COMPLICITY
How women’s words (and actions) serve the patriarchy
This is an autopsy of the women who keep patriarchal power alive and the roles they embody. Patriarchal systems survive not just through men’s violence, but through the women who sanitize it, normalize it, and unload it on us as if it’s our burden to carry. They reinterpret trauma as leadership and sanitize cruelty in the name of patriotism.
In patriarchal structures (political, religious, or cultural) these women become the acceptable face that masks the abuses of powerful men.
There’s a never-ending group of women who stand next to men hell-bent on ensuring women never achieve equality while making this world unsafe for girls and women.
I marvel at their betrayal. I try to imagine their motivation. Perhaps it’s their deep conditioning from their youth. Maybe it’s a form of Stockholm syndrome where they develop deep bonds with their oppressor.
It could very well be their own desire and ambition that would have them settle for proximity to power. Power that is temporary and quickly removed when they’ve outlasted their usefulness or stepped out of line.
She may never evaluate her motivations as long as she’s getting the validation she longs for.
Regardless of their motivations, their functions are unmistakable.
She performs her job as the defender, the minimizer, the moral enforcer, or the punisher.
The Roles They Play
Karoline Leavitt, The Defender
The patriarchy survives through women who normalize the abuse of men. The Defender is focused on redefining the abuse that is inflicted on women. They reinterpret misogynistic actions as strength, honesty or leadership.
The job that they have is to train the witnesses to doubt what they saw and manufacture truth, not display reality. She crafts double standards on the spot. She creates uncertainty, making you question reality and the severity of what occurred.
As White House press secretary she’s uniquely positioned to defend POTUS more than anyone else. She does it, feigning annoyance at the mere question of his latest moral failing. She is supposed to be the arbiter of truth, telling the story behind the story. She manufactures a reality that distorts reality.
The incident that occurred on Air Force One in November 2025 when the president berated a female reporter, calling her “piggy” in response to a routine question. She huffed her exasperation at the reporters asking her to explain his actions. She slipped firmly into her defender role with the following statements:
“I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near daily basis.”
She also said:
