# Soy Boy

"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.

## Origin
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 phrase[5].

The pejorative meme usage traces back to 4chan, where an early archived example appeared in a /tv/ thread on April 18th, 2017[6]. 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].

- **Platform:** 4chan / Twitter (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2017

## 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 quality[2]. 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 it[1]. 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 fitness[1]. 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 package[1].

## How to Use
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 cardigans[1].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Soy Boy?
Soy Boy is a right-wing pejorative for men perceived as weak, effeminate, or overly progressive, tied to a myth that soy consumption feminizes males[1].

### Where did Soy Boy come from?
Early online use shows up in Katy Perry's 2008 "Ur So Gay" video, but the insult meme spread from a 4chan /tv/ thread in April 2017 and an Urban Dictionary entry that June[5][6].

### What does Soy Boy mean?
It means a man supposedly lacking masculine traits, and Daily Dot described it as the alt-right's successor to "cuck" as an attack on liberal men[1].

### How do you use Soy Boy?
It gets deployed as a putdown for perceived beta men, often paired with wide-mouthed "soy face" reaction images or photos of thin cardigan-wearing targets[1].

### Is Soy Boy still popular?
The term peaked with wall-to-wall media coverage in late October 2017, when outlets from Mic to Medium ran explainers within days of each other[2][3].

## References
1. [https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/soy-boy-alt-right-insult/](<https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/soy-boy-alt-right-insult/>)
2. [https://www.mic.com/articles/185572/soy-boy-explained-alt-right-masculinity-new-insult](<https://www.mic.com/articles/185572/soy-boy-explained-alt-right-masculinity-new-insult>)
3. [https://medium.com/@willsommer/how-soy-boy-became-the-far-rights-favorite-new-insult-e2e988d365c7](<https://medium.com/@willsommer/how-soy-boy-became-the-far-rights-favorite-new-insult-e2e988d365c7>)
4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Soy%20Boy](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Soy%20Boy>)
5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWbLkXhGEmo](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWbLkXhGEmo>)
6. [https://archive.4plebs.org/tv/thread/81790191/#q81791708](<https://archive.4plebs.org/tv/thread/81790191/#q81791708>)
7. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/soy-boy](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/soy-boy>)
8. [https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/76qyed/we_need_a_better_name_for_harmless_soft_doughy/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/76qyed/we_need_a_better_name_for_harmless_soft_doughy/>)
9. [https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashion/comments/79oeeb/the_return_of_the_soyboy/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashion/comments/79oeeb/the_return_of_the_soyboy/>)
10. [https://archive.is/lARrR](<https://archive.is/lARrR>)
11. [https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(10)00368-7/fulltext](<https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(10)00368-7/fulltext>)

---
Source: https://meme.com/memes/soy-boy
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library