In countries the world over, the patriotic man is the face of illiberal masculinity. Paula Iacobescu explores the illiberal male ideal in contemporary Romanian politics, through its figurehead, George Simion
The family constitutes the core of the social structure, having a clear structure and a well-defined role. At the origin of the family is God, who created man and woman, through whose union life is perpetuated. The man/father and the woman/mother are different by nature, yet complementary, attributes to which modernity has beneficially added equality in rights
Partidul Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor (AUR)
So pronounced the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) in 2019. By the 2024 parliamentary elections, this far-right nationalist party had 63 members in the Chamber of Deputies, only about 20 fewer than the dominant Social Democrat Party (PSD). Just five years after its launch, AUR had grown to become the second-largest party in Romania's Parliament.
Andrea Pető describes gender's role in illiberalism as 'symbolic glue'. Gender discourse, she says, unites dissatisfaction with the 'progressive agenda' and anxieties about the future. It brings together otherwise divergent groups against a common enemy: gender ideology.
Like illiberal parties elsewhere, AUR emphasises normality, rightness, and nostalgia for a notionally glorious past (in this case, skipping over communism). The party advocates a 'natural' family, by which it means heterosexual, Romanian, and Orthodox.
Much gender-and-politics literature focuses on the gender roles imposed upon women. Nationalists idealise women as nurturing care-givers. If women are neither heteronormative nor binary, nationalists consider them 'unnatural'. But an equally important aspect of far-right gender ideology is its definition of masculinity and male family roles. Men have long held power as leaders of illiberal parties and heads of influential institutions like the Romanian Orthodox Church, both of which have conservative social structures.
AUR’s statute identifies four pillars of belief: family, homeland, Christian Orthodox belief, and freedom. The party has elevated these values to national virtues.
Representations and expectations of masculinity, as embodied by party leader George Simion, echo these foundational values. Simion's discourse focuses on the patriot (country), the husband/father (family), and the heterosexual Orthodox man (Christian Orthodox belief and freedom). Together, these form the New Romanian Man: illiberal masculinity with a unique Romanian twist.
Simion's discourse focuses on the patriot (country), the husband/father (family), and the heterosexual Orthodox man (Christian Orthodox belief and freedom)
The patriotic man, the face of illiberal masculinity, is a Simion leitmotif. This male paragon is a counterpoint to the country's current leaders — PSD Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu; former president Klaus Iohannis, a liberal; and pro-Western former Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan.
According to AUR and Simion, these men 'sold' Romania piece by piece to foreign 'investors', enriching themselves at the expense of hard-working Romanians. Simion derides Ciolacu as Marcelino Buratino, Aleksey Tolstoy's reimagining of Pinocchio. He condemns Ciolacu's ill-gotten gains, telling him to 'take his (private) jet and leave (on vacation)'.
As his name suggests, Klaus Iohannis has German ancestry. His 'otherness' means he fails to meet Simion’s ethnic masculinity benchmark, and this feeds his xenophobia. Simion never misses a chance to call his opponent by his full German name, or even, disparagingly, 'citizen Iohannis'. Simion also criticises Dan as a 'tool of the system', a 'Iohannis’ follower', and a traitor to Bucharest. For Simion, Dan symbolises a progressive, liberal left that threatens sovereign values.
This unholy trinity of unpatriotic, foreign, leftist men are the antithesis of AUR’s masculine ideal.
Simion also uses the metaphor of nation-as-family. Simion got married in 2022. Inspired by the charismatic fascist leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Simion invited 'all Romanians' to join the celebrations. Soon after, Simion embraced the father role with the birth of his son.
Simion's wife, eleven years younger than him, has expressed the couple's desire for at least three children. Simion's son frequently appears on his Facebook page, 'helping' with his political agenda. His wife, meanwhile, presents herself only as an accessory.
The couple attend social events, charity work, and religious services, in and outside Romania. This image of an involved father contrasts with the traditional masculine stereotype of the distant provider. It expands Simion's gender role from mere domestic dad to the father of a nation.
Masculinity is inherently relational. Without the contrast of femininity, it would cease to exist. Illiberals consider modern society 'effeminised'. Young men they denigrate for behaving like women. Progressive, liberal views they judge 'feminine'.
In November 2024, Simion won the first round of Romania's presidential elections. His opponents took to the streets. Simion mocked the male protesters as weak, telling them to go home or risk 'getting their ovaries cold'. Simion tolerates homosexuality as 'natural'. Same-sex marriage and adoption, however, he opposes, because these threaten traditional gender roles.
Illiberals consider modern society 'effeminised', denigrate young men for behaving like women, and judge progressive, liberal views 'feminine'
Diana Șoșoacă leads another far-right party, S.O.S. Romania. Șoșoacă recently taunted Simion in a live interview, suggesting he was having a homosexual affair with his chauffeur. Simion's furious denial highlights the pressure he feels to defend his heteromasculinity. In a separate Senate incident, Simion threatened to sexually harass Șoșoacă after the S.O.S. senator crashed AUR's protest during the 2024 budget vote. For AUR, masculine aggression is an acceptable expression of political will.
Simion has a history as a football ultra, and was banned from travelling to Moldova and Ukraine. Hooliganism reinforces his dominant, violent image. Simion's masculinity upholds traditional gender and power dynamics, marginalising non-conforming identities.
Through its leader, AUR espouses a kind of masculinity that is rooted in illiberal nationalism. Following its founding pillars, AUR's ideal illiberal man builds on the traditional Romanian model: a patriotic figure opposed to the Western liberal elite, a devoted husband and father guided by national and religious values, and a man prepared to defend this heritage with violence. Romania, argues AUR, is a feminised nation in need of rescue: anthropomorphised as a damsel in distress.
From the presidential office, Simion can extend his masculinity from the micro-level of family to the macro-level of state, becoming a model for every 'true' Romanian family. In AUR’s worldview, only this can save Romania from the downfall that awaits if it continues to travel a progressive, anti-nationalist path.
No.42 in a thread on the 'illiberal wave' 🌊 sweeping world politics
This blog piece was written for the course 'Gendering Illiberalism', co-designed and co-taught by Andrea Pető (with TA Irfana Khatoon) and Alina Dragolea (with TA Oana Dervis) sponsored by CIVICA alliance universities Central European University (CEU) and the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA).
