McCarthy backs launching formal impeachment inquiry into Biden
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he endorsed launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
2023-09-12 23:45
The murky online world of Andrew Tate and ‘pick-up artists’
“Martinis, martinis, martinis, martinis,” he tells the camera, gesticulating wildly. “Bang, threesome. Slam them both.” This is Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer, preaching to his audience about how to recruit women to perform for webcams. Sitting in an unremarkable room, the former kickboxing world champion turned “success coach” implores viewers to get women drunk and stream content of themselves on an online pornography website. It is more than six months since Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested in Romania, prompting an outcry over how easily accessible his vile content was for impressionable young Britons. But now, even as the Tates are charged with rape and human trafficking, The Independent has found their videos can still be found within minutes online. What they reveal is a murky world promoting the exploitation of female sexuality for financial gain, coercive control, and retrograde views centred around women performing domestic duties for men. The brothers’ videos proclaim them to be “pick-up artists”, a term tied to an industry where men seek to cajole women into sleeping with them via charm and compliments, intricate mind games, as well as coercion and harassment. For sums that can run into hundreds of pounds, users are encouraged to sign up for access to their content. For instance, the “Tate webcam program” purports to provide a “PhD course” to “teach you how to obtain and retain unlimited beautiful women and this course will teach you how to turn them into cold hard cash.” Other courses, advertised as being run by Andrew Tate, teach participants “how to lie”, as well as “how to intimidate”, and “how to get your girl on lock down”, and “have multiple women who are all loyal to you”. It comes as The Independent revealed TikTok has been accused of not acting to block misogynistic videos from influencer Tate that can be viewed by children as young as 13. Figures show that videos linked to the Tate hashtag have been viewed 74 million times in the UK on TikTok in the past three months alone. Tate and his brother Tristan, dual British-US citizens initially arrested in December, were recently charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women - allegations they deny. Videos The Independent found of Tristan Tate, the younger of the siblings, show him teaching “pick-up artistry” show the 34-year-old boasting about being “one of the baddest playboys in the world” and an “elite level guy”, as well as speaking about how to sleep with virgins. In one clip, he explains he has multiple girlfriends who are all exclusive to him as he brags about women “who cry their eyes out if I stop speaking to them”. In his own words, “that is power”. The influencer also explains he looks for girlfriends who leave their phone “unlocked” and do not mind if he looks at the device, as well as someone who ”never goes out the room” to take a phone call, “cleans up my house” and “cooks my meals”. He adds: “If these things are adding up then I’ll usually turn it into something serious. I’ll tell her she is exclusively with me.” Tristan Tate says he will “never trust a woman like I will trust a man”, also saying that while he knows his girlfriends do not cheat on him, “you have to test their loyalty”. He suggests doing this by saying “Hey baby, give me your phone, unlock it, I want to do something”, as he recommends “Don’t do sh*t, take a selfie. Give it back to her”. In his view, “if she will hand you her unlocked phone, she ain't cheating”, however, “if they won't unlock” their phone and give it to you then “she is probably not girlfriend material”. Other relationship advice offered by the younger Tate brother involves asking women to do tasks, as he claims “good women are servile” and females are “very servile creatures”. He recounts the example of asking a woman to top up drinks, add ice cubes, find beers, and fetch lighters for his male friends when they are spending time together - adding “a good woman”, will “love” doing this. “A good way to keep your relationship fresh and a good way to keep your relationship happy is to make demands of women,” he adds. “Women love to serve men, they really do”. Discussing the Tate brothers' pick-up artist content, Callum Hood, of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, warns the “Tate brothers' original business as pick-up artists involve viewing women as objects and applying simple formulas that they believe will result in women sleeping with you”. The organisation’s head of research states “this is really dangerous” as he argues “pick-up artists have contempt for women and contempt for consent”. Mr Hood adds: “Their pick-up artist advice instructs men to view women as objects and instruct women to do whatever you want - whether that is sleep with you or perform on webcams for your profit. He notes a “unique” element about the Tate brothers in comparison to other pick-up artists is that while others focus their attentions on “one-night stands”, the Tate brothers are concentrated on “lasting coercive relationships where you have control over multiple women”. A website titled “pick-up artist tools” running a course called the “Tate webcam program” asks “What’s the only thing better than hanging around with beautiful women? Being paid to do it!” “THE £250 PHD course teaches you very important and valuable lessons about retaining and obtaining women,” the course states. "You will learn: How to convince girls to work for you. How to start a webcam company from home with zero investment. How to do banking and handle taxes, so that you get paid day one. The best way to motivate women to make you rich. Tips and tricks from over seven years in the game. A full breakdown of how to earn 30k per month profit from only three girls.” The course boasts if you “listen carefully to Tate’s system”, then you will make all of your course investment back in the first day!” Joe Mulhall, of leading anti-fascist charity Hope not Hate, said the Tate brothers’ "brand of extreme misogyny and disdain for women is plain to see in these videos”. He warns the siblings are “financially benefiting from churning out this misogynistic content to their male audience”. In his opinion, “Tate’s aspirational lifestyle videos are a disturbing gateway to more extreme far-right content.” The Independent previously reported on research by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate which unearthed 47 videos of Tate pushing what it describes as “extreme misogyny”. The report uncovered adverts on videos where Tate discusses fighting women, saying “grip her up by the neck” in a video, which has been viewed 1.6 million times, as well as referring to putting his “imprint” on 18-19-year-old girls in footage which has accrued 8.4 million views. A representative for the Tates declined to comment when approached by The Independent. Ruth Davison, chief executive of Refuge, a leading domestic abuse charity, branded the so-called pick-up artist content from the Tate brothers “horrifying” as she argues the origins of so-called pick-up artist culture lie in misogyny. “This coercively controlling, love bombing and gaslighting behaviour displays all the warning signs of domestic abuse,” she adds. “We are seeing a worrying trend of disturbing misogynistic content across social media and online, whereby men seemingly brag about abusing women, profit by victimising them and try to influence more men to do the same.” Read More I went inside Andrew Tate’s Hustler University – where ‘Gs’ celebrate making $11 Andrew Tate to remain under house arrest in Romania as human trafficking case drags on One in four young men agree with Andrew Tate’s views on women, poll finds Figures that lay bare the shocking scale of toxic influencer Andrew Tate’s reach among young men Why are so many British Muslims getting seduced by Andrew Tate? This is what Andrew Tate means for Muslim women like me Inside Andrew Tate’s collection of supercars and their ‘enormous emissions’ Andrew Tate trial: Why Romania wants to remind the world the toxic influencer is British
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How to help your teen with comparison culture on GCSE results day
Whether your child’s GCSE results are high, low, or somewhere in between, one thing is inevitable – they’ll compare them with their friends’ grades. This comparison culture, which is far more pervasive because of social media, can leave teens feeling inadequate because their results are worse than their mates, or make their friends feel useless if roles are reversed. But although there’s no getting away from teenagers comparing their results both on and offline, what can parents do to try and limit the damage this it can cause? Former teacher Dr Julia Clements, principal educational psychologist at the children’s mental health charity Place2Be, says the comparison of results will undoubtedly impact some teenagers’ wellbeing. “Your teenager is bound to compare their results with their peers at the same school, but also through social media,” she acknowledges. “Although this comparison is inevitable, it may be harmful for your child’s wellbeing – especially if they’ve not done as well as expected. “Indeed, the term ‘compare and despair’ can be especially pertinent on days like today.” Sharon Davies, CEO of Young Enterprise, a charity which helps young people navigate the changing world of work, adds: “The pressure to measure up to their friends’ achievements can be overwhelming, leading to feelings of inadequacy or disappointment.” So how can parents help their teens? 1. Ask how they feel If your child is down on themselves and rating themselves negatively in comparison to their friends, they may reject any positives and praise parents provide, Clements warns. “It may be more useful, in the first instance, to ask them how they’re feeling, and to acknowledge and validate difficult feelings,” she advises. Such feelings may include disappointment, sadness, anger, shame, or feeling as if they’ve let themselves – and you – down. “If your child is feeling like this, it’s important to give them the message that you love them unconditionally and you’re proud and pleased to be their parent because of who they are – not because of the grades they achieve,” she stresses. 2. If they’ve done better than their friends… If your child has achieved good results, which may be better than some of their friends, then they’ll want to celebrate. But while celebrating is of course a great idea, Clements suggests: “You may want to talk with them about how to be sensitive and compassionate towards their friends who haven’t done so well.” 3. Help them turn a negative into a positive Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Nihara Krause specialises in teenage mental health and is working with the Talking Futures campaign to help parents engage their children in meaningful conversations about their futures. She says if a young person doesn’t get the grades they were hoping for, they may be highly critical of their performance in comparison to their peers. But she suggests parents show them how to turn their negative thinking around. “Parents should encourage their children to focus on recognising the approach they took to exams this time round and take steps to reflect on what they could do to achieve a better result in the future. Focus on what helps a young person gain their own personal best, no matter how their results compare with others.” 4. Don’t ask about their friend’s results or post about them Krause says parents should try to celebrate their child’s achievements for what they are and avoid asking about their friends’ results. “To avoid comparison, parents should also avoid sharing their child’s results on social media,” she says. 5. Don’t be too hard on yourself Clements points out that comparison culture may not just affect teenagers – if their results aren’t as good as expected, mums and dads might start comparing their own parenting during the revision and exam period with other parents whose kids have got better results. “As a parent or carer, you may also be drawn into unhelpful comparisons with others,” says Clements, “and you may question the amount of support you were able to provide your child in the run up to their exams. However, today is not a day for self-criticism or judgements – some self-compassion is important at this time.” 6. Reach out for support This might be the first results day many parents have gone through with their child, and while comparisons with other teens may well have been unhelpful, Davies points out that schools will have career advisers and teachers available who can offer support and advice. There are also online forums and blogs where those in similar situations share their experiences. She says: “No-one is expecting you to have all the answers – that’s why there’s support available.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Women more severely affected by ME, study claims 4 hacks to get teens off the sofa and get active – as study warns of heart damage Taking adult education classes may lower risk of dementia, study suggests
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