How Authoritarians Exploit Gender
Publisher: Journal of Democracy
Author(s): Elin Bjarnegård and Pär Zetterberg
Date: 2026
Topics: Gender, Livelihoods, Protection and Access to Justice
Authoritarian leaders increasingly engage with gender in different ways. While some subscribe to the "anti-gender" agenda and roll back gender equality achievements, others compete over who is the more gender equal. This essay reconciles these seemingly contradictory positions by referring to genderbashing and genderwashing as two authoritarian signalling strategies. Genderbashing occurs when authoritarian leaders strategically exploit fears and insecurities in the citizenry by cracking down on women's rights, while genderwashing involves authoritarians pushing through gender equality reforms to appear liberal and mitigate criticism about democratic deficiencies. Both strategies threaten democracy as well as the empowerment, well-being, and security of women in authoritarian contexts.