Authoritarians Weapons – Patriarchy and Misogyny
This post concerns two subtle authoritarian Weapons. These weapons are Patriarchy and Misogyny.
So Let’s carefully define these terms
Patriarchy organizes society around male dominance and masculine-coded values, they devaluing care work, emotional intelligence, and collaborative approaches to conflict resolution that might challenge their hierarchical power structures.
Misogyny targets women and feminine-coded individuals for systematic devaluation, exploitation, and control, particularly around reproductive capacity and unpaid domestic labor that subsidizes the formal economy.
They are used via many religions and class practices. The male makes the decisions and the female’s intelligence is discounted. Many of us in the Psycho Evaluation Krewe since the 1990’s learned that the male and female brain operates differently. This does not mean one is better than the other.
Sad but this is a tradition!
Paul Julius Möbius, am early psychologist, noted that women’s brains are smaller than the brains of men, even after adjusting for differences in height. He concluded that women are “physiologically weak-minded.” Thus in making that claim, Möbius was continuing a tradition in Western thought that we can trace back to Aristotle, namely: women and men are different. Thus, men are superior and that means men are better. By the way, as one teacher pointed out the largest male human brain was found in an idiot.
Wrong, brain size has nothing to do with intelligence nor does physiology.
Accordingly, many religions shout male dominance. Religions pick this up and use the strong man image to make decisions. How illogical!
Discrimination in Elections based on Sex
Therefore, authoritarian leaders use codes to throw shade on female leaders. This was scene in the 2016 and 2024 elections in the United States. Sex discrimination appears in most religious dictatorships. Authoritarian dictatorships build on easy to believe myths. Therefore we see myths are the most dangerous human flaw for humans to deal with.
The Strong Man Myth
Male dominance is a key part for authoritarian leaders. They need to show how big and bad they are. They use select images, and dress to express that they are strong. Unlike body builders, who are actually strong. The authoritarian leader uses the myth of athleticism to prove their strength and superiority. This myth consist that men are smarter than the average bear. Oh well, there you have it!
References
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-03-12-new-research-reveals-how-development-and-sex-shape-brain
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sax-on-sex/202405/ai-finds-astonishing-malefemale-differences-in-human-brain