If you ask anyone who knows me, they’ll tell you that I love astrology. But do you know what I love more than astrology? Watching random people, mostly men, absolutely and viciously hate on it.
I never realized how much believing in the stars could get people worked up until TikTok opened a gateway for these people to share anti-astrology videos. And listen, you don’t have to believe in astrology — no one is forcing it on you — but your constant beratement and visible twitching when someone mentions the word “Libra” is annoying.
But, let’s take a deeper dive into that hatred of astrology and the mystical. For reference, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, astrology is “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects.”
Now that we have that out of the way, I think it’s important that I preface by saying I’m not here to prove the existence of astrology or anything like that; instead, I want to show you where your hatred comes from and why it’s wrong. It’s that simple.
Let’s start with the fact that belief in astrology is explicitly female-dominated. Pew Research Center found that 37% of women believe in astrology versus 20% of men. There are many reasons that the gender gap in modern astrology belief exists, but some sociologists say that it is, like most things, a result of the patriarchy.
The feeling of being out of control and powerless in a male-dominated society means that when women turn to astrology to help them understand themselves and the best ways to make decisions, it’s like trying to grasp bits of control. On the other hand, straight men have never had to worry as much about the need for control.
Keeping up with the patriarchy point, toxic masculinity could be at fault for why some men get so heated when asked about their zodiac sign.
In an article, astrologer Samuel Reynolds describes straight men’s aversion to astrology as a result of “toxic masculinity that’s risen as a backlash to the cultural embrace of both the feminine and feminism in the past few years.”
Considering our society’s ongoing discussion about femininity and toxic masculinity, it’s not surprising to see those two things coincide with the astrology topic. Honestly, the issue doesn’t even seem just to be the fault of astrology being inherently “feminine,” but instead seems like another thing that girls and women can’t like without being made fun of.
The conversation first sparked on TikTok, with people on the platform pointing out how difficult it is for women to be passionate about an interest without being made fun of. A Vox article by Rebecca Jennings uses the example of ‘VSCO girls’ to show how even just liking a specific water bottle brand and wearing scrunchies somehow became a huge joke. The author doesn’t provide another reason for why this is a widespread issue other than misogyny, and honestly, that’s enough.
So, back to astrology. You don’t need to like it or believe in it, but maybe be a little respectful. For example, I don’t like any sports. Still, when I listen to guys on the BU Bus talk about their March Madness rosters like they would die if they won, I don’t start laughing and saying loudly to my friends “I would never date people who like sports. They are so stupid and annoying and clearly have never had an intelligent thought in their life.”
That is my challenge for you astrology haters. The next time you think about how much you hate astrology, instead of posting the thousands of astrology hate TikToks you saved, maybe read a book or watch a movie or check on your March Madness roster. Being a little more respectful and a little less sexist is always a great thing.
