Womenomics Theories of Sexual Violence: Governing Toxic Men

This article analyses how neoliberal “womenomics” theories problematize toxic masculinity as inhibiting women’s economic productivity. The article shows how problematizations of masculinity informed welfare policies in OECD states where men’s violence and an increase in single mother households were explained by “father hunger.” Similar theories were applied to poor communities in developing economies. The article shows how welfare and development literature constructs the figure of the violent, idle, toxically masculine man as responsible for feminized poverty and violence against women. Programmes tackling poverty and violence attempt to transform men to adopt a healthy masculinity so that they can contribute to heterosexual couple-based households. The article also analyses economic, business, and professional media commentary on the figure of the toxically masculine elite man, along with legal and human resources advice to employers on dealing with “#MeToo issues.” Womenomics theory shapes problematizations of elite men’s toxic masculinity as inhibiting women’s economic productivity and progress into senior leadership positions to the detriment of the global economy. I argue that the disparagement of toxic masculinity reflects a change in the conditions of patriarchy since economists no longer support a form of patriarchy where women should devote their productive energies to the domestic sphere.