Gender and Brexit: the performance of toxic masculinity in House of Commons debates during the Brexit process.

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the extent to which there is a difference in the performance of toxic masculinity in the House of Commons debates concerning Brexit with either Theresa May or Boris Johnson as PM. To do so, a discourse analysis is conducted. Two debates that were part of the Brexit process are analysed to investigate the extent of toxic masculine performance. In the end, the hypothesis that there would be more toxic masculinity during the debate Johnson was PM in than the debate May was PM in was confirmed based on an analysis of the used vocabulary, non-verbal communication and the content of both debates.