By now, the whole wide world has heard of the bigoted feats of Andrew Tate.
The former kickboxer and creator of the future incels in society has made repulsive claims about women being property, how they “must bear some responsibility” in the unfortunate case that they are sexually assaulted and countless others that paint women as something less than human beings undeserving of basic rights.
You would assume a bald man with the ego fragility of your average frat boy would take his enterprise to a bigger scale, and you assumed correctly.
Tate’s Hustler’s University aims to “help you create a life plan that will keep you focused” by making income online, rather than being stuck in a nine-to-five job, for only 49 dollars a month. It’s no surprise Tate’s lackeys are struggling financially with such a hefty price for his invaluable knowledge.
I wonder if he teaches them how to become a wanted criminal in five simple steps? You heard that right, the infamous podcast host whose rhetoric we have been force-fed this past year is a human trafficker, allegedly.
Luckily, Tate has been banned from all mainstream social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch according to Variety.
However, he managed to become as big of an active public threat as former President Donald Trump thanks to his large following and content, which seeks to engrain the toxic masculinity mindset into the brains of impressionable young boys.
With this in mind, I would like to shed some light on the way we, society as a whole, tend to react when faced with massive amounts of violence, especially Tate’s target: women.
Oftentimes when a conservative or right-wing political ally expresses these harmful sentiments, from bigotry and racism to homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, etc., a person could be the biggest, misogynistic cisgender man on the planet and some will blame it on the fact that they’re “secretly gay” or “closeted.”
I used to think this way because joking and using it as a coping mechanism was better than accepting the fact that some men really do hate women. In fact, they hate anyone that doesn’t align with their traditional masculine lifestyle including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals, those with a different faith or belief, you name it.
All the LGBTQ+ people I know personally deal with internalized homophobia, myself included.
I assure you that questioning my sexuality and gender fluidity from time to time does not result in me violently bashing my community and making them responsible for breeding unfeeling, twisted criminals.
Although not intentional, we are unconsciously excusing this behavior out of fear that, if we don’t go along with the silence and compliance that’s expected of us, we will be villainized. We are told that women are too sensitive and emotional, they overreact for absolutely no reason. That kind of mindset is what gets minorities killed daily. We are not taken seriously until tragedies happen.
That’s why I believe we absolutely must wake up and start thinking of why men like Tate are so influential.
His followers are brain-washed into thinking happiness comes from money and being narcissistic idiots that only look out for themselves. When that type of mentality is enabled, it takes just the right kind of blindly loyal devotee to do vicious acts in the name of their leader.
Trying to see the best in everyone is a very kind sentiment, but it’s something that’s going to make you ignore the gravity of the situation. These people don’t deserve a little giggle from our obvious discomfort and, as a result, being let off so easily.
They should be ashamed of having the audacity of making such remarks against women and anyone different from them because, sadly, they’re the very same men that are taking our rights away in Congress. They hold positions of power in all segments of our daily life because our patriarchal, capitalist society has exploited those most vulnerable, pushing ruthless people to the top. After all, they would not hesitate to call your existence worthless if it means they’ll be making more money.
Do not make a dangerous man with life-threatening views like Andrew Tate seem like an innocent little lamb because he’s much worse than what he’s willingly showing the world.
