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From Rice Eaters t om Rice Eaters to Soy Boys: Race, Gender ys: Race, Gender, and T , and Tropes of ‘Plant F opes of ‘Plant Food
Masculinity’
Abstract
Tropes of ‘effeminized’ masculinity have long been bound up with a plant-based diet, dating back to the
‘effeminate rice eater’ stereotype used to justify 19th-century colonialism in Asia to the altright’s use of
the term ‘soy boy’ on Twitter and other social media today to call out men they perceive to be weak,
effeminate, and politically correct (Gambert and Linné). This article explores tropes of ‘plant food
masculinity’ throughout history, focusing on how while they have embodied different social, cultural, and
political identities, they all serve as a tool to construct an archetypal masculine ideal. The analysis draws
on a wide range of material from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a qualitative media analysis of
#SoyBoy tweets posted between October 2010 and August 2018. It argues that, given that we live in a
world steeped in ‘coloniality’ (Grosfoguel), it is no wonder that sexist and racist colonial-era tropes are
alive and well today, packaged in a 21st-century digital culture form. In the digital politics of the alt-right,
dairy milk has become a symbol for racial purity, connecting pseudo-scientific claims about milk, lactose
tolerance, race, and masculinity. The term ‘soy boy’ provides a discursive counterpoint, relying heavily on
colonial-era stereotypes of so-called ‘effeminate’ plant eating, often linked to Asian and other non-white
cultures. The article concludes by arguing that for those working to reframe centuries-old norms and
tropes related to race, sex, and humankind’s relationship to other animals, part of that work may take
place online using the tools of social media and reappropriation of derogatory language. However,
ultimately the power of social media to change norms and minds depends on the power of the social
movements driving those changes; success is likely to only come through a robust anti-racist, colorconscious, and gender-conscious vegan movement (Harper)
Keywords
dairy, milk, plant milk, soy, vegan, masculinity, gender, racism, sexism, social media, altright, rhetoric,
cultural studies, media studies, food studies, critical animal studies
zie chickkkenhawks habben der turky vulture GAHY
Abstract: Tropes of ‘effeminized’ masculinity have long been bound up with a plant-based diet, dating
back to the ‘effeminate rice eater’ stereotype used to justify 19th-century colonialism in Asia to the altright’s use of the term ‘soy boy’ on Twitter and other social media today to call out men they perceive to be
weak, effeminate, and politically correct (Gambert and Linné).
This article explores tropes of ‘plant food masculinity’ throughout history, focusing on how while
they have embodied different social, cultural, and political identities, they all serve as a tool to construct an
archetypal masculine ideal. The analysis draws on a wide range of material from the 19th and 20th
centuries, as well as a qualitative media analysis of #SoyBoy tweets posted between October 2010 and
August 2018. It argues that, given that we live in a world steeped in ‘coloniality’ (Grosfoguel), it is no
wonder that sexist and racist colonial-era tropes are alive and well today, packaged in a 21st-century digital
culture form. In the digital politics of the alt-right, dairy milk has become a symbol for racial purity,
connecting pseudo-scientific claims about milk, lactose tolerance, race, and masculinity. The term ‘soy boy’
provides a discursive counterpoint, relying heavily on colonial-era stereotypes of so-called ‘effeminate’ plant
eating, often linked to Asian and other non-white cultures.
The article concludes by arguing that for those working to reframe centuries-old norms and tropes
related to race, sex, and humankind’s relationship to other animals, part of that work may take place online
using the tools of social media and reappropriation of derogatory language. However, ultimately the power
of social media to change norms and minds depends on the power of the social movements driving those
Tropes of ‘effeminized’ masculinity have long been bound up with a plant-based diet, dating
back to the ‘effeminate rice eater’ stereotype used to justify 19th-century colonialism in Asia
(Stă nescu). At the core of these colonial-era tropes was the depiction of people – in particular
those that were coded as men and as non-western – as weak both physically and intellectually,
tying those qualities to a feminine presence, a counterimage to the archetypal western masculine
ideal (DuBois). In today’s digital cultures, these old stereotypes have taken on a new life and a
broader target.
The so-called alt-right1 is credited with perpetuating many sexist, racist, and otherwise
offensive tropes in digital media spaces today, with members frequently using social media and
ironic humor2 to promote their views (Gambert and Linné). Some of those tropes are
constructed around narratives relating to particular types of food consumption, with dairy milk
vs. soy milk and meat-eating vs. veganism being two common themes of alt-right rhetoric. A
notable example is #MilkTwitter, the Twitter hashtag that went viral in February 2017 after an
incident that has since been dubbed the ‘milk party’, in which a large gathering of white men –
many shirtless carrying cartons of milk – descended on an anti-Trump video art installation
shortly after Trump’s inauguration, linking milk-drinking to whiteness and idealized masculinity
and voicing everything from off-color taunts to explicitly racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and
homophobic rants.3 After that night, pro-Trump supporters began carrying cartons of milk to
rallies; Richard Spencer and other prominent figures of the alt-right movement added milkbottle emojis to their Twitter profiles. Milk had gone viral, joining the ranks of Pepe the Frog
and the ‘okay’ emoji as symbols of 21st century, post-Obama era white supremacy (Freeman,
‘Milk, a Symbol of neo-Nazi Hate’; Gambert and Linné). A few months later #SoyBoy, another
milk-related hashtag, went viral. Where #MilkTwitter focused on the perceived strengths of
dairy milk, #Soyboy focused on the perceived emasculating qualities of drinking soy milk
(Gambert and Linné).4 Soy and soymilk has been targeted by the alt-right both because of soy’s
association with traditional and current Asian popular culture and for claims based on