Andrew Tate's Views on Masculinity, What does it Mean to be a Man
Masculinity, Masculine energy, Socio-sexual Hierarchy explained.
Love him or hate him, Andrew Tate has risen to immense popularity among teenagers and young men.
Among the several reasons he’s gained attention, one reason is that he talks about something young men care about — how to be a man, which includes dealing with women.
Others are enraged by him because they see him as representative of ‘toxic masculinity’.
This is why we’ll take a look at
What is a Man According to Andrew Tate?
‘What is toxic Masculinity?’
Additionally as a young man myself I’m curious to find out what being a man is according to other people and sources, not just Tate so we’ll explore
‘What really is Masculinity in General?’
To delve deeper into this masculinity topic I even explain the socio-sexual hierarchy and define what being sigma, alpha and Beta males mean, because no one seems to know what they mean (including me before writing this)
What is a Man According to Andrew Tate
I’m not a fan of Andrew Tate, I dislike some of his takes and some of the things he’s done.
But I listened to some of the things he said about masculinity and being a man, and most of what he said wasn’t too bad.
So let’s explore, What it means to be a man according to Andrew Tate:
“I believe that a man’s life is difficult and he has the sacred duty to become strong to handle such difficulty”
“Society doesn’t care about you, you’ll only be cared for based on how useful you are”
“I believe all men have the duty to become men of upright and virtuous character”
“Your duty as a man is to stand up and say ‘I want to be as important and strong and good-hearted and as god-fearing as possible, and I need to work hard to achieve those things’ ”
“A traditionally masculine man does things he doesn’t feel like doing because it’s his duty to do them.”
“I believe men are responsible for their actions and everything achieve in their lives.”
“I believe that all men have the duty to mould their bodies into the strongest most resilient and most capable version of themselves “
“I believe men have the sacred duty to train themselves both physically and mentally every day”
I believe in the merits of healthy competition and constantly encourage all men to seek out competition to improve themselves
“ I believe that masculine brotherhood is essential to men’s mental health, happiness and success”
“I affirm the importance and need for travel and adventure as men
He says a lot more, but I think this is enough to give you an idea of what Tate says about masculinity.
What does it mean to Be a Man?
The above was just Andrew Tate’s views on being a man. I’d also like to look at being a man from other perspectives. So here they are.
Biological Role of A Man
First, let’s look at the role of a man biologically and evolutionarily.
What differentiates men from women are their genitalia, testosterone and chromosomes (nothing ground-breaking i know)
Biologically most manly things are a result of testosterone which includes:
Being muscular, strong, athletic and generally bigger.
Having a deep voice
Aggression (there is a correlation between aggression and testosterone)
Fearlessness (testosterone helps with reducing fear)
Being confident (there is a confidence and testosterone correlation)
Due to their muscular and athletic bodies, men generally take the role of protecting and (providing), while women generally take the role of taking care of children.
Being a man is not only differentiated from being a woman but also from being a boy.
The difference between a man and a boy is maturity, independence, and testosterone.
Mark Manson on Masculinity
“Weak men try to convince the world they’re not weak. Strong men try and convince the world of nothing”
— Mark Manson
If you don’t already know Mark Manson he’s the best-selling author behind ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving an F***’
He has written a best-selling and well-researched book on men’s dating, used to run a blog on men’s advice and now seeks to help men through his writing.
So I was wondering what are his views on masculinity.
He bluntly states that men are expendable. While women are inherently valuable because they can produce life. The world will function with just one healthy male who can reproduce.
As a man your worth lies in how useful you are to society as a man.
From his research confidence, non-neediness, self-assurance and status are the most attractive traits in a man.
(I mention this because a large part of what people see as manly tends to be what is attractive to women.)
Mark Manson believes vulnerability is attractive. This might be surprising for some of you.
According to him sharing your feelings and experiences honestly shows strength and emotional maturity. It’s not weakness, but openness that fosters connection.
This does not mean having emotional outbursts.
It’s also this authenticity and honesty which forms better relationships.
Being confident and assured in who you are is not only attractive but it also helps in finding the people who are right for you.
We’re all mirrors we attract and like people who are like us, and who have similar beliefs and interests. So just putting who we really are out there, will get us the people we truly want.
Art of Manliness definition of Masculinity
I thought which better place is there to find the definition of manliness other than from the ‘Art of Manliness’?
To summarize their beliefs:
Masculinity is partly biological and partly cultural.
For the ancient Romans, manliness meant living a life of virtue. The virtues include courage, temperance, industry, and dutifulness.
They draw inspiration from the Romans and Aristotle and believe being masculine is being the best version of yourself (best brother, father, husband)and living with virtue.
The role of men has changed over the past 100 years, dramatically, due to increased security and relative luxury in Western societies. As a result, men now have no idea what it means to be masculine, since this is the first generation where there is no set blueprint; instead, we have the opportunity to define our own blueprint and our own reality, and we must.
What is Masculine Energy?
We all have masculine and feminine energy within us irrespective of gender.
Men tend to have more masculine energy while women tend to have more feminine energy, both change with everyone.
The idea is often spiritual and was popularised by books like ‘The Way of the Superior Man’ by David Deida.
Masculine and Feminine energy are like opposite poles they attract each other.
Masculine energy is:
Stable, predictable, structured, and logical
It includes Willpower, Clarity and Focus.
The masculine energy is protective, giving, doing, and goal-striving.
While Feminine energy is more free-flowing, creative, and allowing.
Guys, let’s get clear on one thing, women LOVE masculine men because they make women feel feminine. She loves your hard arms because they remind her that she is soft. When you lead by creating a plan for the date, she is able to feel at ease. She craves your protection, because it makes her feel precious.
That means he asks her out (initiating), plans the date (leadership), gives a compliment (assertive/confidence), holds the door (support), cuts some wood (capable), builds a house (protection/provision), works (active), and fertilizes an egg (creating/giving/expanding). Boom! There you have it, a masculine man.
What is Toxic Masculinity?
I’ve heard the term ‘toxic masculinity’ a fair bit but had no idea what it was actually pointing to so I googled the definition:
This idea that men need to act tough and avoid showing all emotions can be harmful to their mental health and can have serious consequences for society, which is how it became known as “toxic masculinity.”
‘Suppressing emotions’ is the most common ‘toxic masculinity trait’ which I’ve seen being mentioned.
Andrew Tate’s response to this: The real danger to society is telling men to just act on their feelings, lose emotional control and live without having duty It is what leads to school shooters; they’re just people who act on impulse.
Andrew Tate talks about learning to manage emotions, not suppress them.
Some of the most confident and attractive men are actually vulnerable and know how to express emotions or how they feel. It shows confidence and authenticity.
‘Maintaining an appearance of hardness’ is another toxic masculine trait I’ve seen people mention.
Appearing tough when you aren’t is fake. I don’t see it as a problem to want to develop genuine toughness so that you can navigate through life easily.
I feel like repeating this quote here:
“Weak men try to convince the world they’re not weak. Strong men try and convince the world of nothing”
— Mark Manson
The Socio-Sexual Hierarchy
I was talking with my Gen-Z friends and the word sigma came into the conversation. For clarity, we asked each other what the definition of Sigma is, and nobody could define it lol.
So I thought it would be relevant to explain what Sigma, Alpha, Beta and the other levels of the socio-sexual hierarchy really mean.
So which is greater— sigma or alpha? Well, they’re both equal.
Sigmas are not in the hierarchy they’re out of the social hierarchy but they’re considered equal to alphas, who are on top of the social hierarchy.
Sigma refers to a successful but self-reliant guy. They’re the lone-wolves or wanderers.
Alphas are the big-boy successful leaders of society.
Beta Male: I thought Betas were at the absolute bottom of society but turns out they’re right after alphas. They’re submissive and loyal to the alphas and gain benefits from them.
Delta Male: They are the normal guys in society. They’re the ones who run society and do the work. They fill up most of the jobs. You can call them the Average Joe.
Gammas: The low-status people who think they are sigmas. They’re not that great with women. They avoid failure and conflict.
Omega: The lowest in the hierarchy. They have poor social skills and they are the losers everyone finds annoying, including the Gammas, who’re the second lowest.
Thanks for reading, this article was a bit different from the usual.
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I really want to dive into masculinity with my Dad one of these days in one of our letters. I'll for sure use this newsletter as a diving off point when I do. Cheers!