Andrew Tate is halfway through his thirty day incarceration. I’ve seen a lot of this time spent discussing what Andrew Tate is, and who he represents. I see him appropriated as some kind of Incel king, red pill god, agent of MGTOW, or MRA icon. Disparate terms that are often mixed together, and wrongly conflated as the same – usually beneath the spooky umbrella term ‘the manosphere’. 👻 But I want to make one thing very clear. And that is - Andrew Tate is not a Men’s Rights Activist, in any way. If anything, he is the complete opposite of what MRA is all about – which is allowing men and boys to become their full selves, and addressing the structural challenges that stop them from doing so. MRA is advocacy for male victims of abuse, of homelessness, of addiction, suicide, sexual violence survivors and for the full and fair education of boys. It’s a voice for parental rights, and child custody reform. It’s a challenge to the family court system and an uplifting of fathers. It’s an abolishing of the draft, of non medical circumcision, police brutality and for prison reform. So ask yourself, when has Andrew Tate ever spoken about any of these things? Never. And god knows, I’ve inflicted enough of his blathering content upon myself to make that claim with confidence. I do not consider myself a MRA either. But if you compare Tate to bonafide MRA icons like Dr Warren Farrel, you will find yourself comparing chalk and cheese. One man is a believer in equality, in structural reform and an abolishing of gender roles. And the other (Tate) is the exact opposite, and usually advocates for the opposite. So as the valuable discussions of what Tate *is* continues, let’s not neglect the parallel conversation of what Tate *is not*. And he is not, an MRA. ~ Images by Kiwi Hug, Gradienta and Dan Cristian Padure from Unsplash.

2023-01-18