Men and Women as Countries: The Role of Gender Theory in Explaining Global Power Dynamics

Gender theory in the context of power relations and asymmetries between nations can be understood as not only how ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ presenting people interact with and shape the world but in terms of wider symbols and metaphysical representations, such as the implication of the Global South being feminised in relation to a phallocentric Global North. However, while much of the discussion on inequality will naturally be oriented towards the historically undermined feminine aspect, it is necessary to remember that both constructs of masculine and feminine can be used as tools to explain, reinforce, or exacerbate, the global world order at present.

With the use of relative masculinity and femininity as tools, this can be seen in their contradictory applications to maintain a shared outcome. For example, on the masculine aspect a country can be framed as such to be seen as ‘dignified’, yet also to be seen as ‘savage’, either way maintaining hierarchy through the fluid use of gender, as there is more than one image of masculinity or femininity to be applied wherever convenient. Whereas on the feminine aspect, this can be used both in terms of implying passivity and compliance or the opposite as tumultuous and unruly, a resurrection of the Victorian ‘hysteric woman’, in need of intervention from a paternal hand[1].

Arguably the involvement of religion aggravates this, and while not all Western nations are as overtly tied to their practices of Christianity as the US appears to have reinterpreted[2], it remains a substantial part of the history and decisions made before and in process to be made again, regarding other lands seemingly promised to them. Just as Manifest Destiny[3] was encouraged with the idea of God, so does a certain self-superiority, whether for misaligned sainthood or to excuse territorial, militaristic, profitable entitlement, continue to thrive in the globalised land that becomes de-realised and re-conceptualised through media, as well as gore capitalism, and the interactions that take place on a micropolitical scale, which still add to the collective conscious[4] of where the world is heading.

In one aspect, countries that have been feminised face the removal of agency in discussing their own policies as well as in being spoken about or for rather than with. A case could be Afghanistan, where, combined with the perceived Orient[5] and the specific narrative of brown women in need of saving[6], sensationalises the issue into a wider case of liberalisation being used to excuse a phallic-militaristic intervention that does not seek to help but serve its own purpose and further destruction.

In some ways, this also resembles the Iraq War, where the rhetoric of bringing democracy and liberation was used to mask a neo-imperialism that led to the region being further destabilised and the people to hold a justifiably severe mistrust of the West. Here again, the justification leaned on gendered tropes, portraying the country as backward, volatile, and in need of discipline, with little regard for the (non-Western and therefore observed, yet still unseen) lives of the people. In such places death arguably has more value, when we compare to the extents made to save individual civilians, tourists, if they are from the West compared to the wars’ progresses in the regions being measured and valued by the increasing number of the dead, a newfound currency and simultaneous objectification of both the individuals who become less individual, and the country as a whole. While it is true that death counts have always been a unit of measure, there is an undeniable element of sentimentality and heroism that differentiates the reporting of war in these separate parts of the world that makes Western intervention more like the case of the killing of the buffaloes in Manifest Destiny era[7].

Then with the case of brown women in need of saving, specifically by a white man, as Spivak’s Native Dependent[8], this not only applies to the aforementioned countries but also Mexico, where the ‘saving from’ implicitly demonises the male population and by extension the country as a whole. Therefore, through both male and female constructs a country’s inferiority is assumed.

How this follows here is that first, it may be viewed as a junior trading partner rather than an equal. Further, through the female labour force disproportionately working in domestic roles, healthcare, and caretaking in the global North, as is similar with the Philippines also, the affected countries not only face the consequences of a ‘brain drain’, losing a skilled labour force, but also from a reinforcement of their position in the global gendered order where the resources being taken service the North already at historical advantage, while simultaneously hindering domestic, and through collective conscious the international, political progress around gender equality and perceptions of gender roles.

Filipino nurses and migrant women workers exemplify this pattern, performing invisible labour[9] that underpins global health and social systems, yet remain marginalised in both their countries of origin and the countries where they work. Their reputation as being compliant and hospitable further puts them at risk of racial and capital exploitation. Or, even with Filipino men employed abroad, many are also put into precarious positions and are similarly in service or subordinated roles, particularly in Saudi Arabia[10].

Where Mexico and the Philippines diverge is in how masculinisation plays into their narratives. In Mexico, masculinisation coexists with feminisation, which then both reinforce the nation’s image as inferior. On the one hand, Mexico is seen as in need of help or chaotic (the feminised hysteric), and on the other, it is framed through the trope of the ‘savage’ or the violent male. The machismo culture, which may itself have been exacerbated by externally imposed feminisation[11], only feeds this dual image.

Naturally, internal issues of gender inequality fuel further conflict, reinforcing external stereotypes and halting progress. Moreover, the gender dynamics within a country, between certain people or groups, are often taken as a reflection of its broader societal development, even internationally.

While in the Philippines, due to its shared colonial history with Spain, similar dynamics exist concerning the presence of machismo, such as territorial fights between men concerning women, and a culture of infidelity that appears to be omnipresent in its domestic media[12], much like the tropes associated with telenovelas in Latin America. Yet, the countries are made subordinate in different ways. Where Mexico is considered Latin and thus arguably more racially proximate to whiteness, its machismo is allowed more visibility. Although this masculine element does not power but is specifically used again as a symbol of inferiority, wildness, in tandem with the female hysteric. While in contrast, the Philippines, by being Asian, is subject to Orientalist framings, leading to its figurative castration[13] that disallows a similar degree of masculinisation, keeping it instead more specifically to a feminised, submissive role, and then played against other nations by this implied passivity being upheld as ‘model’ behaviour[14].

Ultimately, both countries, in relation to the Global North, are embodied in the phenomenon of being target destinations for ‘passport bros’. These are Western men, almost always white or white-identifying, who seek romantic or sexual relationships abroad, specifically in places of deep poverty and, as implied, high passivity. Much like the moral ambiguities of the liberalisation reasonings and even perhaps the IMF[15], these women often become a violated body much like their country as a whole, exposing not only the neocolonial fantasies of conquest but also to the enduring gendered hierarchy between nations.

These effects are then consolidated with their presentation, the ideology that has not died but continues to exist and be repurposed through the media. Which is not only limited to the news but the realm of entertainment, which, while vastly different by way of presentation are both still vehicles for the same purposes, to inform but persuasively. With famous works such as Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, Madame Butterfly, The Last Samurai, and even Avatar following a similar arc to the way in which humanitarian crises are reported as somewhat spectacle, somewhat tragedy but in a way that is prepared to profit and appeal to a Western gaze, an international currency. These collective fantasies soften real power asymmetries under misleading empathy[16].

While these tropes of inferiority and superiority have been embedded for much longer, these more recent examples illustrate the continuity of this narrative structure wherein countries that have been feminised are portrayed as weak or violated bodies subject to external control. Military or economic powers assert dominance, even in the very language as will become more apparent when describing international, where ‘strong’ dominates ‘soft’.

And with the normalisation of these relationships in both cultural and informative pieces of media an empathy fatigue follows, if not a sensationalism that would have also served the ‘default’ viewing country. What then happens is that (Western) audiences become desensitised to reports of suffering, particularly when the reports all begin to look and sound the same. This is in itself a process concerned with the continuation of ideology[17], a reverse empathising by appearing to supply the opposite, as well as a mentality that encourages a sense of inevitability about the world order which is not inherently true but functions to hinder its subversion.

While the focus so far has been on female-coded portrayals, the media space also allows for the analysis of how masculinisation can be applied and read in alternative ways. For instance, the element of homoeroticism that is generally used satirically to mock or demean, but the figures portrayed more specifically as ‘bottom’, and thereby perceived as being closer to a woman, receives less respect than the homoerotic ‘top’. For example, as Trump becomes increasingly polarising, even losing what was once a staunchly Republican demographic, more satirising content is generated and moved around not only mocking him but doing so in a way where he specifically takes on the role of ‘bottom’[18].

And similarly with JD Vance, features associated with a stereotypically ‘feminine male’ such as eyeliner[19] and the roundedness or softness of his facial features, are key components in the materials used to lambast him. Although in this dynamic both are relatively disliked to similar levels and as such there is less of a clear ‘top’ or ‘bottom’ and simply ‘bottom’, unless media is being produced specifically in their support than they will be traditionally masculinised again.

Although none of this here is a recent phenomenon and has in fact been applied for much longer. From the depictions of Hitler and Stalin kissing in light of the Nazi-Soviet pact[20], with Stalin depicted as the top and Hitler the bride as almost unanimous perceptions proved to be much more critical of Hitler’s general policies as opposed to Stalin’s, to Christianity’s history of demonisation towards gay culture, terming ‘sodomy’ as an explicit sin and encouraging the use and development of conversion camps, to some of the first politicians of the world that functioned similarly as our own in the era of Ancient Rome and Greece, where homosexuality was not the problem in itself but who ‘bottomed’ that was.

Alternatively, where leaders of other countries denounce their LGBTQ+ population, the primary fear again is not of all homoeroticisms but more so this act of ‘sodomy’, and in younger, especially male, audiences, this denigration has been received with respect[21]. Uganda, where the government passed one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world including legislation that criminalises same-sex relations with punishments as extreme as life imprisonment or death penalty, has been praised by many male youths both domestically and internationally as an act of moral and national defence. Although the alienation of any significant demographic eventually leads to the demise or sustained demise of any nation, whether ‘developed’ or ‘developing’[22].

Evidentially, this is more concerned with the ‘bottom’, because those they may identify as ‘a top’ whether towards women or men is revered. For example, in many male grifter movements there are elements of homoeroticism involved with the way in which these audiences express excessive admiration of their claimed leaders, with some even expressing an unironic fantasy to be with Andrew Tate surrounded by children, holding one of them, and seeing one ‘crawl through Andrew’s legs’ [23], or otherwise the usual commenting on their ‘attractiveness’ even compiling edits to showcase this, but because it frames their admired one as the top this does not alert their selective homophobia.

Macron is another figure that similarly is masculinised, homoerotically, but to be the top. Even when Trump attempts to assert himself through the unnecessarily rough handshakes and touches he has been known to use with other political leaders, because of Macron’s higher reputation this only results in Trump potentially being framed as ‘the needy one’ while the French president maintains a respectable nonchalance so to speak. His specific form of masculinisation that applies to both homoerotic and heteronormative lenses[24] is generally treated with more legitimacy and respect and can be used to enhance a country’s impression of its place in the global hierarchy.

Then countries that are more overtly masculinised such as Russia, occupy a distinct space where they receive more international respect than the feminised nations, but neither by way of admiration nor alliance, rather, they are perceived chiefly as a threat[25].

Similarly, but with a much different history, China is an example of a country that shows subversion of this gendered global inequality. Having been previously feminised in tandem with ‘the Orient’ and increasingly seen as another masculine contender in its neo-colonisation of Africa[26].

However, the methods are arguably still reinforcing what has been present, which then precedes the questioning, of whether for a country to become respected, to break the existing gendered world order and achieve a genuinely anarchic reset outside of the current ‘anarchic world order’ which in truth maintains hierarchy, it must adopt the same strategies of gore capitalism[27] as those already in power. The success of such strategies in past wars suggests that to some extent this strategy functions, but at which costs and with what long-term sustainability?

Arguably a country that has subverted the dynamics to another extent is Ukraine, where there is a masculine quality that has been reached but without the country being seen by much of public perception and in other national decisions as a threat. Through Zelensky’s image he has claimed the masculine ‘dignified’ as opposed to receiving the masculine ‘savage’ or ‘aggressor’. Particularly in the meeting when Trump and JD Vance attempted to demean him for not wearing a suit, he arguably feminised them instead despite their speaking over him, where his restraint made them seem more uncollected and his responses clarifying that they appear to be concerned with irrelevant matters in light of the war, making them seem not only irrational but frivolous as it is seen that ‘a traditional man’ is not chiefly concerned with his fashion.

By consequence and in tandem with, many nations have become more wary of Trump and the US as a whole, which has affected global diplomacy as it becomes increasingly more apparent that nations which were long seen as indefinitely first world, have started to blur the lines between developed and developing. As the country struggles under instability and due to its ruined perception to other countries, Mexico has outright rejected new agreements, other countries have withdrawn from deals, and some global commentators now suggest that the U.S. may never fully recover its soft power, even if conditions improve.[28]

China has also been responding to the tariff threat by raising theirs and the US suffers. The people inside begin to feel the effects, to the point where poverty no longer only affects an ignorable, simply ‘inevitable’[29] minority but becomes a defining characteristic of the country as a whole. Many even whose families first immigrated there for opportunities are leaving back to places formerly perceived as ‘the global poverty’ in itself, or otherwise stereotypically dangerous, such as the Caribbean.

            However, contrary to these there is a ‘dignified feminine’ that is possible albeit underexplored. Rather than using the same domination techniques of many nations and empires before, it is possible and much more sustainable to harness leadership qualities in light of the matriarchs that used to govern before much of the colonisation process that continues through both capitalistic and religious means[30].

            Fortunately, there are signs indicating a hope for return to the presence of genuine matriarchs, the point of genuineness being made because a woman in power if influenced still by patriarchal terms is not inherently the same subject[31]. Of the following indicators it could be suggested that the full bush movement as part of a general rebellion against lookism that seeks to limit the ability of female leadership and creativity develop, expresses the advent of this paradigm transition. Naturally, it has been noted that when the feminine is associated with personal appearances more than the other side, first it devalues the element of achievement as first in order for it be recognised the lookism aspect must be achieved first. Then, to maintain this imposed obligation it takes a relative amount of time, energy, and money, that deducts from time otherwise spent as an individual[32]. Further it is a sense of imposed uniformity, something that all women are ‘supposed’ to engage in. And lastly it would have otherwise maintained the dynamic of consumer and consumed, the subordinate that should not be.

Similarly, spiritualism and the occult becoming an increasingly more common practice over traditional Abrahamic religions expresses the upheaval of former androcentrism because there is a largely masculine aspect attached to these former religious structures whereas an eclectic approach not only encourages individuality and therefore again the capacity of women and the feminine to be more than the current ideals presented, but also advocates for matriarchal figures directly where much of the ruling powers are specifically identified as she[33], besides its strong ties to ecofeminism[34] and the emphasis of women’s intuitive abilities over men. And since the value of what is living is often determined by their level of sentience, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that this superior quality of intuition being realised would make more apparent the overall superiority in the dignified feminine to lead instead of the masculine equivalent, of which there truly is none.

By contrast, while God is explicitly a neutral force, most would attempt to picture an old man due to the assigned pronouns which are in fact not neutral. While some do say that the male pronoun functions grammatically as a universal, this does not remove the effect of placing the masculine at the centre of world order, and this is significant as much of language and its structure is a choice rather than pure function[35]. Furthermore, the image is not natural or inherent either, because something ‘all seeing and all knowing’, that ‘keeps living’, ‘creates life’, sounds much more like a woman than a man as not only for the inherently female ability of intuition, enhanced empathy to truly see all, but also women’s life spans averaging longer[36] and the implication that God may have been constructed the way He was from womb envy, the frustration that women have the capability to create life and for men to attempt to claim that power in some form.

With individual men further re-enacting a neo-embodied colonialism on women, whether directly through manipulation to access their physical intimacy, or through a sense of entitlement that either leads to the discussion toward, or unwanted action toward women, or even direct violence, or in fact attempting to shape attitudes so that women will be ‘pit against each other’ and land in ‘a pecking order’, through the ‘Decentring of Men’[37] movement women’s collectivism is instead resurging. This is significant because of collectivism being a much more apparent element of womanhood culture as opposed to the present-day masculine construct. And it is an aspect necessary for revolution that has been encouraged to be diminished through assimilation both into male culture and generally Western culture, where it has been proven that there is not only a struggle in the Western left’s approach in matters of radical revolution[38], but also in the ability of white Western feminists to connect with non-Western feminists[39].

Lastly, the greatest indicator of substantial change is that there is much stronger pushback against not only female leaders individually but that feminine dignified that overrides the previously established ‘male dignified’, more so than ever before. As seen in layered examples such as the documented rise in male students refusing to accept authority specifically from female teachers, citing them as less ‘deserving’ of respect than their male counterparts. Public discourse surrounding ‘wokeness’ and by extension education in its entirety even has become increasingly gendered, with many young men looking down on higher education as a result of women’s successes in the field. Further the rise of incel attacks and communities formed, and the reporters who, whether inadvertently or intentionally, also express pushback against female progression by sympathising with ‘the male loneliness epidemic’, the word ‘loneliness’ blanketing much of the demographic as subjects to empathise with. Overall, these rejections in light of an increasing feminised authority illustrate a deeper discomfort not limited to specific women individuals in leading roles but with the wider transformation of leadership itself into a world where matriarchal figures may be possible, which again, is an entirely separate distinction from simply women in leadership roles[40].

Besides key aspects already revealed to play a part in this coming subversion both for countries domestically and between each other across both hemispheres, another way to enhance the resurgence of a progressive, female collectivism is to renormalise dance. Where it was primarily the global north that sought to privatise traditionally communal and unpolished dance practices, such as Bachata, Bacardi, Twerking, Belly Dance, it gradually became taboo to dance both in general but especially in these styles in a way that became involved with objectification and lookism[41]. The introduction of shame despite a seemingly progressive, ‘liberal’, culture, that celebrates sexualisation initiated on its own Northern terms, such as through the sexual liberation movement and the advocation of a hook up culture, yet at the same time, and especially for coloured women, antagonised cultural dances as inappropriate and unacceptable. Either that or, again, it simply would become shameful and as a result less common to dance in public as an expectation was introduced for individuals to be polished before they could try[42]. But with deeper consideration, how can a group of people successfully enact radical change if the very same people have been made to be afraid or shamed out of light dancing?

However, dance and cultural dances in accompaniment with a neglect of former pressures to maintain an attitude of nonchalance, have shown that there is progress. And with the case of belly dance it is similar, although a much more appropriated area, where the style in which the original owners so to speak of the dance are beginning to be rediscovered, and how before it became sexualised it was in fact a dance that women did in the presence of other women, as a part of getting ready for childbirth[43]. The reclaiming of this finds a metaphysical rebuttal to the phallocentric structuring of the world, where the Global South, long feminised and suppressed, reclaims its own codes not in compliance nor as the Oriental but as a strategy to destabilise the masculine illusion of superiority through androcentrism.

Ultimately, this rediscovered feminine construct enables an alternative subversion of the prevailing order to advance the global South and its people, without obliging the formerly applied cycles of violence, destruction, and instability that may acquire power as death becomes its own currency though it is a strategy that is not feasible for countries at a disadvantage to do so. While violence may be effective at provoking change, tumultuous uprisings such as the Arab Spring[44] did not always achieve the aimed for objectives. In cases they exacerbated pre-existing insecurities, as understood by the realist-constructivist lens, leading to greater instability.

As such a reframing of how disadvantaged nations should advance themselves is necessary, and as the world begins to move in a way where feminised leadership is naturally finding its appreciation, it is advisable even for all to adopt more soft power approaches, as well as to encourage the leadership of true matriarchs.

These leaders would also be able to recognise the impact of a war crime that is most significant but goes unnoticed. Historically, rape as a tool of war is dismissed within male-dominated justice systems because as a predominantly masculine against feminine crime, they cannot conceptualise it in their own bodies and from there become detached compared to other war crimes that are ‘easier’ to imagine. However, a leadership model that is more attuned to the experiences of women could lead to a more comprehensive response as its long-term effects are more than individual but systemic, an underhanded extension of the global order, and affect all future generations both through epigenetics and by mothers being the first point of contact with the world, resulting in the chaos of Rwanda, the Congo, human trafficking, and perhaps the existence of child soldiers[45].

Yet, as the lines between developed and developing nations continue to shift, this change in leadership and how or what constructs we may use to purposefully guide it against unjustified asymmetries of power, ultimately offers the possibility of a more just and sustainable[46] future.

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