Far-right women's cult-like behavior has pushed them to the front of the extremist movement

As far-right extremists continue to coalesce around Donald Trump and his third run for president, women, some of whom were once derided as "mommy bloggers," are taking an increasingly larger role as the faces of the movement.

According to a report from the Guardian, from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to "martyr" Ashli Babbitt, who lost her life in the Jan. 6 riot, increasing numbers of women are recruiting or being used as recruiting tools to draw in other women that one researcher claims are susceptible to finding cults appealing.

As the Guardian's MacKenzie Ryan wrote, “alt-right” women have "shifted to influential public-facing roles in rightwing media production and far-right national politics," as they defend the rioters who stormed the Capitol or ostensibly use the protection of children to push a far-right agenda like the controversial Moms for Liberty.

According to Dr. Sandra Jeppesen of Lakehead University, "[Far-right women] have a lot more power than you think,” adding, "I think women definitely want power. I don’t think ‘alt-right’ women go into politics for altruistic reasons.”

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Case in point, the rapid ascension of lawmaker Taylor Greene, with the Guardian reporting, "In the days leading up to 6 January 2021, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the extremist congresswoman from Georgia, paid tens of thousands of dollars for a promoted Parlor post stating the need for a grassroots army and created a Photoshopped image of her and Donald Trump. The post, used as an election fundraiser for Greene’s campaign, garnered millions of views and played a strong role in mobilizing people to the Capitol, Jeppesen explained."

The protection of children is a central selling point to recruiting more adherents with Iowyth Ulthiin, a PhD student at Toronto Metropolitan University, explaining, "Who doesn’t love children and want them to be safe?”

The Guardian report states, "The far right can take the same recruitment posture online. Ulthiin’s research has seen women in the 'mommy blogger aesthetic' on Instagram, known for sharing photos of 'lovely, enviable lives', become subtly political and then escalate rapidly into conspiracy theories."

Ulthiin suggested, "women who fall into the far-right trap often have similar psychological profiles, stating, "It would be a similar crowd to those who are in danger of joining a cult.”

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