Public Humiliation as Power How Gendered Insults Undermine Democratic Accountability

An analytical article by Momen Ghazouani, Editor-in-Chief of The ilantic journal , drawing on multiple sources, examines how public insults against women in politics and media are strategically exploited Ghazouani argues that derogatory remarks made by powerful men are not isolated incidents but rather a deliberate authoritarian tactic designed to marginalize women, silence them, and discourage their participation in public life The article uses the incident in which President Donald Trump referred to a journalist as a pig as a central example illustrating how gendered insults function as tools of social engineering to impose silence and normalize subsequent harassment of women who challenge authority Ultimately, the writer frames this pattern as a threat to democratic accountability stressing that societal silence in the face of such insults constitutes complicity in weakening the democratic process