"God is SO back": reactionary feminism, cultural Christianity, and the digital mirror-world
GEMS Seminar
GEMS (the Research Centre for the Study of Gender, Media, and Sexuality) is excited to host Dr. Jilly Kay as an invited speaker for the centre's seminar this year.
| A Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences seminar | |
|---|---|
| Date | 11 February 2026 |
| Time | 16:30 to 18:00 |
| Place | Alexander Building TS1 |
| Organizer | GEMS |
Event details
Abstract
Jilly Boyce Kay is a scholar of feminist media and cultural studies. She has published widely on feminism and popular media, including her book Gender, Media and Voice. Recently she has published on feminism and anger, “reactionary feminism”, and the “femosphere”. She is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media at Loughborough University, and co-editor of the European Journal of Cultural Studies. She is also co-investigator on the project ‘Reality television, working practices and duties of care’.
Join on Microsoft Teams:
Department of Communications, Drama, and Film. TS1, Thornlea/Teams
Wednesday 11th February 4:30-6pm.
“God is SO back”: reactionary feminism, cultural Christianity, and the digital mirror-world
In recent years, Christian discourses and symbols have become increasingly prominent in Anglo-American popular and political culture. Celebrities from Russell Brand to Nicki Minaj have publicly converted to or reaffirmed their Christianity. High-profile members of the “New Atheist” movement have converted to Christianity or declared their allegiance to “cultural Christianity”. Manosphere podcasters and “manfluencers” increasingly discuss and debate issues around Christian faith. As a Glamour UK magazine headline recently put it: “God is SO back”. This apparently new popularity of Christianity is emerging in a broader context in which far-right, racist, anti-gender, pro-natalist and Christian-nationalist politics are resurgent. It is also a historical conjuncture in which perplexing new political “mash-ups” are taking shape in the “digital mirror-world” (Banet-Weiser and Kay 2025). This paper focuses on one particular “mash-up” phenomenon: “reactionary feminism”, also sometimes known as “sex realist feminism”. I specifically analyse how reactionary feminist influencers mobilise particular discourses of Christianity. They claim, through high-profile podcast appearances, social media posts, and online articles, that heterosexual Christian marriage offers the best possible social protections for women, and is therefore “feminist”. I argue that grasping the perplexing politics of reactionary feminism and “cultural Christianity” - and the ways in which Christian faith is increasingly mobilised in popular digital culture more broadly - is crucial for understanding the contemporary operations of reactionary politics in the UK.
Location:
Alexander Building TS1