Andrew Tate and the Alpha Male Fallacy
Menacing rhetoric sweeps social media by means of the manosphere’s most revered influencer
Tate’s audience is predominantly comprised of young men who stumble upon his videos on social media sites, such as TikTok.
Andrew Tate believes that women cannot drive, are a man’s property, and should bear some responsibility when sexually assaulted. He’s also one of the internet’s most viral personalities.
The professional kickboxer, “Big Brother” contestant, millionaire and crypto enthusiast turned self-help guru has flooded social media in recent months with video clips showcasing his unfathomably patriarchal beliefs. Consequently, Tate has infiltrated countless impressionable minds of young men around the globe.
Tate is not unfamiliar to public attention – one of his first controversies came in the form of an Oct. 2017 Twitter thread. At the height of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault allegations, Tate released a series of tweets stating that women should not claim victimhood if they’ve “exchanged sex for opportunity,” while also ascertaining that rape victims must “bear some responsibility.” He goes on to support this claim using an ill-founded example in which he compares a woman to a wad of cash.
“If I left a million dollars outside my front door – when it got stolen people would say, ‘Why was it there? Irresponsible.’ I can say ‘NOBODY SHOULD STEAL IT’S WRONG’ and everyone will agree.” Tate wrote in a now deleted tweet, “But still. Very little sympathy per my bad decision pre-thievery.”
Tate’s rhetoric is primarily marketed through the boys and men who subscribe to his private online academy, Hustler’s University. This academy has a growing 127,000 members worldwide who pay a monthly fee of £39 ($45 USD) to maintain membership.
Simply put, Hustler’s University is a not so hidden multi-level marketing scheme. Members, including boys as young as 13, are told they can earn up to £10,000 a month ($11,611 USD) by attending lessons on crypto investing, drop shifting, and by recruiting others to the academy with a promised 48% commission per person they refer. Members are also advised to fuel online controversy regarding Tate to further increase chances of going viral.
“What you ideally want is a mix between 60-70% fans and 40-30% haters.” A deleted Hustler’s University instructional guide reads, “You want arguments, you want war.”
Upon first glance, Tate’s online personality appears to be satirical due to his extensive use of hyperbole and incorrect statistics seen in nearly every viral video clip. But alas, Tate is entirely serious about the beliefs he orates, no matter how baffling they may be – and he is actively indoctrinating other young men to subscribe to the same viewpoint.
Numerous teachers have witnessed real-life examples of Tate’s rhetoric influencing young boys. One TikTok clip of a sixth grade teacher warning parents to “be aware of what your kids are watching” recently went viral on Twitter.
“We’ve been in school for three days now and within these three days the amount of young 11-year-old boys that have told me that they love Andrew Tate is ridiculous.” The woman said, “This man is really affecting the minds of young men.”
The teacher continues to explain how her male students have begun copying Tate’s attitude toward their female classmates.
“I had a boy today, 11, turn to a girl and tell her that she’s fat, women need to be thin, she sits at home and eats all day and that she’s like every other girl in the world and that she uses men to get money and at least he’s a hardworking man and he works for his money.” She goes on, “They’re 11. Okay. You need to be aware of what your kids are watching because this is ridiculous and it’s really affecting kids. Young kids. It’s disgusting.”
The situation worsens upon discovering the man so many young people idolize is currently under investigation for human trafficking by the Romanian government – a country he admittingly moved to for the relaxed sexual assault persecutions. “I’m not a rapist,” he stated in a video, “but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.”
Romanian police raided Tate’s home after reports surfaced that a woman was being held in the house against her will. The investigation eventually escalated to include “crimes of human trafficking and rape.” Both Tate and Tristan – his brother, business partner and roommate – denied all allegations. Tate seemingly addressed the situation in an Instagram caption, writing “Officer… I think we can all agree that b****** love to lie.”
Though Tate has now been banned from nearly every online platform, his dangerous viewpoints continue to swarm social media feeds, and this is already showing signs of disastrous consequences. Tate’s content has become a direct pipeline to the manosphere, a part of the internet promoting anti-feminist and sexist beliefs while blaming women for all kinds of societal issues – and it doesn’t help when Tate admits the majority of his audience is predominantly young.
The manosphere is the same community that housed a Denver man named Lyndon McLeod who went on a targeted killing spree in 2021, murdering five people before being killed by an officer. Tate’s name has become synonymous with other prominent manosphere influencers, encouraging his young audience to dig deeper into the so-called “alpha male” lifestyle the sphere promotes.
Though its messaging is currently amplified, the manosphere has existed for decades. The only difference is it has never been this openly rampant, and Tate is the sole individual to blame for the influx of young “alpha males.” His patriarchal oratory will prove undeniably consequential to his supporters. The only question is, how vastly will the fallout be felt?
olivia | Nov 16, 2022 at 8:50 am
queen
Sean Bruce | Sep 26, 2022 at 1:16 pm
Thank you Kay for bringing this issue to light for the LHSToday audience. Andrew Tate’s targeting of young men makes this kind of journalism more important than ever.
GABE OSTRANDER | Sep 21, 2022 at 9:53 am
I think this is absolutely horrible for the amount of disinformation put onto this page. For example all the human trafficking allegations were all proven Wrong, A girl was at there house at a party her boyfriend called her saying are you at Tates house? This guy lived the the states, the girl then responds claiming she was held against her will to avoid her “boyfriend” knowing she was cheating. The boyfriend called the american embassy in romania to get her back from Andrew tates house, This is called swatting, calling the police when there is actually no threat. The police came to his door when they were NOT even home during the party. The police found andrew and his brother, took them in for questioning, when they did they went through security camera footage and saw the girl getting PIZZA FROM THE DELIVERY MAN. The police let him go off all charges knowing it was not true and it was indeed a upset boyfriend who didn’t want to know his gf was cheating. The last question I would like to Ask is why is he not in jail today?
Kay Copeland | Sep 21, 2022 at 11:44 am
Hello and thank you for your comment. I’d first like to address that at no point is there misinformation in this article, especially in regards to the human trafficking allegations. I never stated that the allegations are truthful, I’ve merely reported what has been verified about the situation. Many of the points you bring up are hearsay directly from Tate, while the evidence I’ve cited is confirmed. Secondly the investigation into Tate is indeed still active as of August, which you can find more information about using the sources I’ve cited in this story.