Kate Manne, in Down Girl, writes about the problems with using intent as the basis for measuring misogyny. Intent is almost always internal; if we focus on something internal, we can rarely positively identify it. The only real way to identify it is capturing external expressions of intent: manifestos, public statements, postings, and sometimes things that were said to others.

If you instead focus on external effects, you can start to enforce policies. It doesn't matter about a person's intent if their words and actions disproportionately impact women. The same goes for many -isms and prejudice-based issues.

A moderator who understands this will almost certainly be more effective than one who gets mired in back-and-forths about intent.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/down-girl-the-logic-of-misogyny...