While many idols for teenage boys are basketball players or even parents, a new social media influencer has taken the title of role model for these young men. Andrew Tate, a 36 year old British American man, internet personality and video creator, has been steadily gaining popularity since 2016. In 2022, clips of Tate’s opinions, which some refer to as toxic, were being made into “masculine” edits by people who agreed with his opinions. It soon became a trend across the internet for young men to echo Tate’s ideas or promote his views, especially his opinions on women. Tate now has made considerable money off a fan base largely made up of teenage boys.

 It is almost impossible to avoid news on Tate, and no matter how it makes you feel, you will likely find yourself forming an opinion. Recently, Tate was in the news when he got into an argument with environmentalist Greta Thurnberg. The two social media celebrities exchanged insults when Tate taunted Thurnberg with the fact that his cars had large motors and, therefore, used a lot of gasoline. Regardless of whether who you think won the online argument, Tate’s recordings allowed investigators to find him in Romania and bring him into custody for, “charges of rape, human trafficking and running an organized crime ring.” from npr Wisconson Public Radio.

 Grayslake Central High School is no different from the rest of the world when it has a range of opinions on Tate. Paige Hering, a senior at GCHS shared how Tate has directly negatively impacted her life. Hering said, “Andrew Tate is a social media influencer who promotes unhealthy masculinity and he…changes mindsets.” For an assignment at school, Hering made a presentation about why you should not support Andrew Tate and why the mindsets he promotes are toxic. Hering found that Tate’s fan base will support him regardless of his opinion. More troubling, Tate has the power to, “promote toxic ideas because he has a huge platform,” Hering said. 

Tate has a vocal opinion on almost every subject and his misogynistic opinions use language and ideas that sound like we’re going back in time. The danger in Tate’s act is having a negative impact as his fans adopt his act and are thrown out anytime a Tate fan needs a sexist response to a question. Indeed, Hering has experienced this before. They say go wash the dishes, shut up, you’re a woman, or like go make me a sandwich.These opinions, while disguised or misconstrued humorous, have affected women more than many know. These negative comments towards women make it hard for women to have a meaningful conversation with someone who strongly agrees with Tate’s ideas. The power of these words cannot be overlooked and often lead to the end of friendships or make it difficult to hang out. “I used to like hanging out with them, and now it’s just kind of hard because they’re just making fun of me,” Hering says while talking about an Andrew Tate fan that was her friend. It can also be difficult to figure out how to deal with an Andrew Tate fan, is it easier to diffuse the situation or to speak for yourself? When Hering is faced with this question she explained, “it can be hard but I try to steer away…from controversial topics I know he’s gonna disagree.” 

While Tate’s act may work for him and earns him sportcars on the backs of his fans, this act does not work in the halls of a highschool. Another Grayslake student, Zoey Czolek, pointed out that Tate’s act does not just cause damage to women. Specifically, Czolek has found “it’s very damaging to women, but it’s also very disturbing to men to be saying these are all harmful. They can’t be weak. They can’t show emotion. They just have all these things that need to be in charge.” 

So where do we go from here? Tate’s fans are not going to admit that his opinions are toxic, and, they may feel entitled to their opinion about women even if those opinions make them lonely because no self-respecting woman would subject themselves to this thought. Tate’s fans have to accept that Tate is an actor trying to make money and his act is misogyny. This is an act that has led to having him face real criminal charges. Clearly, this is an act that should be left on social media and there is no room for this act at GCHS.