The andrew tate effect
- avapravlik
- Apr 15, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 13, 2025
The dangers of misogynists banding together in the podcasting world
By: Ava Pravlik
Remember when podcasts were valuable, informative tools to communicate innovative ideas, educated life perspectives and important global updates? I sure don’t.
The podcasting world has become saturated with misogynistic rhetoric spewed by unqualified, unimpressive hosts; these men gain a platform by catering to a following bonded by their pure hatred toward women.
The movement seemingly began with the “Tate Speech by Andrew Tate” podcast, hosted by infamous misogynist Andrew Tate who quickly became idolized as an “alpha male” in the manosphere (online communities promoting misogyny and combating feminism). His success has had tremendous consequences in the podcasting community as other hosts attempt to imitate his content style.
I first encountered the “Whatever” podcast on TikTok, where clips from various episodes frequently go viral for their sensationalist nature. Podcast host Brian Atlas has marketed his content as a “dating podcast.”
This has manifested itself as a humiliation ritual of the women that he chooses to have on his show, frequently following the conflicting narrative that while women are valuable only for their physical looks, any woman who recognizes her own attractiveness is a “bitch” and a “whore.”
In a YouTube video from 2024 titled “DELUSIONAL Girls Rate Themselves A 10 But Brian HUMBLES Them!” Atlas hosts eight women in a seminar dedicated to debating each woman’s physical attractiveness. Atlas prompts each woman to rate herself in terms of appearance on a scale of one to 10. Six out of the eight women rate themselves a 10, with one woman remarking, “We’re all 10s to someone.”
While these women recognize that they may not be everyone’s “type,” they maintain that self-confidence is more important than picking apart their own flaws. Atlas appears disturbed, replying, “Don’t you think that’s a bit of hubris to rate yourself a 10?”
He spends the episode attempting to convince these women that they are not as attractive as they think they are, concluding with the infamously infuriating line: “Does anyone’s answer change if we have makeup remover?”
Perhaps more disturbing than the content of the episode are the comments left on the video by “Whatever” podcast followers. “[Divide] the girl boss BS by 2 and subtract points for blue hair, tattoos, body piercings, visible makeup and attitude.” “Nothing worth buying on this used car lot.” “A room full of dimes and yet not worth a single dollar.” “Government should start taxing on looks, these idiots would pay 50% to keep their ‘ten.’”
Let’s take a look at another enlightening podcast by the name of “Fresh & Fit,” hosted by Myron Gaines, author of the riveting 86-page novel Why Women Deserve Less. Catering to a subscriber count of 1.57 million as of April 2025, Gaines’s general approach to dating encompasses the mindset that domination is key and women are like dogs: Bad behavior must be reprimanded.
“The reality is this, with women, when they give you undesirable behavior, you need to punish it immediately, so she knows it's not acceptable,” Gaines says on his podcast.
He also reminds us that “Women are not as special as they think they are. There's a younger, hotter version of you that has less bags, that's more feminine, that isn't a hoe and that's submissive.”
Shockingly, Gaines also tells us, “In my teenage years, in my college years, I never had a serious girlfriend…I was always fucking single bro and I also went through long periods where I didn't necessarily deal with women.”
Evidently, Gaines’s hatred toward women is directly fueled by his inability to attract one. This type of attitude has led to the rise of “incel culture.” These are communities of men who desperately try to strip women of any value so that their chronic involuntary celibacy doesn’t feel quite so painful.
By providing a platform for these types of podcasts, we are enabling the collaboration of men who truly hate women and creating a space where it is acceptable to critique women as though they are objects. This poses a true threat to gender equality as a voice is given to men who, for whatever reason – whether it be an ego wounded by rejection or just downright sexism – are actively striving to degrade women.
While misogyny has always existed in society, the technological age gives anyone access to a microphone and an audience, leading to a more rapid spread of harmful rhetoric. With the current social and political uncertainty in this country, the rise of misogyny in podcasting is something to keep an eye on, as it may have a real-world impact in the near future.
Ava is a third-year Advertising major at the University of Florida. This is her second semester writing for Rowdy Magazine. Apart from writing, she enjoys long-distance running in her free time.