This week in Romania, infamous misogynist Andrew Tate lost his appeal to end his detention there and, closer to home, Alan Jones is having a garage sale.
*Also listen to the audio version of this article on Spotify HERE.
In other news, George Pell died.
Stay with us, because as incongruous as that first juxtaposition sounds, there is a connection. Actually, there are several.
There is no obvious link between the subject matter of this article and the death of Pell, apart from the alleged instances of abuse – though not necessarily involving women – and the obvious and disproportionate power each of the above wields, of course.
Regardless, Pell’s death deserves a mention.
But back to the main misogynists of this story and their similarities.
Andrew Tate, for those who may not have had the displeasure, is the former kickboxer who regularly spreads his woman-hating thoughts all over the internet, normalising violence against women, claiming women are to blame for being raped, calling them the property of men and other, similarly sickening stuff.
Oh, Tate is also famous for being eliminated from the 2016 UK season of Big Brother after only six days, when a video was leaked revealing him hitting a woman with a belt.
Alan Jones’ preferred communication platform for his assorted public toilet-style misogyny, is olden-style radio.
Standout profundities broadcast by Jones include:
- “shove a sock down Jacinda Ardern’s throat";
- Scott Morrison "should give [Jacinda Ardern] a few backhanders”;
- "women are destroying the joint — Christine Nixon in Melbourne, Clover Moore [in Sydney]";
- Julia Gillard’s father "died of shame”;
- 'they should shove [Gillard] and [Greens' leader] Bob Brown in a chaff bag and take them as far out to sea as they can and tell them to swim home"; and
- Gillard should be "kicked to death".
Then there’s the whining. Both Tate and Jones like to complain about the way in which people dare to call them out on their disgusting behaviour and just the unfairness of it all!
MISOGYNIST #1 ANDREW TATE
After being investigated in the UK for alleged sexual assault, Tate, a U.S. and UK dual citizen, is reported to have moved to Romania because he liked living in countries “where corruption was accessible”.
Tate, who was also under investigation by Romanian authorities for human trafficking, together with his similarly fun-loving brother, Tristan, plus a couple of less infamous (female) alleged offenders were arrested for the sexual exploitation of six women. Prosecutors allege that the Tates and their accomplices recruited their victims via online relationship promises and later forced them to perform pornographic content under threat of violence. They have dubbed it the “loverboy” method of human trafficking.
Sordid and sickening though this case is, there is a funny side to Tate’s arrest.
It was while he was busy harassing Greta Thunberg on Twitter, after Elon Musk reinstated his account, that Tate’s whereabouts became known.
Tate asked Thunberg for her email so he could impress her with details of his vast collection of petrol-guzzling cars. Thunberg quipped that Tate should 'enlighten' her about his vehicles’ emissions by emailing her at 'smalldickenergy@getalife.com'.
And here's the good part. Tate later posted a video directed at Thunberg, showing him with two pizza boxes, which he vowed not to recycle. It is believed the pizza boxes alerted Romanian police to his whereabouts, where he was promptly arrested. Ah, the joys of modern technology!
The story gets even better. Authorities also seized ten of the Tate brothers' properties, plus 15 luxury cars Andrew Tate had bragged to Thunberg about. These will fund the investigation and pay damages to victims if the suspects are convicted.
The bizarre incident led the ever-wry-witted Thunberg to tweet:
‘This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.’
Until Musk saw fit to reinstate him on Twitter, Tate had been banned from all social media platforms for spewing bile on a regular basis. Following his bans, Tate whined to fellow misogynist Tucker Carlson on Fox News (where else?) that he was being cancelled simply for promoting “traditional masculine values”.
MISOGYNIST #2 ALAN JONES
Alan Jones is the homegrown woman-hater whose detailed resume includes being fined for inciting the Cronulla race riots. Jones is in the news because he is auctioning off choice personal items after the sale of his country property fell short of the $17.5 million he had envisaged.
Some of the more desirable items with which he is forced to part include an assortment of racist “blackamoor” figurines and 'a large quantity of trousers'. It is unclear if any of the aforementioned women he despises may choose to purchase and/or wear these pants.
Jones' past infamous achievements include being arrested in a public toilet incident and resigning as a teacher after it was alleged he had a 'bad, very bad' influence and control over some of his students.
Also, following the path paved by similarly “misunderstood” misogynist Steve Price, Jones is lamenting so-called "cancel culture".
According to shock joke Jones – who chose to moan about the unfairness of it all and was platformed on the biggest news network in the land – he is being silenced because “we have become a country of one view and if you don’t subscribe to that view, you’re cancelled”.
By the way, Alan Jones is also an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his "service to the media" among other dubious achievements.
In Australia today, a woman is murdered each week at the hands of a male partner. Ten women per day are hospitalised for assault injuries perpetrated by a male partner and one in ten women over 15 experience violence from a male stranger. Women who speak out about rape, such as Brittany Higgins, are vilified for their trouble.
Alleged people trafficker Andrew Tate and alleged dodgy school teacher Alan Jones are not being "cancelled". People are just tuning out because their particular brand of hate is finally becoming irrelevant.
*This article is also available on audio here:
This editorial was originally published as part of the Independent Australia weekly newsletter – usually only available to subscribers – and may be read online in the IA members-only area.
You can follow managing editor Michelle Pini on Twitter @vmp9. Follow Independent Australia on Twitter at @independentaus, on Facebook HERE and on Instagram HERE.
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