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Lorenzo Higo
Dec 15, 20228 min read

The Andrew Tate Phenomenon: Social Media and Traditional Masculinity

Videos on social media offered the world a sense of shock and disgust. Many criticize his messages, while others parrot his “traditional” points of view.


By Lorenzo Higo & Rafael Gianella


Andrew Tate Phenomenon: Social Media and Traditional Masculinity

Videos on social media offered the world a sense of shock and disgust. Many criticize his messages, while others parrot his “traditional” points of view.


Known as the professional 4x kickboxing world champion and standing amongst the most searched people on the planet this year, Andrew Tate has become impossible to avoid through popular platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.



Andrew Tate on the ISKA Championship

The internet star got recently banned from these listed apps due to his highly controversial takes on subjects involving gender roles, masculinity, and more, consequently enraging groups of the younger generation, especially regarding the female and leftist gaze.


From a kicked contestant of Big Brother 17 (UK) to a world star influencer and target, Andrew Tate is a topic of conversation on every platform, with major creators interviewing and chatting with him on live streams and podcasts, environments where his

famous clips are formed.





Previous Incident and “Overnight Growth”


Andrew Tate hasn't been in the spotlight much since he appeared on the American reality show Big Brother in 2016, on the British version. The show is a social strategy competition in which 12-16 people move into a house to compete. They remain in the house until either they are voted out by the audience or they win. Tate was introduced to the show as a kick-boxer and martial artist, and spent only 6 days in the house before being kicked out by the producers when an old recording went public.


A video showing him slapping a woman with a belt surfaced and soon went viral. Many saw it as a violent attack, which worried all fans. Tate and the woman in the video later stated that the actions seen in the tape were consensual and not abusive, only that they had been taken out of context. They made it clear that they are still friends, but the incident nonetheless shocked many people.


Since then, Tate’s virtual presence slowly began rising during June-July of this year, with his most famous clip regarding his opinion on e-cigarettes. Initially, most people found

his behaviour towards the device rather humorous and sarcastic, with even Mr. Tate adopting a new nickname for himself as “Top G”, a person capable in any aspect of life, the top of the male tier list, the best of the best. That is, until the quick video cuts also known as “soundbites” exposed the influencer into a tough position of being a seemingly more of an extremist man. All of his latest interviews including his thoughts on fragile topics such as gender roles and traditional masculinity have now caused Andrew Tate’s access to social media to be completely cut. Nowadays, even the smallest group of individuals may cause the fall of someone’s career, whether their actions were truly just or not. So while an incredibly vocal group of users from these enlisted platforms riot against Tate, there is still a grand audience that completely agrees with his perspectives, consisting of mostly male teenagers and young adults who are influenced by the man’s harsh childhood, current luxurious lifestyle, and work ethic. Every man’s dreams in life had been at some point related to an expensive lifestyle with a collection of sports cars together with beautiful mansions and beautiful women. That is exactly the idea and life Andrew Tate promotes and encourages his viewers to become. He does not believe in motivation, he believes in discipline and hard work.






The Promotion Of Traditional Masculinity And Being The Best Version Of Yourself


The most common criticisms received by Andrew are that he is a misogynist, a con artist, a lunatic, and much more. This is because of his constant habit of talking about his controversial opinions on many subjects. Due to the media's leftist tendencies, Tate's message was not well received by them, and so a coordinated effort was taken, in order to shoot him down, with one of the media's most powerful weapons being used for this purpose: Cancellation. Tate was banned on many social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and even non-social apps like Uber and Airbnb. Although the bullet hit Andrew, it did not even scratch him. After the cancellation, Andrew’s audience grew even larger as he moved to a more underground app, Rumble. His audience moved with him, and so did many influencers, which now lost their fear of being cancelled. Tate's influence still reigns supreme over the internet, with his face appearing on many social media platforms, and his message is spread across the land at a rapid rate. One might wonder why this man was thought to have lost his power, but in reality, gained even more.


Andrew Tate's message is very appealing to the mostly young, male audience of the world, as he gives them hope and clarity on many diverse topics. His opinions are extremely controversial by today's standards, but his message still spreads widely amongst a broad spectrum of people. What does Tate talk about which draws in the millions of young men watching him? What does he say and propagate which allows him to emotionally connect with so many people? Well, he talks about many things, but they all link up to one extremely important theme of the modern world, masculinity.


According to Andrew, “The planet that we live in today has made men weak. The planet we live in today wants to keep men weak. The men of today have grown complacent, and have given in to the modern addictions of society. Men spend countless hours scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, playing video games doing drugs, eating junk food, watching adult videos, dating low-level women, drinking constantly and excessively, wasting time, and much more.” Numerous men fall into the trap created by the modern world. This is where Tate, and other men like him, come into the scene. Andrew’s message is often interpreted as misogynistic and outdated by many people, but that is not how many of his large number of followers feel. What Andrew promotes is the rebirth of masculinity. He's seen the state of men in this modern age and has decided to change that. He propagates to his viewers that men should take care of themselves and their women. He pushes men to be chivalrous. He pushes for men to go into the world and work hard. He pushes for men to train their bodies and their minds. He pushes for men to seek discomfort and grow. He pushes men to have ambition. He pushes man to never give up.


Due to Tate's straightforward and polemic advice for men, people have understood his message in a harmful way. Tate believes in gender roles, meaning that he believes women and men are not the same, and each is better at certain aspects of life. Although he believes that, he also states they should both be treated equally and with respect.



Piers Morgan x Andrew Tate

In early October, Tate was invited to an interview as the most controversial man on the planet by British broadcaster Piers Morgan, who is known for welcoming various celebrities into his program. Andrew, being the busy man he is today, decided he wanted to clarify common misconceptions directed to him, and so his first statement included “soundbites” being used against himself. This is a term for a short extract taken from a recorded interview, chosen for its pungency, appropriateness, or in this case, apparent “targeting”. The “Top G” states that the most famous clips that include bad

impressions of him are made from small accounts on TikTok that take a compact amount of information being said from a 2-hour-long podcast or interview. He states that most of the feedback he receives is positive, but that there is a very vocal minority that tends to be hateful towards him, without getting to know all the information. These people usually cut small clips extensively explaining a point and end up misconstruing it in order to create a negative image towards him, consequently leading to misconceptions and fake information. Of course, this is no excuse for commenting that “women are partially responsible for being raped at specific moments in time”, but let’s just say Andrew Tate isn’t the most careful fellow regarding his word choice. This short sentence, arguably causing the influencer to face obscene amounts of hate, still has concrete proof and explanation for his expression and reasoning behind what he meant.


Tate’s initial point in the uncut interview was that if a woman were to be walking alone in an alleyway, drunk at night, paying attention to her phone, and ends up getting sexually assaulted is partially responsible for this occurrence. This is due to the fact that the woman in question doesn’t demonstrate perspicacity and alertness, and should therefore be partially responsible. He claims that just like a person walking around with high amounts of cash exposed in their hands at night is partially responsible if they get robbed, some women in these occasions should too. It is also important to note that Tate makes sure to say that he does not propagate any type of sexual harassment and that this point does not only apply to sexual assault, but to many types of felonies. He also mentions that he believes rape is an unforgivable crime, and that it should have a death sentence.


In the interview, many of Tate’s points and misconceptions that he was trying to clear were interfered with by Piers Morgan’s sudden opinion on the topic. Andrew was interrupted so many times during the interview, that it became a laughing matter amongst the audience, and went viral on platforms such as TikTok, as if it was a meme.


Tate's Online Educational Program (Hustlers University And The Real World)


Whether the media likes Andrew Tate or not, there is no denying that he has had a very successful life, especially when it comes to finances. On account of his background in helping young men, the “Top G” also promotes for men to become as wealthy as

possible, to have a strong mind, to never quit their dreams, and to work hard. This is why he promoted both his courses, Hustlers University, and The Real World. Many media outlets tell lies that his programs are a pyramid scheme due to their affiliate marketing programs, but this is clearly not the case. Affiliate marketing is a well-known strategy used by many companies such as Amazon, and is in no way illegal or immoral. It is simply a marketing tactic. Andrew Tate has now transitioned his educational platforms from Hustlers University to The Real World. Essentially it is the same thing, but The Real World is completely outside the system. It has its own payment processing, its own website, app, bank, and much more. There is nothing anyone can do to stop them. These platforms are used to teach his fans how to make money using his principles, for only $49.99 a month. The “University” includes 19 money-making methods with a wide variety including copywriting, freelancing, e-commerce, crypto, and much more. Tate is not the only one that teaches his courses. He has hand-picked many millionaire professors that are specialized in one or more of the skills, which teach together with him. Tate and the professors guarantee that if you work hard and follow the instructions in the courses, you will make more than you are spending monthly.






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