Soy Boy

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Published September 28, 2026

"Soy Boy" is a right-wing online insult that took off in late 2017, aimed at men seen as weak or overly progressive based on the myth that soy consumption feminizes males. Scattered 4chan jabs and a Mike Cernovich tweet snowballed into the alt-right's signature putdown that October, effectively replacing "cuck" as the go-to slur for liberal men.

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Overview

The term rides on a folk belief that phytoestrogens in soybeans emasculate men who consume them, an idea clinical research does not back up, since studies have found soy has no effect on male hormone levels or sperm quality2. In practice, "soy boy" gets thrown at any target the poster considers physically weak, politically progressive, or vegetarian, since meatless diets read as beta-coded to the crowd using it1. The insult often pairs with photos of thin bearded men making excited wide-mouthed "soy face" expressions.

Users of the term treat it as shorthand for a cluster of grievances: distrust of the food supply, contempt for "normies," and anxiety about physical fitness1. Popular targets included late night TV hosts, male feminists, and left-leaning celebrities. Daily Dot framed the word as the alt-right's successor to "cuck," carrying the same insecurities about masculinity in a new package1.

Origin & Background

Platform
4chan / Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2017

An early non-online use appears in Kurt Cobain's diaries collected in the 2002 book "Journals," where a character says "shake it off soy boy"7. On April 3rd, 2008, Katy Perry uploaded the music video for "Ur So Gay" to YouTube, featuring a license plate reading "#1 soy boy" around the 2:30 mark, one of the earliest online instances of the phrase5.

The pejorative meme usage traces back to 4chan, where an early archived example appeared in a /tv/ thread on April 18th, 20176. On June 22nd, 2017, user Sandman_Aktual submitted an Urban Dictionary entry defining "soy boy" as slang for men who "completely and utterly lack all necessary masculine qualities"4.

How It Spread

The term crossed into wider right-wing circles in fall 2017. On October 3rd, the @CernovichNews Twitter account posted a photo of late night TV hosts with the Urban Dictionary definition attached7. Just under two weeks later, on October 16th, Redditor _PM_Me_Boobs_plz shared the "Pajama Boy" image of Organizing for Action employee Ethan Krupp to /r/The_Donald8.

Mike Cernovich himself tweeted "You caught me! I'm totally jealous of people who give free college talks that 15 soy boys show up to" on October 19th, 2017, then later deleted the post10. Press coverage caught up fast. Conservative writer Will Sommer published "How 'soy boy' became the far right's favorite insult" on Medium on October 26th3, followed by pieces from Mic and Daily Dot the next day framing it as the successor to "cuck"1. On October 30th, /r/malefashion picked up a photo titled "The return of the soyboy," pulling upwards of 800 upvotes within four days9.

How to Use This Meme

The label typically gets deployed as a standalone reply to any post seen as beta, effeminate, or ideologically soft. A common convention pairs the phrase with a wide-mouthed "soy face" reaction image, or with photos of thin men in cardigans1.

Frequently Asked Questions