Professor Mentu and I have had a long-running difference of opinion on the future of feminism, and whether or not we will see a marked decline in the credibility and power of feminism within our lifetimes. I believe feminism will ultimately implode because it eventually makes an enemy of its allies, so I am going to introduce a new concept here, which I term the Effigy Effect, a definition of how anger redirects when the real target feels untouchable.

The Effigy Effect posits that when an aggrieved party is sufficiently angry, and the object of their hate is sufficiently untouchable for the sake of retribution, the aggrieved party will substitute anyone or anything else in place of the hated party as a target against which they can exercise their hate. This is similar to a scapegoat but with cognitive dissonance at its core, like rioting bands of maniacs burning a politician in effigy because their hatred is beyond his reach.

I firmly believe that feminism is a battle between the marginally attractive female and the alpha males they crave, while the beta males or “nice guys” are burned as effigies because the Alpha male is simply unattainable. The intense envy felt by many women of average or below average beauty cannot be understated, as television, movies, and consumer culture deliver a continuous slap in the face that documents the deficiencies in her own beauty and commensurate social rank every single day.

The undeserved scorn heaped upon beta males, beta coworkers, and even beta husbands is a manifestation of the Effigy Effect, because Ms. Average cannot destroy the beautiful woman who outshines her and cannot access the Alpha male who chose that woman, so Billy Beta is burned in effigy instead. Women treat the beta males in their orbit with contempt because they cannot bring that hate to bear on the alphas they truly want