Gender Ideology and Gender Equality Policy Adoption

Gender-based violence threatens the social and economic security of countries. Gender equality policies, which address the ideological and material relations of gender equality that support gender-based violence, are being stymied by antigender coalitions. Little is known of the concept called gender ideology used by this coalition to facilitate policy intractability of gender equality policies. This mixed-method study was intended to fill the theoretical and methodological gaps in the literature using the narrative policy framework to explore the concept of gender ideology and policy intractability during the National Gender Policy debate in Trinidad and Tobago between 2010-2018. The research questions focused on identifying the narrative elements (hero, villain, and victim characters) and narrative strategies (symbols, policy surrogates, angel/devil shift) utilized by both the progender and the antigender coalition. A purposeful sample of 29 articles (N = 12 progender and N = 17 antigender) was analyzed using content analysis. A priori codes from the NPF facilitated coding the narrative elements and strategies used by both coalitions. Qualitative findings showed that both coalitions utilized narrative elements. Quantitative findings provided weak inferential support for the scope of conflict hypotheses (symbols, policy surrogates, angel/devil shift). Positive social change implications are found in understanding the relationship between policy narratives and policy intractability. Policymakers may use the findings in this study to develop counter-narratives that will assist in the implementation or adoption of gender policies and concomitantly address the issue of violence against women.