Hillary-Hating

As a Politician Who Became Famous for Being Another Politician’s Wife, Hillary Clinton Has Long Been a Lightning Rod for American Fears (And Hopes) About the State of Gender. Although Most Commentators Agree That She Has Been Hated Ubiquitously Since 1992, Scholarship on Hillary-Hating Almost Always Considers It a Male Impulse. This Paper Asks Why Right-Wing American Feminists Hate Hillary Clinton. The Author Studied “Women for Trump” Facebook Pages, Focusing on Memes That Present the Pro-Choice Clinton as a Monstrous (Anti-)Mother. Hatred of Clinton Is Not Produced by ‘Reasonable’ Public Debate, This Paper Argues; More Important Are the Potent Affective Charges Clinton’s Image Carries. A ‘Memetic’ Analysis Is Used to Look at the Affective Object-Ness of Clinton’s Image: Where It Travels, With What Impetus, and What Responses It Provokes. Affect Plays a Crucial Role in Both Sharing Memes Online and the Workings of Misogyny and Racism in Right-Wing Women’s Pursuit of the American Dream.