What’s going on?
Andrew Tate, an American British social media influencer and former professional kickboxer, was seen making this hand gesture when he was arrested in Romania on charges including human trafficking and rape.Tate’s brother Tristan, who was also arrested at the end of 2022 as well as two Romanian suspects, was seen making a similar hand gesture too. Advertisem*nt
Why is this a problem?
Andrew Tate has built up a huge following of teenage boys and young men, many of whom will have been introduced to his extremely controversial views by viral videos on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.While some of the content Andrew Tate is known for is connected to business and accruing personal wealth, a lot also depicts him attempting to normalise or promote misogyny.In Romania, authorities are expanding an investigation into Tate after raiding several of his properties and seizing his fleet of luxury cars.He has been detained on suspicion of human trafficking and rape, which he denies. An appeal to be released from detention was unsuccessful. Tristan Tate also denies the charges against him.VICE World News revealed earlier this month that Andrew Tate was investigated over allegations of sexual assault and physical abuse in the UK seven years prior to his Romanian arrest – but that UK authorities had declined to prosecute him at the time. Andrew Tate denied the allegations.
What are teachers saying?
Cassie Rattray, a 25-year-old sex educator and content creator in Liverpool, told VICE World News that she has witnessed boys making the gesture and sharing photographs of classes or sports teams performing it.Rattray said she has led sessions where pupils have told her men are more qualified to talk about sex than women and that “there was no point even in me talking.”When she taught a session on consent, pupils began laughing and a teenage boy said “if you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bear some responsibility.”“I couldn’t believe this was leaving a child’s mouth,” Rattray said. “I looked at the teacher in the room and she just rolled her eyes as if this was an everyday occurrence. When I got home I googled that sentence and it was a direct quote from Andrew Tate.”The quote appeared in a since-deleted Tweet that ended up getting Andrew Tate banned from Twitter in 2017, although he was reinstated following Elon Musk’s takeover.
Photo: AP
Another teacher from the East of England who is being kept anonymous to prevent the school from being identified said that he witnessed two groups of children in school making the hand gesture last week.A group of 11-year-olds were “very deliberately sitting in a row all doing it with their hands on the desk,” he told VICE World News.”It came across as rude and facetious so I gave them a look and they stopped.” Advertisem*nt Advertisem*nt Advertisem*nt
And what does the hand gesture actually mean?
The shape appears to be taken from the yogic practice of mudras, which are hand gestures believed to help direct energy throughout the body.The mudra pointing upward is the Uttarabodhi mudra, a position representing enlightenment.But its triangular shape lends itself to online rumour that it is connected to the baseless Illuminati conspiracy theory, with one Instagram picture of Tristan Tate going viral with comments claiming he was “requesting assistance from the Illuminati.”Andrew Tate has previously denied the gesture is connected to the conspiracy theory in the same video where he explained why he does it.“Andrew Tate is not part of the Illuminati, because the Illuminati is not a real organisation,” Squirrel, the extremism expert, added. “Is it dangerous to believe that he is? It’s possible that this might increase his appeal as a member of one secret group fighting against the ‘matrix’ – which is essentially another word for ‘deep state’, or any other secret, entrenched enemy who operates from the shadows.”“If you believe that Tate is being persecuted, then that can make it hard to level some of the most serious and credible accusations at him – that he’s an alleged human trafficker and rapist – because you can say that these are fake charges that have been made up to silence him. That’s ultimately the most damaging thing, because it prevents his appeal from being dampened and makes him a martyr.”
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