From John Ray's shorter notes




8 Jan 2023

Is Andrew Tate a traditionalist?

Getting put into prison has been hugely beneficial to Andrew Tate when it comes to circulating his message. The media have done backgrounders on him that reproduce what he says. His ideas were already widely circulated but were previously largely unknown to a mass-media audience

So what is his message? What stands out about it is its opposition to feminism. He is the anti-feminist. He defies feminist political correctness. He says that women should be subservient to men, in particular. But is that all there is to him? The apostle Paul said the same (1 Corinthians 11).

Where he differs is in his semi-Calvinist claim that wealth is a sign that you are one of the elect. He links his message to a display of conspicuous wealth. When I see pictures of him puffing on a big cigar, I just laugh but it is a traditional wealth display and that probably still works to some extent. And his collection of expensive motor vehicles does tend to indicate wealth -- if he actually owns them.

So his unlikely message is that if you push women around it can form part of a wider set of behaviours that lead to wealth. And Tate purports to show the way to wealth.

Its a seductive message to young males who have constantly been told in the educational system and elsewhere that masculinity is toxic and to ones who lack much success with dating women.

And it is his extremism that attracts. Traditional male behaviour is still so common that it has no novelty. And Tate is NOT a teacher of traditional male behaviour. I would have a better claim to that description. I open car doors for women (and am invariably thanked for it) and at parties that I go to the women tend to self-segregate in the kitchen for a large part of the time while the men yarn in the living room or on the deck. And I am a great believer in treating even female children as ladies -- as long as they are in fact ladylike.

But my way of life attracts no media interest of any kind. It does however seem to be good for my relationships with intelligent females. I have often had more than one lady in my life at the same time and I still do -- in my 80th year. So I have nothing new to teach. Traditional gentlemanly behaviour works well in my experience

But there are of course many "incels", males who have found no success in dating females no matter what they do. And there will always be such males. They were once somewhat praised as "bachelors" but that usage seems to have fallen completely out of use. These days they simply feel like failures. What is to be done about that?

Not much. Unless the man has some attribute -- usually good looks -- that attracts women, he will inevitably have a thin time of it. All he can do is try to lead a Christian life and reap whatever rewards that bestows. Religion is a comfort in that matter as in much else.

So what is the psychology of Andrew Tate? I will put on my psychologist's hat to venture a comment on that. He does give the appearance of being very insecure. His constant boasting is a good indicator of that. But all his behaviour may simply be an act and he has at times said it is.

It think that the key to what he has become lies in his appearance. Tall, well-built men are attractive to almost all women and Tate is tall (6'3") and has a bodybuilder physique. So he has no doubt found it easy to attract women. And that has shown him that feminist pieties are a load of bunk. You don't need to twist yourself into a female-shaped pretzel to have a good time with the ladies. Behaviour that is quite the opposite of feminist prescriptions works very well.

That does not mean that Tate actually behaves in a boorish way with women. Attractive women in particular will not put up with too much of that. So in actual relationships with women, Tate almost certainly behaves in a courteous way. Some women who know him well say that he does. So the rough way of treating women that he preaches is probably not how he himself behaves in intimate relationships. He is probably more of a gentleman than he makes out

That some young males adopt his proclaimed ideas of wise behaviour is therefore regrettable but in a feminist era some degree of that behaviour may have some attractiveness. Current theories of ideal male/female behaviour don't seem to be working well. Large numbers of females report great difficulties in finding a suitable partner.

And confidence in men is a major source of attractiveness to women. Milksops are a turnoff. And whatever else he does, Tate does encourage male confidence. Self-confidence has certainly stood me in good stead




This note originated as a blog post. For more blog postings from me, see
DISSECTING LEFTISM,
TONGUE-TIED,
EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL,
GREENIE WATCH,
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH,
AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and
IMMIGRATION WATCH.

I update those frequently.



Much less often, I update Paralipomena , A Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and most days I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.



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