Introduction
In his article “Andrew Tate: How the ‘manosphere’ influencer is selling extreme masculinity to young men,” Robert Lawson addresses a highly disturbing issue of the impact of extreme masculinity articulated by social media influencers on young men. According to him, the manosphere, a particular digital space that aims to help, support, and educate men, gradually becomes a source of misogynistic and anti-feminist ideologies that negatively affect individuals’ perceptions of genders. In particular, influencers, such as Andrew Tate, who articulate extreme masculinity, male supremacy, disrespectful attitudes to women, racism, and homophobia, radicalize young men, contributing to the increased levels of men’s violence and domestic abuse. Using various techniques for emotional influence and the establishment of credibility and trust, the author provides his arguments in a highly persuasive way, explaining to readers the significance of the issue and providing an efficient response to it.
Strengths
First of all, the credibility of the article is created by the provision of facts that aim to underline the significance of the issue. For instance, the author writes, “in August 2022, Tate was banned from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube” (Lawson 2022, para. 6). Moreover, he provides information related to organizations that may contribute to the solution of the problem demonstrating his knowledge in this sphere. In addition, he provides direct evidence, such as Tate’s words stating that “women are like children, a man’s property, a liability, corrupted by sex, lazy and stupid,” in support of his argument (Lawson 2022, para. 5). At the same time, the author’s position is supported by the expertise of other professionals, including linguist Bethan Benwell, sociologist Michael Kimmel, journalist Caitlin Cooper, and readers have an opportunity to get acquainted with their works as well. Making his article persuasive and reliable, Lawson not only provides evidence but addresses the audience, trying to evoke people’s emotions. First of all, he provides a better understanding of the mechanisms of influencers’ impact by explaining the feelings and thoughts of young men who may be affected by the propaganda of extreme masculinity. Thus, he writes, “Men think they are emasculated, disposable, disrespected, discarded or even totally forgotten” (Lawson 2022, para. 10). In addition, the author addresses the audience and supports people’s potential experience with his own. For instance, he writes, “spend enough time looking through this content and you will inevitably encounter Andrew Tate,” and continues describing and developing his topic on the basis of personal involvement, adding that “if we want to understand how Tate and the manosphere fit into our society, engaging with his content is a necessary evil” (Lawson 2022, para. 1; Lawson 2022, para. 17). Finally, he successfully provides counterarguments in response to his potential opponents – thus, he believes that social media intervention is necessary for the stop of hate speech’s viral spread, and it is more important than the absence of censorship.
Weaknesses
Although the article has multiple strengths in relation to its persuasiveness, it has a few weaknesses as well. First of all, in trying to evoke people’s emotions, the author does not try to put readers in place of men or the victims of extreme masculinity to strengthen the necessity of response (Lawson 2022). However, the most substantial weakness refers to a lack of evidence related to the outcomes of influencers’ activities. In particular, any facts that could support the negative impact of increased extreme masculinity are absent.
Conclusion
All in all, the article written by Robert Lawson may be regarded as persuasive. The author focuses on the improvement of his work’s reliability through the provision of multiple evidence in its support. In other words, he presents materials that create the problem and explains the importance of adequate response. In addition, the author underlines the urgency of the solution, addressing the audience and improving people’s understanding through the description of others’ feelings and personal experiences. Thus, although the article has a few drawbacks, it contributes to attracting people’s attention to the issue of extreme masculinity, its spread, and potential outcomes.
Reference
Lawson, R. (2022). Andrew Tate: How the ‘manosphere’ influencer is selling extreme masculinity to young men. The Conversation. Web.