Surfers split sharply on Andrew Tate’s “woman-hating poison”

"Does integrity have any place in the surf industry and are there any examples of it?"

I have a nice life. I live in Aotearoa in New Zealand, a beautiful place. I have a loving family, a young happy daughter. I get to surf fairly average, uncrowded waves regularly. I have fulfilling work as a teacher at a secondary school. Life is good.

Things that frustrate or anger me are external to my situation: strangers being callous or rude, inequality, suffering, politics. Common triggers that everyone feels. For years, I have thought that getting angry does not serve me. It invites negative emotions that brings me down; it won’t change anything and will only leave me bitter.

This is the characterisation of anger as portrayed by the mindfullness and wellness industry. “Take care of yourself first”, “lean in to positivity”, alongside all the other platitudes. I have followed this path, working to bring things into perspective, be thankful of what I have and to appreciate my own insignificance.

Well, no longer, my friend!

When Chas Smith spoke of how good it felt to get angry about Andrew Tate and his pro surfer sycophants I had a ‘hmmm’ moment. I, too, despise the manosphere toxicity that is spreading among young men, the gormless meatheads (Cole, Jett – I’m looking at you) and bitter incels that prop up misogynists like Andrew Tate and spread their woman-hating poison.

I examined my anger. I wasn’t feeling bad. I wasn’t feeling guilty for getting angry and ruining my positive equilibrium – it felt good to be angry about this. I was right and my anger was righteous! I wanted to smote these wankers and what they stand for, a fightback against the corrupting disease of the manosphere.

Now, obviously, I did very little aside from a heartfelt comment or too on BeachGrit, but it felt good.

Cut to yesterday, reading a piece on Stab about the Matt Biolos vs Lady Gaga Mayhem spat and I noticed that the comments had been hijacked by an erstwhile reader who wanted to talk about the Cole Houshmand being a Tate fanboy debacle.

Well, Michael C wasn’t going to stand for this. See comment thread below:

Another jolt of righteous anger.

Why was Stab protecting this idiot?

Where are their values of equality and promoting women in surfing now?

What happened to their female editor?

I know the surf media is a joke but Mikey C’s high handed dismissal of this being newsworthy incensed me.

I put my phone down and went for my morning run. Steaming mad, brain whirring about the cozy boys club of the surf industry, the vileness of the misogyny being peddled by Tate et al, the risks to the brilliant young women I know, my daughter.

I blitzed my run at an incredible pace. I came back to the house with so much energy I was fizzing. No hint of fatigue ready to tackle another hundred hills! It occurred to me. Is righteous anger the best form of energy, a superpower even?

I remember the British comedian Rob Beckett saying that as a young man he was always angry.

Coming from a tough working class area of South London, hating school, feeling like a failure because of his dyslexia he had a lot to kick against and kick against things he did. This powered him through life and he channeled his river of rage into his stand-up, always sparky, energised and combative. Until he had a breakdown in his late thirties and sought out therapy.

However, despite being a big advocate of mindfulness and stoic thinking he hasn’t banished anger. He says he keeps an ember of that rage burning so that it’s always there should he need it. His metaphor is that the hidden store of anger is like having a nitro button in a car. There if you need it, to tap and inject that high-grade rocket fuel of rage.

All this to pose two questions:

1. Is having a secret cache of rage stashed away beneath a calm and measured mindset the optimal balance for life?
2. Does integrity have any place in the surf industry and are there any examples of it being displayed you can point to?

P.S. I find it ironic that BeachGrit, run by the two biggest cynics and believers of surfing being an absurd act, is the forum that displays the most honesty and decency, despite all the clickbait nonsense and Derek’s lasciviousness.