Where loyalty drives political survival, why do women praise autocrats more than men? Extensive research demonstrates the centrality of loyalty for women's political advancement, yet how women rhetorically signal this loyalty remains underexplored. I argue that sycophantic appeals offer a gendered pathway to power in conservative authoritarian contexts. Excessive praise enables women to exhibit loyalty while conforming to feminine ideals of social warmth and deference, mitigating backlash where their political presence challenges prevailing gender expectations. Using natural language processing on speeches from Turkey's Grand National Assembly from 2015 to 2023, I find that women in the ruling party are more likely than men to profess loyalty to autocrats and employ gender-congruent praise emphasizing their compassion. This strategy yields tangible rewards, with women who adopt such praise securing better list positions and reelection. These findings reveal how gender shapes expressions of loyalty and their political returns, illuminating gendered pathways to power under authoritarian rule.
