How Misogyny Furthers a Smear Campaign

The killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis has largely been discussed as a controversy over what happened, focusing too intently, for example, on what direction the wheels of her car were facing. Treating the case as a dispute over competing narratives misses how the violence itself—and the immediate effort to discredit the victim—are part of the same system of power enforcement. A system in which women especially suffer the consequences.

Misogyny plays a leading role at every stage, from the violence itself to the aftermath. Because when a woman challenges authority—particularly when she does so publicly, visibly, and without deference—she is framed as reckless, unstable, deviant, undeserving of protection.

Feminist philosopher Kate Manne explains how misogyny is to blame for the killing:

“Misogyny is the beating heart of a fascism that violently safeguards and shores up white male authority—by punishing any social subordinate who questions the designated authority figures.”

A woman who questions authority is treated not as a citizen with rights or a human being with dignity, but as a threat to be subdued. “How dare she” becomes the underlying story. In this sense, the inevitable smear campaign is not separate from the violence, it is the continuation of it.

Almost immediately, powerful institutions and their media allies moved to control the narrative. Rather than start with a serious, transparent investigation into what happened, they rushed to smear Renee Good as unstable, dangerous, deviant, undeserving of empathy. The goal was to shift attention away from the agents of violence: the killer and his enabling institutions, and place the victim on trial instead.

Right-wing media figures quickly leaned into gendered and identity-based contempt. Fox News host Jesse Watters mocked Good with her identity and personal interests, describing her as a “self-proclaimed poet” with “pronouns in her bio”.

Another line of attack was to portray her as irrational and mentally unstable, a familiar sexist trope. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt labeled Good a “deranged, lunatic woman” while calling her a domestic terrorist.

And of course, weaponizing motherhood is an old standby. Newsmax host Carl Higbie said Good is the “worst mother of the year” and she “should be at home with” her kids rather than “obstructing ICE agents”.

Smear campaigns against women tend to follow a familiar script. It works because it shifts the story away from institutional violence and toward the supposed flaws of the person harmed. It is also misogyny doing its job: policing women back into their place by making an example of what happens when a woman disrupts authority.

Misogyny at Work

What does this have to do with the workplace? Similar scenarios play out at work every day. Women are harmed, sidelined, harassed, retaliated against, undermined, or pushed out. But if you complain, the focus shifts away from what happened to you and onto who you are and what you did wrong. You become the problem.

You are labeled emotional, difficult, dramatic, unstable, or unable to see the bigger picture. Meanwhile, the organization positions itself as reasonable and measured Women are conditioned to stay in our place. We are expected to be demure, docile, and compliant. When that expectation is disrupted, there is hell to pay.

A few years ago I wrote about how I experienced this myself. I was labeled difficult, pushy, and emotional, all features that I am quite proud of because they help me get shit done. Indeed, when men display similar characteristics, they are viewed as strong, decisive, and getting shit done.

I see this pattern constantly in my work with employees navigating toxic workplaces.

If you need help regaining your footing, your sanity, and your voice after a workplace has smeared you, that is the work I do. Contact me here.