Discussing Online Misogyny with Young People

You might hear young people talking about Andrew Tate, or using terms like ‘alpha male’ and referring to women as females. If you have, and it worries you, you’re not alone.

Andrew Tate recently gained a lot of attention because of his business ‘Hustler University’. This online course is specifically aimed at young men, with boys as young as 13 claiming to be making money using the skills taught on the course. He preaches misogyny (women hating) as part of the world he imagines where men are out making millions and women are at home having babies.

But, before you start panicking because all the young men you work with are talking about Andrew Tate, there are a few things to remember:

1. He was the most googled man on the planet in August 2022.
2. Most young men won’t enrol on his course – it costs $49 per month.
3. Most young people will have come across him through social media, not because they’ve gone looking for online misogyny.

So, now that we’ve taken a moment to breathe, it’s time to think about how you can deal with this.

Firstly, whether it’s Andrew Tate or some other online content creator, the question to get young people to consider is: What is this person’s agenda?

Anyone who is selling something, whether it’s a course, a lifestyle or a pair of trainers has a financial incentive for what they’re doing. Whether it’s direct (like selling a product) or through monetising social media accounts. If we can encourage young people to think critically about the messages they hear from these people, they will be able to apply these skills in the future, whether it’s online misogyny, racism or even just online newspapers!

Something that I’ve found useful in the past when talking to young people about whether information can be trusted, is to questions everyone’s agenda – so in this case not just Andrew Tate’s, but the young person’s parents, their friends, their teachers. What do all these people want to achieve by telling the young person what they have? Who has the young person’s best wishes at heart? Who is too invested in it and who doesn’t care one way or the other?

Don’t worry if you don’t get an immediate positive result. A lot of online hate is spread with a conspiracy theory edge to it – ‘they don’t want me to tell you this’ and so on. So, try not to go in too hard (although if you feel like you want to shout and scream and tear your hair out, you’d have my sympathies!). Eventually, if you consistently encourage young people to think about why someone is telling them exactly what they (think) they want to hear, they will start to realise that person isn’t their new best friend, but just another influencer.

If you are concerned that a young person you are supporting is seeking out this content, is using sexually violent language and/or making threats of violence against women, you should discuss this with your organisation’s Designated Safeguarding Lead.