Inspiration, advocate, hypocrite or predator? Young men’s diverse views of Andrew Tate

Abstract

Although there is increasing public concern about patriarchal influencers’ harmful impacts, young men’s own voices have been largely absent from these discussions. Focus group interviews with 117 young men aged 16–21 years in Australia find that young men show diverse responses to Andrew Tate, giving cause for both hope and concern. Some young men see Tate as a source of inspiration for self-improvement in fitness or finances. Some see him as a legitimate advocate for men in the context of male marginalization or defend him against media misrepresentation. Some emphasize influencers’ inauthenticity and exploitation of social media or simply were not interested in them. Some were more critical, denouncing Tate’s sexism, hypocritical and criminal behaviour, or negative impacts on more impressionable boys. Efforts to engage boys and young men in gender-equitable responses to manfluencers should be informed by the evidence of the complexity and diversity in their responses to manfluencers’ narratives.