Tricksters, Tyrants and Toxic Masculinity

Christmas clearly came earlier in December this year for men and women struggling against the rising popularity of what is commonly understood as “toxic masculinity” over the last decade.

Both youtuber Jake Paul and internet personality Andrew Tate recently stepped into the boxing ring, each with their own respective opponents. Both lost. They not only lost, but lost in a rather humiliating fashion, with Jake Paul being transported immediately to the hospital with a broken jaw and Andrew Tate on all fours in exhaustion, his pink-gloved opponent standing over him.

This might not seem significant at first glance – fighters lose fights all the time, nothing new there. But the reason why the news of their defeat trended globally is not just due to their fame, but the belief systems from which they drew their stature.

Let’s start with Jake Paul, The Trickster-Turned-Bully

Jake Paul’s youtube career can be summarized with one word: obnoxious.

He previously focused on drama, shock humor, content rebellious in nature and a disrespectful curiosity that appeals to children and angers adults. It seems plain as day that he embodies the Trickster archetype. But not just any trickster, a Super Trickster, fueled by the attention of millions and more money that the average person could ever hope to see.

Over the past few years we’ve witnessed within Jake Paul a yearning to mature (or rather, a yearning for the respect that maturity brings) which has led him to stray from the insidious brainrot he would traditionally produce, and move into the world of boxing. However, he faced an incredible challenge. No one would take him seriously.

And why would they? He has a proven record of not being a serious person. As he progressed in boxing training, he sought to force his way into the boxing world, not by starting at the bottom and working his way through the ranks – he was too impatient for that. It was at this moment that his nature stunted his spiritual growth.

While attempting to realize himself as both an archetypal and literal modern Warrior, Jake Paul took every shortcut imaginable. He found himself fighting warriors of the past in a desperate attempt to legitimize himself. Mike Tyson’s recent bout with him is a perfect example of this. While Jake Paul is cosplaying as a warrior and legitimate boxer, we all see him for the transition he’s made, from Trickster to Grandstander Bully, the definition of the Hero shadow-form.

Andrew Tate – The Tyrant King

The “manosphere” is full to bursting with video clips and posts from Tate declaring some of the most heinous things, “empowering” men by encouraging them down a path of sexism and anger while painting a portrait of modern humanity that is stained with injustice towards men.

And that’s where he reaches the most men, that’s the acorn of truth from which an oak tree of malevolence has sprouted, from the truth that men are struggling right now.

Like every snake oil salesman he’s found an issue – the male loneliness epidemic, falling rates of education among men, marriage rates plummeting and divorce rates skyrocketing – and he’s prescribed hate and domination. He’s a perfect example of the shadow-king Tyrant, void of the softness that comes with balance and bitter against the divine feminine that men need internally in order to find balance.

He weaponizes the truth of suffering men and points them like cannons at the opposite sex, and other groups, growing in fame and influence along the way.

Which is why it was so terribly delicious to see him crawling around the boxing ring, having been completely demolished at a sport he claimed to be an expert in. For millions of men – the quiet men who work hard to raise good sons and daughters, who exercise humility in their work and sacrifice their time, bodies and sometimes their dignity to put food on the table for their loved ones – this defeat brought an inner feeling of satisfaction.

The same satisfaction felt when the wisdom you’ve passed to your children is revealed to them to be true and good. Or when you’ve told your wife you can do (whatever thing seems out of your depth) and you DO it.

There is a God, justice exists and the bill always comes due.

So what most people saw when Anthony Joshua landed the blow that broke Jake Paul’s jaw, or when Chase DeMoor reduced Andrew Tate to all fours, was Karma, a shortcut revealing itself to be a dead-end. It felt, in a way, that a balance had been restored. Tricksters and bullies don’t get to become respected warriors and kings.

However, and this is the most important message of these events, there is a large set of young men that adore Jake Paul and Andrew Tate.

Combined, Andrew and Jake have somewhere around 80-90 million follows across all platforms, their audiences skew almost entirely male.

They see the financial success they’ve achieved from half the world hate-watching them, and they join the “he’s got a point tho” cult that respect him for going against the grain, even if that grain was grown from thousands of years of human experience and common sense.

History is plentiful of male figures who prey on the youth with their tales of injustices and their schemes for revenge. Queueing boys up for a war the leaders will never fight, so we know how this story goes.

A disenfranchised male demographic feels unseen, unheard and misunderstood.

Tricksters distract and warm themselves with the fire of their frustrations.

Tyrants turn young men into weapons for their ideologies.

War is fought, the “good” side wins, and the misunderstood only become more so, lurking in the shadows for generations until they’ve regained strength enough to try again.

So we may have a moment, as the adults in the room, to reach out to these young men who idolize Jake Paul and Andrew Tate, and show them what true masculinity looks like. We might be able to stop, or at least slow, that painful cycle.

So, how do we (men) help our young men?

Step one, empathy:

1. We see your struggles
2. We’ve felt your pain
3. We know where this path ends

Empathy, a large, trust-building amount of empathy, is the first place to start. Once we can effectively communicate how well we understand their situation, we can explore different solutions or directions with them. If they do not believe that you understand what they feel, and what they are up against, young men will not listen to you.

Step two: Magicians and Kings beat Tricksters and Tyrants

Our young men need role models, but also need us as men and fathers to introduce them to good role models. There are men out there, good, successful, hard working men who have made a name for themselves in a more honest way. Point them to experts like Mark Rober or Andrew Huberman, who do more by adding value, knowledge and insight to humanity in their own way.

Give them king-like leaders like Jocko Willink, George St-Pierre, or Mike Rowe, who celebrate a more correct masculinity and honor the responsibilities that come with it.

None of the above mentioned is without their own flaws, but that’s part of the magic, to see imperfect men striving for a more perfect world, and helping to build it. Not the carefully crafted caricature displayed on Andrew Tate or Jake Paul’s social media platforms.

Summary

Our young men’s favorite toxic influencers broke themselves against reality recently, and it’s our chance to help steer them in the right direction. There are better men out there that are ready to hold a hand out to our youth and pull them up, ideologically. It’s our responsibility as men and, specifically fathers, to be an example, but also a guide and assist our sons in their efforts to find other role models to follow.