Before Andrew Tate was arrested by Romanian authorities on charges of human trafficking, he was operating another problematic business: peddling toxic masculinity to his legion of fans, followers and customers.
For years now, Tate has been holding court with insecure men on social media platforms, promising them strength in return for a price. In disturbing videos and performances on YouTube and TikTok, he lectures them on how to mistreat women while creating an aura of “masculine dominance.” And, unnervingly enough, it’s been incredibly lucrative.
Tate isn’t alone. In recent years, toxic masculinity has become a booming industry filled with ridiculous figures and equally ridiculous assurances. There’s virtually no end to the muscle-bound characters promising lonely marks they’ll get bigger, stronger and find themselves swimming in women if they’ll only eat raw organs, follow exhausting regimens of physical and mental endurance and, most importantly, if they’ll hand over their credit card information and sign up for annual shipments of supplements and assorted products.
