OPINION THE TOXICITY OF ANDREW TATE

Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer. He is a four-time world champion with a record of 73-9, but that is not why most people know his name.

After his successful career in professional kickboxing, Tate began making waves in a much different way, starting with his infamous participation in the British reality show, “Big Brother,” in 2016. T ate was only a contestant on the show for six days when a video of him beating a woman with a belt surfaced, causing concern from the production team, who then decided to remove him from the program.

An investigation on Tate would later come to light concerning allegations of sexual assault from two women. The investigation was dropped in 2019, however, with no charges filed.

After he departed from “Big Brother,” Tate became a controversial social media influencer, self-proclaimed “Top G,” and heralded his philosophy on building wealth and successfully courting women.

There is an exhausting list of his antics, including things like him bragging about breaking a woman’s jaw during a bar fight and being quoted in the New York Post saying, “you can’t slander me because I will state right now that I am absolutely sexist and I’m absolutely a misogynist, and I have money and you can’t take that away,” during an interview.

Tate’s radical views on society have amassed over 4 million online followers, many of whom are impressionable young men who idolize Tate for his success.

As a poster child for toxic masculinity, Tate has regularly expressed his reckless opinions on social media, which has earned him bans on the social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Only recently has Tate’s rampage of appalling behavior been halted by his arrest in late December following a feud with climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

According to CNN, Tate and his brother, Tristan, and two unnamed women are suspected of human trafficking and operating an organized crime ring.

Both Tate brothers are also being investigated for allegations of rape. Authorities claim that the brothers use the “lover boy method,” in which the suspects misrepresent their romantic intentions with young (sometimes underage) females to coerce them into participating in online pornographic broadcasting.

The Tate brothers denied such allegations, claiming that some 75-plus webcam models consented to participate in their online webcam studio.

While not a complete list of Tate’s irresponsible behavior, it sufficiently illustrates the scope of the type of person who is the subject of this article.

The digital age has brought about a significant paradigm shift regarding whose opinions are heard and what ideas are readily available to the public.

Social media influencers such as Tate have been given free rein to express their views no matter how damaging they become to our impressionable youth.

The blatant disregard for the gatekeeping responsibilities that Andrew Tate has displayed is staggering. Four million followers are watching everything this person does. That is an alarming number of people, no matter how you look at it.

To put this figure into perspective, there are about 1.2 million active-duty service members in the United States; according to militaryonesource. mil, that’s not even a third of his influence.

At what point do men actively condemn such behavior and strive to set a better example for our youth.

The closed-minded nature of influence like Andrew Tate’s is harmful and corrosive.

How has our society fostered this image as something desirable to young women? Or is it that men like Tate target the emotionally vulnerable?

Either scenario demands an introspective look at the climate of what we have normalized.

Even as this article is written, Tate sympathizers are taking to social media to defend Tate and his abhorrent views of the world.

The saddest part is that some people agree with them; some people are listening.

It is important to note that apathy to such a topic is often the same as advocacy. People like Tate have tarnished the reputation of decent men enough.

This behavior is not normal. Decent men do not treat people like these goons do. Real men are tolerant, understanding, and supportive.

Regardless of what Andrew Tate would have his followers believe, no amount of money and influence can replace basic human decency.

We can only hope that the investigation yields a collective statement that there is no place in our world for Tate’s brand of contempt.

BY JESSE CAIN