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Revenge of the Patriarchs

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Revenge of the Patriarchs

Why Autocrats Fear Women

Foreign Affairs,

5 min read
3 take-aways
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What's inside?

Misogyny and authoritarianism go hand-in-hand. 

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8

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Recommendation

When autocrats strategize to suppress free societies, women suffer. Suffragism for women is 100 years old, and yet they have to keep fighting for equality, even in democracies. As Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks report for Foreign Affairs, authoritarian movements worldwide are threatening many of women’s hard-won advances. For progress in women’s rights to continue, women must be on the front lines, pursuing diversified tactics and providing power in numbers while moderating conflicts and coercing opponents to defect. A multinational coalition to combat regressive policies would enshrine diversity, inclusivity and equal rights for women and for all people.

Summary

Authoritarianism is misogynistic.

In recent years, authoritarianism has been on the rise. Democracy and women’s suffrage have traditionally gone hand-in-hand, as governments in progressive states are more likely to acquiesce to women’s demands for equality. But in the 21st century, some nations – including China, North Korea and Afghanistan – have experienced a “patriarchal backlash” against women’s rights. Disturbingly, this backlash has surfaced in democratic countries as well. 

Former and current world leaders – such as Vladimir Putin, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines – all project “hypermasculinity...

About the Authors

Erica Chenoweth is the Wallach Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University and the Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at the Harvard Kennedy School, where Zoe Marks is a lecturer in public policy.

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