Gareth Southgate’s Lecture - why is it important in the time of Tate and Trump?

The Richard Dimbleby Lecture annually delivers influential business, science and political commentary and has included speakers such as Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and King Charles. This year, the event made an unconventional decision in selecting their speaker - the former England footballer and manager Gareth Southgate. His lecture entitled The Beautiful Games: Building Belief and Resilience in a Younger Generation makes reference to his own experiences, including that infamous penalty, when discussing the challenges young men face in establishing themselves as valued and respected members of society. Southgate also draws attention to the shifting realities of modern society into an increasingly online world in which ‘callous, manipulative and toxic influencers’ feed on the insecurities of young men for their own gain.

Southgate highlights the importance of creating resilience and a positive environment for young men in order to prevent them from ‘falling behind’ as they currently are. In a world where social media is ever present in our lives, men are pressured to conform to trends and ridiculed for not fitting in. As a parent himself, Southgate speaks of the worry that parents and carers are ‘losing control of the virtual world‘ children are accessing. Gone are the days of sharing one PC at home - almost every child has a mobile phone on which a whole world of information and misinformation are just a tap away.

This online world is increasingly dominated by divisive figures such as the US President Trump and his team along with influencers such as Andrew Tate, known for their right-wing and misogynistic rhetoric. Southgate’s suggestion that we are ‘losing control’ of online content seems ever more accurate with Elon Musk’s control of X and a lack of censorship on social media sites that children as young as 13 can access. Tate’s brand of toxic masculinity is ever present on such platforms, encouraging men to be angry at a world which is “against” them, scapegoating women and minority groups for the reason their lives are not going to plan. The potential damaging effects of such media were recently covered in the new Netflix show “Adolescence” as well as being linked to recent femicides such as that committed by Kyle Clifford. Southgate worries that young men are increasingly susceptible to absorbing what they are seeing online which spreads hate and division rather than helping young men to grow into resilient and respectable individuals. In extreme situations, such hate turns to violence and media figures get rich from young men consuming it.

Ultimately, Southgate stresses the need for society to focus on the mental health and development of young men, providing them with safe spaces to share their feelings and appropriate role models to look to, rather than damaging figures online and hateful forums. We must ensure that men are supported to ‘find comfort in their identity and a sense of belonging’ rather than becoming what they absorb online.

Each young man will face their ‘own penalty moment’, and Southgate argues that none should have to do it alone.