Several years back, one libertarian argued that women aren’t libertarians because they’re sheeple who follow whatever political trend is popular and libertarians are always fringe (I blogged about it but can’t find the link). Elon Musk recently linked with approval to a version of the same idea: women and low testosterone men can’t defend themselves so they’ll sheepishly agree to whatever the consensus in their group is. “High T alpha males” and the neurodivergent are the only ones able to look at information objectively.
Evidence offered? None. Like so many undead sexist cliches, they’re going with “well it’s perfectly logical, isn’t it?” Which makes it a useful example of G.K. Chesterton’s line that “ten false theories will fit the universe.” For one thing wouldn’t the ones best able to defend themselves be mixed martial-arts fighters and street thugs, not bazillionaires like Elon Musk or Peter Thiel? For another, if Musk and other technocrats were that analytical and objective, he wouldn’t have turned X into a money pit. Musk wouldn’t traffic in gibberish conspiracy and antiSemitism theories or be arguing companies that don’t want to advertise on an increasingly far-right platform are violating his rights. I don’t think “self defense” in the context we’re talking about translates into “suing anyone who pisses me off.”
Plus the way in which every batshit lie flows through right-wing Twitter/X almost instantly doesn’t indicate much resistance to the consensus. Benny Johnson lies Haitian immigrants are eating pets and suddenly everyone on the right is parroting it.
And if they’re going to hold up Trump as an alpha male — lots of right-wingers do — well, we all know his thoughts are mush (no matter how much some media outlets “sanewash” them). Even given that what he says is a lie, the lies are getting stupider. Photos he doesn’t like are AI-generated. The conflict at Arlington was a lie. Ivanka found jobs for millions of people. And his repeated claims schools provide nonconsensual gender realignment surgery to students.
As for women being sheeple, the very concept of equality is a radical one that went against the consensus. There was nothing sheepish about the suffragettes, the second-wave feminists of the 1950s and 1960s or all the women (and some men) who’ve continued fighting the good fight. They’re way more edgy and clear-sighted than techbros struck by what Paul Krugman calls brain-rotting contrarianism.
I coined the phrase undead sexist cliches to reflect that no matter how often the cliches — men are smarter than women, men are naturally made to lead, men like sex and women don’t — get disproven, they rise again with a new rationale. The idea Musk passed on is just another version of women are stupid and they need men to boss them around.
Or consider J.D. Vance, who went from describing Trump as a threat to democracy to worshipping him as our white male messiah, which is why he’s vice president. Like so many Republicans he saw the party consensus was Trump for President and went with it. Though to be fair, when he says he despises women without children I don’t doubt he’s standing up for what he believes in. Especially despising women immigrants.
As I’ve said before, believing in patriarchy forces you to turn off your brain. It has to be partly turned off to believe crap like Musk was spouting.
