Is this the endgame for alpha males? With Andrew Tate facing charges in Romania, many hope the world of toxic masculinity and misogyny will come crashing down around him.
Tate charges mark 'end of manosphere'
Is this the endgame for alpha males? With Andrew Tate facing charges in Romania, many hope the world of toxic masculinity and misogyny will come crashing down around him.
If you look up Andrew Tate online, you find two kinds of images. In the one kind, his head is shaved, his beard trimmed, decked out in an expensive shirt or topless to show off his MMAMixed martial arts. fighter's body.
In the other, he is haggard, unsmiling, with ragged hair, wearing all black. These are Tate's two online personas: the all-conquering emperor and the martyred holy man.
It was in the second of these forms that he appeared in a Romanian court on Tuesday afternoon.
Tate and his brother, Tristan, are charged with human traffickingThe recruitment, transportation or trade of humans for forced labour or sexual exploitation. . Seven women allege that the brothers pretended to be in love with them, then locked them up and forced them to make explicit videos.
Some hope this might be the end of the "manosphere", the set of online spaces where men like Tate peddle images of the alpha maleThe dominant male animal in a social group. lifestyle.
They take pictures of themselves surrounded by beautiful women, claiming that they are irresistibly attracted to their alpha magnetism. They boast about their fast cars and huge mansions.
They hand down teachings to their followers - life lessons in being more manly. And they often run schemes that claim to teach those who are willing to pay how to live the same lifestyle.
But scrutiny has shown that many are not nearly as wealthy as they pretend. Tate insists that he is the world's first trillionaire. In reality, he has around $10m (£8m).1
And some of the women that they have used to enhance their image as "alphas" have revealed that, far from being pulled in by the alphas' manliness, they were paid to appear in photoshoots with them.
The fast cars and beautiful women were all just a scam, many say - in Tate's case, hiding the cruel, exploitative underbelly of his operation.
Surely, they argue, now that the falsehood behind the "alpha male" image has been revealed, the manosphere influencers are finished.
But some think Tate will come back from this. They say he has already pivoted towards his second persona: the crucified messiah, stoically suffering his punishment at the hands of powerful forces that want to suppress the message he is bringing to young men.
There is no sign that Tate would be silenced even by a prison sentence. During his last stint in a cell, after his initial arrest, his Twitter account remained active, tweeting about his experiences in jail.
Tate claims "the Matrix" is trying to take down alpha males like him. He has portrayed his arrest as part of a conspiracy by women who target prominent men with allegations of sexual misconduct to ruin their reputations.
He has likened himself to a number of other big names with followings among teenage boys who have been accused of assault, including Cristiano RonaldoA Portuguese football player, known as one of the best in the world. and Johnny DeppAn American actor and musician, best known for appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean. .
The message to his true believers is clear: women lie to damage men. It is exactly what many of them want to hear.
This is not the end of Andrew Tate, they warn. It is the start of a new and more dangerous phase of his career. Holy man Tate might be more harmful than emperor Tate ever was.
Is this the endgame for alpha males?
Yes: Manosphere influencers have always depended on their image. Now everyone can see the emperor has no clothes. Their following will surely dissipateDisappear. .
No: Tate is a master of self-marketing. He is already spinning his arrest into a new narrative that he can use to present himself as a martyrA person who is killed due to their beliefs, especially their religious beliefs. . His followers will believe powerful forces are targeting him and it will only make him seem more important.
Or... Some of the lesser alpha male influencers will implode under the new scrutiny. But Tate's following is more like a cult, and like a cult it will believe anything rather than abandon its leader.
Keywords
MMA - Mixed martial arts.
Human trafficking - The recruitment, transportation or trade of humans for forced labour or sexual exploitation.
Alpha male - The dominant male animal in a social group.
Cristiano Ronaldo - A Portuguese football player, known as one of the best in the world.
Johnny Depp - An American actor and musician, best known for appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Dissipate - Disappear.
Martyr - A person who is killed due to their beliefs, especially their religious beliefs.
Tate charges mark ‘end of manosphere’
Glossary
MMA - Mixed martial arts.
Human trafficking - The recruitment, transportation or trade of humans for forced labour or sexual exploitation.
Alpha male - The dominant male animal in a social group.
Cristiano Ronaldo - A Portuguese football player, known as one of the best in the world.
Johnny Depp - An American actor and musician, best known for appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Dissipate - Disappear.
Martyr - A person who is killed due to their beliefs, especially their religious beliefs.