As I type this piece, Romanian prosecutors are building a case of human trafficking against self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate. He is also facing a charge of rape, while being accused of running a prostitution ring.
In a normal world, Tate would, at the very least, be a disgraced celebrity and a persona non-grata. But we don’t live in a normal world. Today, he is a role model for many men worldwide, especially those who can be categorised as holding conservative values.
Depressingly, this includes a section of Muslim men.
Before I go any further, let’s look into the origins of the man who has become the bane of every woman’s existence on social media.
Tate is a British-American kickboxing world champion, who grew up in poor circumstances in England. But he found fame on Big Brother in 2016. He was removed from the show after six days after a video showing him assaulting a woman surfaced.
Then, he became an online celebrity, where he expressed plenty of misogynistic views. The man lives a luxurious lifestyle, and claims he made money through a webcam business, where he employed his girlfriends to be on video calls with men.
He’s claimed that women cannot drive, that any woman who goes out of her home is a “hoe” and made plenty of other such clearly sexist statements.
Resonance with a wide range of men
It is pretty obvious that those who identify with conservative politics would also find themselves agreeing with a host of things that Mr. Tate would spew on multiple podcasts.
What is hard to explain is the role model status he has gained with a section of Muslim men. Why has this happened? My best guess lies in the poor understanding of Islamic laws, which have been overtaken by cultural norms.
The men that I see coming out in support of Tate largely belong to backgrounds where women stuck to traditional gender roles.
On the other side of the spectrum, these men were also those who feel disadvantaged by the reversal of gender roles: if women were now going out to work, then who would look after the house?
A section of such men also feel their masculinity attacked by women who were earning their own money, which means that they can no longer ‘control’ women under the guise of being the family breadwinner.
Tate’s fast life, consisting of flashy cars, jewellery, women, and an insane amount of money is aspirational for many men who often blame feminism for opportunities that they feel have been unfairly taken away from them.
Conversion to Islam
Tate dropped a shocking revelation last October, when he announced his conversion to Islam. A video of him taking the shahada (the official testament to become a Muslim) emerged, along with another video of him praying in a mosque.
But before his conversion, Tate repeatedly spoke highly of Islam. He described it as the “last true religion in the world”, and professed his fascination with it multiple times.
Unfortunately, he also referred to ISIS terrorists as ‘real Muslims’, mainly because they punish women who commit adultery. This has resonated with many Muslim men, who see Tate as the perfect blend of cultural Islam and alpha masculinity.
In this context – as a pornographer, as someone who has sexual relations outside of marriage, multiple girlfriends, alcohol, and questionable sources of income – all of Tate’s sins get forgiven. Which would otherwise be seen as completely un-Islamic and punishable by Islamic law.
Because of this, it has also become easy for Muslim men to deny any wrong-doing on Tate’s part. Underneath posts on X (previously known as Twitter), you will find Muslim men defending Tate by calling the women accusing him of rape as ‘liars.’
It is true that Muslims are routinely subjected to xenophobic remarks and discrimination, which often escalate to serious crimes like murder. Thanks to this, Muslim men have used hate-crimes to claim that Tate has been subjected to Islamophobia, that he is being targeted because he’s a Muslim.
A massive chunk of our dear brothers in Islam have denied all allegations against him and claimed that he is being framed for crimes he did not commit.
Redefining masculinity
But to be fair, anti-women statements are not why some men find him attractive. Some reject his misogyny, while at the same time finding other reasons to like him. According to a 23-year-old acquaintance (a Muslim man) who feels sympathetic towards Tate, Mr Andrew Tate symbolises a larger-than-life character.
“I am very impressed by the relationship he has with his brother Tristan,” said the acquaintance who is very close to his own brother. “They both support each other through difficult times.”
The acquaintance added that he admired Tate for talking about things that “no else does.” He said that Tate talks about how it’s “okay to cry as a man”, and that it’s okay to show emotions and feelings. Another Muslim man interviewed by the Middle East Eye last year also echoed the same sentiment.
What does it mean to be a better man?
A 13-year-old cousin of mine said, “I neither like him nor hate him.” At the same time, he said that Tate is an inspiring character because he teaches them to be a “better man.”
“He talks about making money and being rich, and staying fit.” Plus, he talks about “making parents proud”, which is something that deeply inspires my cousin and his friends.
“[My friends] have mixed feelings for Tate,” added my little cousin. “Some of them treat him like a god, while others simply don’t care about him. A lot of things he says about women are very misogynistic, and some of my friends agree with him.”
“I don’t accept those things but I like what he says about making money and becoming fit,” said my cousin.
I was quite impressed with the kid, who is at the very least aware of what misogyny is. Another 27-year-old Muslim male acquaintance had this to say:
“He’s got a diagnosis of a lot of social problems, ‘the matrix’ and its symptoms and its reasons right but does not necessarily prescribe the right solutions. Of course, I don’t agree with everything that he says, but he’s pretty close to being right at least 6-7/10 times.
A lot of what Tate says makes perfect sense, and there’s stuff that doesn’t, too. He sure has had a problem in the way he said things, his language, even certain viewpoints – in his past videos but off late he has got lot more mature and nuanced in his speech and also I don’t think he’s a criminal, the law hasn’t proved it otherwise thus far.”
“He’s not the monster they think he is,” he explained.
On the other hand, a 31-year-old acquaintance, also Muslim, had a much stronger reaction to Tate. “His views are so misogynistic, so terrible. And this is me without considering the woke BS going on right now.”
“Him being so popular reflects the collective failure of our species,” he added.
Tate a role model for Muslim men?
But Tate is not just a polarising figure. His words have caused real-life problems, where women are noticing shifting behaviour in their male partners. In this CNN article, a Muslim woman describes how her fiancé had turned into a controlling figure. In this piece by New Lines Magazine, the author draws a parallel between Tate and toxic masculinity. And finally, in this article by MuslimMatters, Muslim women are concerned that Muslim men are abandoning the Prophetic tradition of uplifting women, and adopting Tate’s culture of violence, ownership, and objectification of women.
At the same time, Muslim scholars and sheikhs are also becoming concerned with the influence that Tate is having on Muslim men. One of the main reasons for this is the acceptance of alpha masculinity, which more of than not, is in clash with the principles of the Shari’ah.
For many Muslim men, Tate personifies a pushback against modernised gender roles and a return to cultural Islam. For others, he’s a victim of triggered feminists, and for yet another group of men, his relationship with his brother and parents is aspirational.
Co-opting Islam and Sikhi, developing alternatives
I can’t question what Tate has in his heart towards Islam, which may be genuine for all I know. But my personal opinion is that he has used distorted views of Islam to project his own alpha male, sexist, and misogynistic viewpoints. It’s why he has also co-opted the word ‘haram’ which he will apply to women who he sees as having ‘loose morals’ but not towards himself. He has used Islam to grow his audience.
Recently, he also tried co-opting Sikh men, by praising the Sikh religion and creating a Sikh fan-base. Unfortunately for Tate, the Sikhs have not given him the attention the way Muslim men have. So my understanding is that both the Tate brothers do not really care about religion. They just want to tap into the insecurities of men to become popular.
How do we make sure that men like Tate are not platformed and get the attention that they get? First, we need to identify why Tate is so popular, which is something I attempted to do in this piece.
I think that we will need to develop a circle of gender studies, which is inclusive of men. Secondly, Islamic circles will need to become progressive, and start focusing on men’s issues, which are more often than not, ignored in such spaces. Our scholars and sheikhs need to start countering alpha male ideologies instead of staying focused on women’s duties towards men.
To men: FIND BETTER ROLE MODELS
Lastly, as women, we will need to continuously talk about Tate with our male relatives, friends, and colleagues. Without this, his clear misogyny will be relegated to feminist spaces, and Andrew Tate will continue to thrive.
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