what what WHAT?

oh man someone go alert the male to female transgenders (transexuals? im sorry i get the terms confused). thats alot of money saved for all those hormone injections!

....or not considering the MASSIVE quantities of soy that would need to be consumed if this were even true in the first place.

Oh brother. I can sorta understand some of the concern regarding extra hormones and our body but there is no way estrogen is gonna turn me gay. It may cause breasts that lactate (I'm pretty sure this is true) but it won't make me gay.

"Blame" is the wrong word. Soy should get the "credit." We need more homosexuals. Long live soy.

So, let me get this straight, all of South East Asia is made up of either hyper-feminized women or gay men? Hmmm, the hyper-masculine culture of the kamaze during WWII came out of soy-induced gay-dude angst? What? They got patriarchy too, peeps. 'Splain that.

Who knew that all that soy made me a feminist. All always thought it was the education and life experience? How wrong can you be ? Down with soy!

I like how it's "far worse" for a boy to reach puberty "later than normal," (gasp!) than it is for a girl to experience menarch at 7. Hmm...this might be the vegan in me talking, but wasn't it the HORMONES in COW MILK that caused premature menarche?

And, Justin, I totally agree with you. I'm going to start lacing that cute straight girl's coffee with soymilk...

J/K, J/K!

...although now I wonder if that would work... ;)

I hate soy.

That means I'm all man, baby!

/faux-patriarchy

"Rise in homosexuality": I'm surprised to hear that there are MORE gay people now than... ten years ago? a century ago? since the beginning of time itself? I'd like to see those stats.

Fucking right. I had some soy sauce this morning and I can feel myself becoming less attracted to women as we speak.

I've heard this argument on and off for the last 5 years or so. There has never been any proof though. It's been studied and studied and the results are always inconclusive. This is just some jackass' attempt to link an anti-homosexual argument with an anti vegetarian argument.

As a transitioned, mtf transsexual person, I think this is really really funny. As far as I've seen, one of the big myths in the "transwoman community" such as there is one is that phytoestrogens will have any measurable effect on the body. I don't think I've ever heard of a study that says soy has anything to do with anything other than being a delicious ingredient in my Thai curry. Yum! :)

Speaking as just a plain old feminist, I feel sort of torn between laughing like crazy at the silly notions of gender and sexuality that these wackos have and crying because a lot of people will listen to them.

Oh, and let's please not forget our transmale (ftm) friends, who grow up entirely male despite having plenty of *real* estrogen in their blood for much of their lives!

I'm chatting with my friend online and I sent her the link to warn her that her tofu lovin' ways was turning her husband into a homosexual. She enjoyed the good laugh.

I certainly hope this isn't bottom for the crazy wing nuts, surely they can find SOMETHING else to blame feminism/homosexuality on. Perhaps that should be your next post Jessica, what will they think of to blame next? ;)

This article isn't anti-feminist!!!

All the stuff feminists have been blamed for over the years....It's all because of soy!
Not us!!

So we can blame those pesky vegetarians and vegans instead ;)

Oh my god. My dad told me part of this like 9 months ago when I stopped eating meat. I giggled at him inside.

Shorter rebuttal: They don't call it World NUT Daily for nothin'.

BTW....

Soy protein intake by active young adult men raises plasma antioxidant capacity without altering plasma testosterone. Nutrition Research
Volume 26, Issue 2 , February 2006, Pages 92-95.

"Nonetheless, many active men avoid soy protein because of reports that isoflavones lower testosterone levels. However, soy isoflavone effects on testosterone readings in active young adult males have not been reported. This study found that in such men, a 4-week intake of high-isoflavone soy protein (41.5 g/70 kg body weight per day) had no effect on plasma testosterone values."

Gah. Eating too much of anything is going to have strange effects on your physiology, but as for turning people gay? That falls into what I like to call the "making shit up as you go along" fallacy.

The idea that eating certain foods makes you gay is stupid beyond words.

So.. all those veggie burgers I eat, they explain my man-crush on Grey's Anatomy's George? And all this time I just thought it was because he was freaking adorable..

Um,I live in New Zealand, and I have never heard anything about anyone here, official or otherwise "cracking down" on soy.
This whole argument is so flawed in so many ways, it's pretty funny!
I'm sure if you eat too much of any one thing it can have negative health effects, but wow, this really is hilarious/terrifying.

This dude is pretty hilarious. Still, there is some truth to the high oestrogen-effects of excessive soy consumption, although ironically, this has nothing to do with 'health food' or traditional Asian use of tofu. The phyto-oestrogens in tofu and soy sauce has been broken down through traditional preparation and fermentation - it's the 'manly' soy which is ground into meat and other crappy American processed foods to 'bulk it up' that'll grow you the alleged bitch-tits...

Oh yes, here is a link to a less crazy news article about the hormonal impact of soy. Hmm... no mention of oestrogen turning people gay! What a rip.

Correction:
A quick google shows that two kinds of soy products were recalled here in New Zealand, once in 1998 and again in 2001, because of contamination alerts (unspecified contamination, but I think it's along the lines of factory error).
So there you go.
The NZ government "cracking down hard" alright!

Wow, that's an interesting article, Tze Ming, thanks for the hookups.

I guess the ancient Greeks must have eaten a lot of tofu. And the ancient Japanese. And Egyptians. And Sumerians. And...

Actually, xenoestrogens do have effects on our bodies. Phytoestrogens (from plants) generally have a weaker effect than normal human estrogen, which is why phytoestrogens might be protective against estrogen-dependent cancers in women: they take up the estrogen receptors, but the effect is weaker than it would be if they were taken up by human estrogen. However, even phytoestrogens can make a difference in women who have already had estrogen-dependent cancers, and kids and fetuses. Women who've had cancer are advised to avoid soy. And the July 1 issue of Science News has a small bit on feminizing effects of lavender and tea tree oils on young boys and girls.

If you're really worried about xenoestrogens, though, you should be avoiding plastics. They're much stronger than phytoestrogens, and if you eat food that touches plastic, especially cling-wrap, you're eating them all the time. Maybe a little soy won't do much, but you probably consume tiny doses of xenoestrogens every day, and it all adds up.

I think the guy is crazy to claim that xenoestrogens are going to make boys gay-I've never read studies on that issue-but environmental estrogens really are a health/environment problem, and they really do tend to feminize males of all species, as well as contribute to certain illnesses such as breast and testicular cancers. I personally try to avoid plastic food containers and wrappers (even Nalgene) because of this very reason.

So, the guy's conclusions are absurd, but they are based in real science that may have real consequences for a lot of people (and other animals).

Soy beans and bean curd are considered yin foods as opposed to red meat and cheese which are yang foods. Yin foods are cool and calm and yang is warm and tight. I recently had health problems from eating too much yang foods and have to eat mostly yin foods now. All my symptoms went away. It's healthy for people to balance yin and yang foods and it certainly won't make anyone gay. Jeez.

...WOW.
I am [almost] speechless. Did I miss the part where he mentioned lesbians? I'll admit I scanned the article quickly, what with the eye-burning and the brain cramping... Did my mama not feed me /enough/ soy?

It sure brings back some memories though.

Remember Kick-a-man Boy Sauce?

I love the implication that soy = feminine, and feminine = teh gay. Someone get this man to a leather bar, and quick!

People, why are you arguing with them? Soy contains fabulous phytochemicals and nutrients that increase one's lifespan. Know what that means? In 30 years we may have a world free of Wing Nut Daily readers.

Red meat is yang and makes people aggressive, cranky, etc. Dairy and coffee are also yang and make people sluggish and anxious. Eating more yin foods is beneficial for people and the planet. I only drink decaf now and I'm alot calmer. Duh. :D The gay connection by right-wingers is typical of them and ridiculous.

I'm in NZ too and there's definitely no crack-down. When breastfeeding didn't work for our son (now 18 months), after exhausting all other strategies and options, we started supplementing with formula - soy, because we're vegan. Our midwife gave us a leaflet from the Ministry of Health that said there may be risks but more research needs to be done.
We asked our doctor if he was worried about the hormones in soy formula, and he said "Cow's formula has hormones too".
Does that sound like a crack-down?
I think even the grandparents would laugh at the notion that soy will turn our son gay!

The idiocy is staggering. I think the author more acctuately demonstrated exactly what happens when a mother heavily drinks while pregnant.

well, i dont think it can possibly make you homosexual, but soy is beginning to prove more harmful in large quantities then previously realized. not even bc of hormones, but because its now being shown to CAUSE cancer instead of prevent it (in large amounts of course). this sucks for vegans, but, lots of things suck for vegans, mostly the fact that they have to eat that horrendous food (i kid, i kid, i would do it but it makes me physically sick unfortunately) but i think soy in normal amounts should be fine and um, not cause homosexuality. also i would like to point out WHO cares if it did cause homosexuality. aside from the fact that homosexuals face sometimes extremely hard things in life bc of our prevailing attitudes, why should anyone care?

Soy, for me and I'm certain others, causes bad gas (particularly the "protein enriched" foods that use soy protein).

And isn't flatulence a more serious concern than getting Teh Ghey?

I swear losing the midterm elections really brought out the crazy in the wingnuts.

Why, this must be why everyone in China is gay and has been for the last six thousand years!

A billion people were conceived through in vitro fertilization to loving gay couples.

I'm not a big fan of soy, and I'll admit it. But I've given my son soy milk a few times. My husband LOVES soy milk, with super extra emphasis on loves. And I am pretty sure he's not gay, and I know it didn't affect his penis size. I was given soy formula as an infant because my body couldn't handle cows milk formula. Hell, I still can't handle cow milk. I find the whole thing a crock of shit, but that's just me... and there seem to be people who have the same opinion as me. But who knows, maybe my son will grow up to be a flaming homosexual. It doesn't matter to me, he can be whatever he wants to be.
there are too many crazy people writing misleading papers based on "facts" that they can't actually back up.

Um, Donna Darko, if soy really were a "yin food," it would make people more feminine since yin is the feminine and yang is the masculine. I can't believe anyone really believes that tripe.

It doesn't "make people feminine" it is categorized as a cool, calm and feminine food. Here are some yin foods

Almonds. Apple. Asparagus. Bamboo. Banana. Barley. Bean curd. Bean sprouts. Beer. Broccoli. Cabbage. Celery. Clams. Corn. Corn flour. Crab. Cucumber. Duck. Eels. Fish. Grapes. Honey. Ice creams. Lemons. Mushrooms. Mussels. Oranges. Oysters. Peppermint tea. Pineapple. Salt. Shrimps. Spinach. Strawberries. Soya beans. White sugar. Tomatoes. Water.

I can't believe anyone really believes that tripe.

Ask your local Chinese doctor. Alternative medicine is the future. Western medicine has its limits.

Beer and oysters are "feminine" foods?

Come on, Bearcat, that list is AWESOME. (And delicious-looking.) Wouldn't you love to convince some guy that his manly beer for drinking during manly football games and libido-raising oysters were actually feminine foods?

It makes me cackle evilly.

It's not about tofu; it's about the Pill.

Environmental oestrogen has affcted males of other species; male fish in Britian, for example, are often infertile. Scientists attribute the changes to oestrogens that pass through women's bodies as they take the Pill.

If you can convince people that tofu is bad, then you are most of the way there to convincing people that the Pill is bad. Even for married couples. Even for women with endometriosis, cramps, nausea, or a host of other physical ailments. It's not about the soy milk, ladies.

Actually, I would like to convince them that beer is feminine. It might reduce the number of parties on campus, and I could actually study. And oysters are really just disgusting.

Anyway, most of Chinese medicine is either disproven or unproven. It is largely based on the idea of chakras, which posits that there are certain points on the body where your "life energy" focuses, and if the channels that carries it get plugged, you get sick. Or something like that. Your choice of classifications: superstition or pseudoscience.

I'll stick to the scientific method, thank you very much.

This is, by far, the dumbest thing I have ever read in my life.

In alot of cases, alternative medicine is the only thing that works when Western medicine fails.

Okay...I have to ask.
Who or what determines whether a food is yin or yang?

Every time I see one of these "scientific" studies I get the same mental image:

An alien spacecraft, serenely orbiting the Earth as a voiceover whispers, "We've secretly replaced the brains of these human scientists with feta cheese...let's watch and see if they notice..!"

Who or what determines whether a food is yin or yang?

Google! Chinese food therapy and macrobiotic diets.

From that link, here are some yang foods

Beef. Black pepper. Brown sugar. Butter. Cheese. Chicken liver and fat. Chillies. Chocolate. Coffee. Eggs. Smoked fish. Garlic. Green peppers. Goose. Ham. Kidney beans. Lamb. Leeks. Onions. Peanut butter. Roasted peanuts. Potato. Rabbit. Turkey. Walnuts. Whisky. Wine.

and some neutral foods

Bread. Carrots. Cauliflower. Cherries. Lean chicken meat. Dates. Milk. Peaches. Peas. Pigeon. Plums. Raisins. Brown rice. Steamed white rice.