Famous for his abhorrent and demeaning opinions on the role of women in society, Andrew Tate, a social media influencer and podcaster, has recently come into popularity online. It’s been widely known that he was ultimately banned off of social media after being called out for the dangerous ideologies he spread.

Prior to his ban, Tate amassed millions of social media followers, spreading misogynistic ideals and making women’s lives even more unsafe. Far too many men now feel justified to openly express their own misogynistic views, not only verbally, but in acts of retaliation towards women when men do not receive what they want from us.

Tate was recently a guest on an episode of the podcast BFFs. During this episode, he went on a multitude of misogynistic tirades, repeatedly objectifying women and acting as if they are property. 

During one of these tirades, Tate stated that he has ‘responsibility’ over the women he’s in relationships with. That his role in the relationship is to protect and provide for her, insinuating he should therefore also have authority over her. He then proceeded to compare women to children and dogs, stating, “You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you, or a child if it doesn’t obey you, or a woman if it doesn’t obey you”.

Treating women as if we are merely men’s responsibilities, rather than whole human beings fully capable of taking care of ourselves, is dehumanizing and dangerous to women’s safety. In fact, this idea can easily be used to promote domestic violence and other crimes against women. If women are merely objects, only there to serve a purpose to men, why wouldn’t it be okay to treat us poorly if we are not fulfilling that purpose?

In fact, a video recently surfaced of Andrew Tate beating a woman and threatening her for ‘not behaving’. And while there have been conflicting claims as to whether or not the video was staged, it is irrelevant to the negative influence it has had on the lives of women. It normalizes an atrocious act of abuse and encourages his then-millions of male followers to act similarly towards their girlfriends and wives.

This normalization will worsen an already massive domestic violence problem within the United States. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. This equates to 10 million people per year, a large portion of which are women.   

And this is only one of the many crimes committed against women each year. As stated by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in five women have been raped in their lifetime, and 19.3 million women have been stalked at some point. Whether women have been raped or stalked, they all have one thing in common: men who feel entitled to them in some way. From their bodies to their attention or love – the entitlement of men is the problem.

These horrifying crimes against women do not occur in a vacuum. They are not separate from the influences of the rest of the world, but rather occur because of them. They occur because men feel entitled to abuse women. They occur because of men like Andrew Tate, who actively encourage the dehumanization of women and provide men with a safe space to do the same.