The rise of alt-right female influencers

There is an insidious and rapidly growing movement of alt-right women making extremism relatable on social media. They share tips on how to propagate a more conservative world and rally women to dismantle feminism. marie claire reports

- ALICE WHITING

Toxic femininity is real!" says a steely-eyed woman dressed in a black lace top and bright red lipstick with a red rose tucked behind her ear, the artificial background in her video strewn with flowers and frilly lampshades. The woman is Daisy Cousens and she's one of the leading lights in the female alt-right influencer movement in Australia. She has more than 200,000 subscribers on YouTube, posting regular videos with names like "Why pretty women should NEVER be feminists" and "Leftism makes young women MISERABLE!"

Cousens, who occasionally works as a mainstream journalist and holds views that are very conservative but not extreme, is one of a growing number of female influencers who have recently become players in various conservative - or at the end of the spectrum, far-right extremist - movements around the world, a sphere traditionally dominated by men.

These women come in various guises. Some, like Cousens, could just be called deeply conservative rather than extremist. But others, such as Americans Lana Lokteff and Hannah Pearl Davis, front media channels that attack everything from feminism and immigration to transgenderism and vaccines. Yet more have transitioned their views into the political sphere, such as Islamophobic activist Laura Loomer, who secured the Republican nomination for a seat in Florida in 2020 and is now reportedly being courted by Donald Trump for his 2024 White House campaign. And others, almost too numerous to count, are adorned with blonde braids and floral milkmaid frocks, and adhere to the "trad wife" movement, an Instagramfriendly trend that ostensibly promotes 1950s-style patriarchal family values, but at its most extreme dovetails with hard-right political dogma. "Women are crucial to spreading ideology with a smile and making it seem palatable," Seyward Darby, author of Sisters in Hate, told Vice World News. "It's about putting a gloss on it."