Andrew Tate; the social media phenomenon of 2022 who came out of nowhere to win notoriety, praise and condemnation, and for who everybody has an opinion. So here’s mine. Andrew Tate, and those like him, will always exist. A walking cliche. A cartoon character. A living meme. Whatever unkind words you want to throw at him, as much as he may deserve it, I fear we are focusing on the wrong thing. As I don’t care for Andrew Tate. I only care why so many men and boys are listening to what he has to say, and what he represents. To me, he represents a shocking blackhole in the left’s good faith engagement with men and boys. He is the boys who we called “toxic” and the men who we name all the world’s problems after. The sum total of ‘K*ll all Men’ and ‘Men are Tr*sh’; Andrew Tate is how the left forsake their own political progressivism and social compassion. The ugly reflection of the left’s fragility and cowardice, our ineptitude and stupidity. Our entitlement and self righteousness. We are now in a tug of war with boys and men at the centre. The left pulls at one arm, and Andrew Tate and those like him, yank at the other. One side is a mindlessness cacophony of anti male bigotry, minimisation and erasure, the other an equally antiquated and equally restrictive world view of alpha males and pick up artistry. What happens in the middle, is that it gets ripped apart. As both sides yell and point at one another, but never at themselves. So who created Andrew Tate? We all did. Who can beat him? Only us. Only us through giving boys and men actual space in the conversation. Only us by listening to what they have to say. And only us, by letting go of the catchphrases, the dogmatic views, and anti male bigotry that got us here. For in chess, the best move to play is not the best chess move; but the move your opponent least wants you to play. So what is that move? What will bring back our boys and men? ~ Images by Gradiena and Dan Cristian Padure from Unsplash

2022-12-14