The dissemination of anti-feminist rhetoric of women is not new, but it is increasingly glorified in mainstream online communities. With the understanding that extremist 'manosphere' spaces cannot exist without the support of some women, this thesis examines the persistence and transformation of anti-feminist rhetorical mechanisms advanced by women across distinct political and media environments. I ask how and why such discourse remains persuasive and durable over time. Using a Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis (CCDA), informed by Maarten Hajer's discourse coalition framework, I analyze the media appearances of Phyllis Schlafly during the STOP ERA movement at the nexus of in-home television alongside contemporary framing in the r/RedPillWomen subreddit. The findings reveal a rhetorical framework I term 'Positive Inferiority', in which women's subordination is framed as beneficial, positive, and morally superior through themes of biological determinism, moral obligation, fear, as well as a shared tendency to frame feminist gains as at the cost of others. These results draw a through-line between anti-feminist political actors and online extremism, with implications in gender, politics, domestic terrorism, and beyond.
