feign murky
How Men Weaponize Complexity to Maintain Control Over Women
By TSR
On X (formerly Twitter), user Sam Morgan (@CrunchAlias) recently tweeted: “To stop pretending men are women is easy, the hard part is to stop pretending it’s complicated.” Men have historically mastered the art of complicating what they want women to believe because it is a tactic that has enabled their dominance for centuries. This strategy of creating confusion, introducing ambiguity, and framing their desires as complex truths is deeply embedded in patriarchal systems. It is not a new phenomenon but rather a continuation of how men before them managed to conquer and control women.
Complication is a powerful tool. When men obscure simple realities with convoluted narratives, they sow doubt and force women to question their own instincts, knowledge, and boundaries. This was evident throughout history—whether in religious doctrines that cast women as inherently flawed, legal systems that denied them autonomy, or societal norms that demanded their submission. The narrative was always made to appear too intricate to challenge, silencing dissent and perpetuating male authority.
Today, we see this same dynamic play out in debates about gender identity and women’s rights. Men insist that the distinction between sex and identity is too nuanced for women to critique without being labeled as ignorant or bigoted. They demand that women accept subjective self-identification over biological reality, introducing endless layers of “complexity” to avoid scrutiny of their intentions. By complicating the conversation, they create a smokescreen that allows them to invade spaces, claim opportunities, and redefine womanhood on their terms—all while framing dissent as regressive or hateful.
This tactic is effective because it mirrors historical patterns. For centuries, men have told women what to think about their roles, their worth, and even their biology. They have dictated what is “natural” and “acceptable,” often packaging oppression as benevolence or progress. The modern rhetoric around identity and inclusion is simply a new iteration of this old game—forcing women to conform to a narrative that ultimately serves male interests.
What is particularly insidious is how this complication is used to erode women’s agency. By making issues seem impossibly nuanced, men discourage women from speaking up or questioning the status quo. They wield language, ideology, and social pressure to drown out women’s voices, ensuring that their control remains unchallenged. Men complicate the issue of distinguishing between men and women because it benefits them to do so. By muddying the waters and insisting that what should be a straightforward biological distinction is instead a matter of subjective identity, they create a platform for themselves to infiltrate spaces that were built to protect and empower women. This deliberate complication is not about inclusion; it’s about dominance and control. It is also sinister and vile.
Historically, men have found ways to maintain authority and access to spaces, resources, and recognition that women have fought to claim. The introduction of subjective self-identification as a determinant of sex has provided an avenue for men to once again assert themselves in areas where women sought autonomy—sports, scholarships, leadership roles, and even feminist movements. By insisting that identity overrides biology, they effectively erase the boundaries that women established to address centuries of inequality.
Moreover, complicating the issue allows men to leverage social pressure and fear. By framing dissent as transphobia or bigotry, they silence women who raise legitimate concerns about safety, fairness, or erasure. The strategy is clear: make the issue seem so layered, nuanced, and politically charged that people shy away from challenging it, even when the implications are harmful to women.
This isn’t new. Throughout history, patriarchal systems have thrived on creating complexity where none exists, distracting from the root of the problem. Whether through religion, law, or social norms, men have often made simple truths appear convoluted to maintain their hold on power. The current debates around identity and sex are no different—a tactic to obscure reality, manipulate discourse, and retain control.
Ultimately, the hard part isn’t recognizing the truth that men are men and women are women. The hard part is breaking free from the societal conditioning that allows men to frame their incursions into women’s spaces as a moral or progressive issue, rather than what it truly is: an extension of their dominance.
