. This report was described as {\textquoteleft}grotesque{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}misguided{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}untrustworthy{\textquoteright} in the Danish mainstream media, which cited a number of prominent political commentators and expert researchers who debunked these findings. Using this case of overt public rejection of violent and white masculinity as a central analytical thread, this article explores how the invisiblization of Danish male violence, as well as the projection of sexual aggression onto minority communities, produces a peculiar politics of denial and denialism in Denmark. The authors argue that the nationalist myth of gender equality branded within the Danish mainstream media and society is a variety of gender exceptionalism; which in turn generates racist, reactionary and suppressive ideologies on violence, racial discrimination and social inequality.",

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author = "Marie Leine and Mikkelsen, {Henrik Hvenegaard} and Atreyee Sen",

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AB - In 2014, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights ranked Denmark as the European Union country with the highest occurrence of male physical violence and sexual assault against women. This report was described as ‘grotesque’, ‘misguided’ and ‘untrustworthy’ in the Danish mainstream media, which cited a number of prominent political commentators and expert researchers who debunked these findings. Using this case of overt public rejection of violent and white masculinity as a central analytical thread, this article explores how the invisiblization of Danish male violence, as well as the projection of sexual aggression onto minority communities, produces a peculiar politics of denial and denialism in Denmark. The authors argue that the nationalist myth of gender equality branded within the Danish mainstream media and society is a variety of gender exceptionalism; which in turn generates racist, reactionary and suppressive ideologies on violence, racial discrimination and social inequality.

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“Danish Women Put Up With Less”: Gender Equality and the Politics of Denial in Denmark

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