While many of us Princetonians like to think that we live in an impenetrable progressive bubble, racist and misogynistic ideologies have already made many inroads into our community. One such inroad comes in the form of social media. “I think the woman belongs to the man” was one of many messages that Andrew Tate, social media influencer, communicated to the world on a daily basis before being banned from most platforms. Tate garnered tens of millions of followers over the course of this summer, some of whom attend PHS. The dangers of this kind of cyber-misogyny to our school and community cannot be understated.

To fight against online misogyny, it is first important to examine the effects of social media, especially with regard to one of its largest demographics: kids and teens. Within the span of even a ten to thirty second TikTok video, a child’s value system can be dramatically altered. Children and teenagers often idolize social media influencers without a second thought. In 2019 UNICEF and AEM conducted a survey showing that “When a child… sees something or someone on TV or the internet… the odds are high that the child will absorb everything unconditionally. Absorb and, most often, imitate.” Kids and teens are much more susceptible to trusting whatever they come across online, and unfortunately, this is also around the same age range that many kids start gaining access to social media platforms. What this creates is a situation in which influencers can easily weaponize social media to tout their ideologies to children, who are the most prone to being manipulated.

The summer of 2022 laid bare this threat, as Andrew Tate took the world by storm. His TikTok videos have amassed over 11 billion views on the app, and his name was searched on Google more than Donald Trump’s name was in July. From blaming assault victims to encouraging domestic abuse, from advancing homophobic views to glorifying the exploitation of women, from intentionally misgendering online figures to stating that​​ “Females are the ultimate status symbol,” his messages are as varied as they are harmful. In fact, the only thing that does not seem to change about Tate’s eclectic posts is the unrelenting prejudice that underlines all of them. He has managed to introduce what are essentially Victorian gender roles and hierarchies back into the mainstream, warping the beliefs of millions of teenagers. He has shown that one man with a deeply twisted worldview and some semblance of charisma can fundamentally alter the views of a generation. Andrew is not simply another social media nuisance to make fun of, he is a serious danger to social progress and to the safety of our community.

Thankfully, Tate was just recently ousted from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, though many of his misogynistic proverbs can still be heard recited unironically in school hallways. There is likely no redemption for Andrew Tate, but there still remains hope that we can learn from our mistakes in allowing someone like him to gain such traction at PHS, and amend the damage that he has done. It is imperative that our school community does as much as it can to fight off this ongoing problem. Radicalization is remedied by open discussion. While social media may seem like a doorway to a wide range of opinions, recommendation algorithms quickly turn it into an echo chamber. Teachers should promote civil discourse in and out of the classroom, no matter how sensitive the issue. On social media, teenagers are already exposed to issues like sexual violence on the daily—Andrew Tate shouldn’t be the one mediating the conversation.

One article from 2018 by Harvard’s Making Caring Common Project suggests that teaching students how to critically consume media is an effective way to combat misogyny. English and History teachers must allocate more time to such exercises. Telling students “don’t trust everything on the internet” or “Wikipedia is bad” isn’t enough. Teachers should teach students how to research a topic: how to assess the bias of a paper, how to check the sources of a media pundit, how to choose articles from both sides of an issue. This doesn’t just undermine misogyny, it ingrains in students a skepticism which is necessary in the internet age.

Moreover, students should take control of their own education. They should mediate their own conversations out of the classroom. They should try to truly educate themselves on the issues which interest them, and share that information with their peers and classmates.

PHS does not tolerate any type of discrimination, but many of us see it online every day. As a community, our school should work towards preventing the misogyny and manipulation that we see on social media from having an effect on the student body. Words on a screen can sometimes translate to actions in real life. We cannot allow Andrew Tate’s ideology, or anything like it, to be realized. Through civil discourse and education, we can hope to prevent that from happening.