“OH, YOU MEAN… GAY?”: RELATIONAL LABOUR AND THE INDUSTRIAL ARTICULATION OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY BY ANDREW TATE AND HIS FOLLOWERS

Abstract

This paper examines how the figures and imaginaries of hegemonic masculinity are co-produced and contested among a reactionary influencer fandom. It assumes an intersectional masculinities approach to the question of how Andrew Tate and his social media audience(s) articulate and mobilise anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQIA+ discourses online. Affective intermediation is proposed as a concept that situates relational labour within the influencer ecosystem in terms of the affective production of masculinity as a cultural and economic category. Data consist of a 15-month sample of Andrew Tate’s posts on the video-sharing platform Rumble (n=213) and a purposive sample (n=17) of Tate's posts on X (formerly Twitter). The dataset includes all user responses to posts on Rumble (n=112,656) and X (n=14,796). The methods used are constructionist thematic analysis, which orients towards the sociocultural contexts of discourse and computational discourse analysis, including topic modelling. Incorporating perspectives on fandom, labour, and the manosphere, preliminary findings suggest three key points of tension. First, the tension created by audience directives about who Tate should interact with and how he should conduct himself in order to avoid collaborations with creators who appear “gay’. Second, the tension between “simping” and support that fans and followers must navigate when expressing approval of Tate whilst trying to avoid being seen as “gay”. Third, the tension between demands of cultural and economic production, including how audiences articulate their expectations with regard to the production of masculinist content.