Andrew Tate Should Have Been Banned A Long Time Ago

It's a regular day, and after getting your work done, you are back at scrolling Instagram. You giggle at some trending tracks, a Corgi Puppy that won’t stop twerking, and an endearing couple that makes you feel blatantly single.

Amidst that, a video pops up where a bald-white man, sunglasses embossed, reminds you of the dystopian trajectory this world often seems to take.

Aggressively, the man calls women properties, casually uttering, “My Sister Belongs to Her Husband.”

Your blood boils, but you scroll again, inside the escapist abyss of Instagram Reels, and after around seven-eight short clips, he’s back again, this time quoting, “Women don’t understand how the world works” while bragging about f***ing h**s."

This time you let the anger get to you and instead of avoiding the cigar-crunching homophobe, you try and find the name of this pinnacle of Misogyny. You find his name in that very Instagram Caption, but what shocks you to the core is people in the comments agreeing massively to this someone named Andrew Tate.

Not a surprise, after all. If the world was so much better, marginalized sections still wouldn’t be fighting for their basic existential rights. You then decide to move on with your life. But Instagram reels cannot stop recommending his content, can they?

I thought of Tate as another chauvinist who couldn’t fathom women taking control of their bodies and owning their independence, someone who couldn’t stand the fact that people are owning up to their sexualities instead of suffocating themselves to fit in.

But he wasn’t your average prejudiced neighbor. He was much more, way much more.

Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer, rose to fame from the reality TV show Big Brother, from which he was discarded after a video of him hitting a woman went viral. In the video, he pulled a woman’s hair, assaulted her brutally with a belt, and while she screamed, he called her names.

Apparently, Tate is here to bring masculinity back. What better way to do that than assaulting women, right Tate?

“Slap, Slap, Grab, Choke, Shut Up Bitch, Sex”, is how Tate teaches his audience, which majorly comprises young men, to treat women. Calling his recitation a “How to Guide to Rape”, won’t be an exaggeration.

One day then, I saw Matt Bernstein’s Instagram story and saw some of the most controversial statements made by him. In one of his videos, Tate quotes, “The reason 18-19-year-olds are more attractive than 25-year-olds is that they’ve been through less d***s and that she is fresh to have an imprint on.”

Tate also believes that giving CPR to a guy to save his life would make him ‘Gay’. As per Tate, “He’s too smart to read a book, but had he incorporated little reading into his life, he’d probably know that CPRs do not change sexualities. Or maybe, Masculinity of the likes of Tate is so fragile they have to resort to hitting women or bullying people for their sexuality to keep their body and soul in tandem.

I remember thinking to myself, why the hell has this man not been banned from Social Media yet, and the answer I already knew. Why would Social Media ban a person whose content is being watched and shared rigorously? Tate had become an idol. The next Hunter Moore, perhaps, and the awful part was, young boys, typically High Schoolers followed him while he subconsciously corroded their minds.

After Matt posted about him, he received immense hatred from Tate’s supporters. He received messages like, “Canceling Andrew won’t work, F***k You and your whole LGBTQ. They abused him, and sent him nasty audio notes like, “Be Like Tate”, “Man-Up”, and "F*** You, Cunt".

Tate has sexual allegations charges on him and he himself has stated that the reason he moved to Romania was that the Police there are less likely to investigate a sexual offense than their US Counterparts.

Instagram and Facebook, the social media giants quite rapid in banning women from taking ownership of their bodies, eventually came to their senses and banned the self-proclaimed, “misogynist” Andrew Tate.

Now, to an extent incapable of polluting young minds and spreading homophobia, the former kickboxer, Tate who’s quite fond of throwing shades, can now throw different shades at all his Bugattis. Hopping on the bandwagon, Tik Tok, too, banned the former kickboxer.

As per the developments, he was removed from the platform for violating Meta Policies of Dangerous Organizations and Individuals”. He had already been banned from Twitter after he, in 2017 stated, “Rape victims bear responsibility for their attack.” In one of his videos, he further says, “I’m a realist and when you’re a realist you’re sexist. There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.”

Owing to Social Media, problematic attributes of Tate were sidelined by his image as a Self Help Guru and a Coach. He ran an Online Program called Hustler’s University, where he supposedly taught guys ways of making it in this life. Misogyny, Homophobia, and Rape Guides, that he taught for free.

In a world where people still battle for their existence, where conversations on sexuality and gender are still not mainstream, people like Tate accentuate the problem. In an age where youngsters should be educated about being kind, about diversity, where LGBTQIA inclusion should be a part of their curriculum, their young minds were being corrupted by the likes of him.

Here’s the thing, especially for people like Tate and defenders. Absolutely no one is stealing masculinity from you. What we’re trying to say is, that a Man does not become a Man by telling women they are their property. If your masculinity depends upon heralding women as your property, if your authoritative sense finds independent women a concept abstruse to comprehend, then the problem lies in your narrow spectrum of masculinity.

You can have your football grounds, your kickboxing fits, and your lacrosse. It’s fun. But that does not mean that if a young boy isn’t fond of sports, he should have to question his entire existence. The fact that he likes fashion magazines and glam-up should not feel like a sin to him.

Also, it's not freedom of expression when you call women properties publicly, promulgate that women should be choked and shut up, that they belong to the kitchens and your freedom of expression when fuels hatred should come with a consequence.

It is non-negotiable for Social Media Giants to be mindful of the content they showcase to their users. It should not require destroyed lives to take your lessons.