ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to address how gender impacts belief in conspiracy theories and demonstrates by way of two case studies the centrality of gender and sexuality for the image of the alleged conspirators that many conspiracy theories paint and the issues around which they revolve. It shows that especially sexualities perceived as deviant play an important role in establishing the ‘other’ in conspiracy theory’s typical us-versus-them narrative. The connection between conspiracy theories, on the one hand, and gender, on the other, is one of the most controversial issues in conspiracy theory research. Qualitative research in the humanities often also claims that men are more prone than women to believe in conspiracy theories. Conspiracy, then, becomes a metaphor for larger structures at work. As is the case with Timothy Melley’s concept of agency panic, conspiracy becomes a scapegoat, an enemy that can be blamed for structural problems and developments which are otherwise out of the individual’s influence.
