This article contains references to sexual violence.
How do you solve a problem like Andrew Tate? And could ‘positive masculinity’ influencers have the answer? It’s a complex question — but with International Men’s Day upon us today, it’s one we should certainly face head-on.
Despite being charged with rape and human trafficking (which he denies), Tate has a persuasive sway over boys and young men, with research showing that one in three young men have a positive view of him.
His career trajectory – from Big Brother and TikTok notoriety to imprisonment and right-wing conspiracy theories – has triggered volatile debates about masculinity: Is it inherently toxic? Do boys need to be taught not to sexually harass their female classmates? Should feminists – as Caitlin Moran explores in her latest book What About Men? – be turning their attention to men?
While much has been written about the rise of influencers promoting “toxic” masculinity – defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “a set of attitudes and ways of behaving stereotypically associated with or expected of men, regarded as having a negative impact on men and on society as a whole” – there are male influencers who use their platforms to promote a rather different message: that masculinity can (and often is) positive.
But do they actually stand a chance against their “toxic” counterparts? GLAMOUR spoke to the Managing Director of Beyond Equality, a charity promoting positive masculinity, and Dr Alex George, a content creator, author, and UK Ambassador for Mental Health, to learn more.
The influencer economy trades in human attention. Influencers compete against one another to secure attention before selling it to the highest bidder. And the attention of boys and young men is an increasingly lucrative product, as high-earning content creators, including KSI (worth $27 million), Logan Paul ($45 million), and Mr Beast ($500 million), have found out.
But, as all the above have learned, generating controversy is a fast track to reaping attention (and therefore £££) from social media. Unsurprisingly, generating controversy usually involves offensive or inappropriate behaviour. Just look at Mizzy, the 18-year-old former TikToker who went viral for all the wrong reasons after filming himself abducting an elderly woman’s dog, entering other people’s houses without their consent, and walking up to young people at night and asking if they “want to die.” As Mizzy told Piers Morgan: “Hate brings likes, hate brings views.”
Enter the algorithm. In 2022, an investigation found that TikTok bombards young men with misogynistic content (often featuring Andrew Tate) after watching male-oriented videos, including clips of dogs, men talking about mental health, and comedy. As Dan Guinness tells GLAMOUR:
“What will start out as watching a YouTube video about the struggles that men are facing in their lives and how to deal with these struggles – very legitimate things that they need to deal with – will [lead to] a video that explains these struggles as an attack on men.”
The Crowther Centre in Australia outlines that positive masculinity is defined as: “The expression of attitudes and behaviours (character strengths and virtues which any gender might have) that have been embodied and enacted by males for the common good, both individually and for the community”