"Owning" Women: Misogynist Rampage, Declining Rights, and Savage Violence in Global Antifeminist Backlash

Abstract: Global antifeminist backlash is a pervasive spectacle that challenges women's rights and reverses the arduous gain in legal, political, and economic domains. From pro-life and pro-family mobilization against sexual and reproductive health, same-sex marriage, progressive notions of gender, and sex education to men's rights activists contesting laws on sexual assault and violence against women, the increasing scale and intensity of the backlash should concern feminists. In this essay, I focus on two sites of analysis in Malaysia—the Ministry for Women, Family, and Community Development's social media campaign of "Happy Women, Happy Families" ( Wanita Gembira, Keluarga Bahagia ); and a high-profile #MeToo case of a Malay Muslim girl who received violent threats after exposing her male teacher's misogyny on social media—to examine how bodies, identities, and sexualities are weaponized to advance misogynistic, heteropatriarchal dominance in society. I trace the workings of backlash in South Korea and Pakistan and the phenomenon of Andrew Tate to orient a deeper understanding of the global variation of this backlash. I contend that antifeminist backlash has deep roots in institutions, social configurations, and cultural ethos and is characterized by the increasing popularity of conservative parties, organizations, and politicians promoting strict gender scripts, exclusionary nationalisms, and traditional family values. The rise of the digital publics further contributes to the growth and visibility of backlash. I employ transnational feminist analysis to unpack how backlash plays out and to chart the implications for feminist futurity.