HUMZA Yousaf has said that Scotland should become a leader in tackling the causes of “toxic masculinity” and demonstrate why figures such as Andrew Tate are harmful to young men.
Writing in The Guardian, the First Minister said that as a father of two girls the threats facing women across the world terrify him.
From the decision to reverse abortion rights enshrined in Roe V Wade in the United States to the harassment faced by women at the hands of anti-abortion activists in Scotland, Yousaf said that men could not be “passive bystanders when it is our actions that are causing such pain”.
He added: “There is a great responsibility on me, as a male in a position of leadership, to do what I can in office to root out and tackle the toxic masculinity and male self-entitlement that leads to violence, harassment, misogyny and abuse against women.
“But there is also, I think, a great opportunity for all men in positions of influence to demonstrate real leadership on this hugely important issue”.
On the popularity of social media influencers such as Andrew Tate, Yousaf said that “finger wagging was not the answer” and said that efforts must be made to understand why many young men in Scotland gravitate towards such content online.
“We must demonstrate what a positive male identity looks like to young boys and other men,” he said.
“Frankly, there is not a grown man in the country today who has not been guilty of problematic behaviour, actions or words towards women in some form.
“I am no different. Like all men, I have had to reflect on my own behaviour and language over the years. Without doubt, in my younger years, I will have told a misogynistic joke as the expense of women, or not challenged behaviour that was demeaning to women.”
He concluded that his aim was to make Scotland a leader on tackling one of the causes of gender-based abuse: toxic masculinity.
It comes after a Scottish influencer who regularly "liked" Andrew Tate content was welcomed into a Paisley school.
