The anti-Andrew Tate: how youth workers can counteract the impact of masculinity influencers

in ,

Andrew Tate online content creator, podcaster, former kickboxer, and subject of ongoing human trafficking investigations – has gained widespread influence with millions of men and boys. Tate promotes financial independence, being “mentally and physically strong,” and being successful with women, interspersed with (sometimes violent) misogyny.

For my PhD research, I worked with 30 boys and young men aged between 16 and 19 from working-class backgrounds in Belfast, researching on the role of social connection to protect mental health. In the interviews I carried out, Tate’s name came up constantly.

I found that almost all the participants had positive or mixed feelings about him. Even those less certain of him appreciated his financial advice or advocacy for men’s mental health. While other masculinity influencers were also mentioned, none achieved the same level of importance.

But I also found that youth workers emerged as powerful counters, acting as “anti-Andrew Tate” figures and providing a positive example of manhood. This shows that, while the influence of online figures may seem unstoppable, we already have role models in our communities who can demonstrate an alternative version of what a man can be and how he should act with others.

Read More

Reframing Violence as a Community Epidemic

in , ,

In a previous post, I discussed the intergenerational effects of violence and trauma, but today I’d like to dig a bit more into violence as a disease in communities. We often think of violence as something that one person does to another—and that is certainly accurate—but the individuals who commit that violence have often experienced it themselves. Like influenza spreads through a community from person-to-person, family-to-family, violence also spreads through the spaces we inhabit.

We model what we see and what we live and then pass on the love and pain we experience to others. Please be warned that some of what I’ll discuss may be upsetting or trigger memories of abuse that you may have suffered. Please be gentle with yourself. 

Read More

Sitting with our Grief: Mental Health Matters

in ,

My grandfather died yesterday. He was quite elderly and was battling an aggressive case of cancer, so his death was not unexpected, but it is painful all the same. We had known the end was near for several days and every time my father called I had expected it to be with the sad news. As a consequence, I have found myself feeling as though my grief were already all poured out and that I'm drowning under the weight of my guilt for being so stopped up. It reminds me a bit of the emotional equivalent of when I had appendicitis and, after days of agony, finally crawled to my bathroom consumed with the thought that I would feel better if I could just vomit. I don't expect that vomiting would do me much good this time, but I can't help think that I would feel so much better if I could just have a good cry. 

Read More