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(I posted this in last week's thread this morning having forgotten that today was Monday. Reposting in this week's thread.)
Nowadays, whenever I meet a woman or gay man who's millennial or younger, I'm counting the seconds until they ask me "so, what's your sign?" Among young Western women, belief in astrology seems to be right up there with an interest in true crime podcasts and Taylor Swift.
I have the impression that this is a fairly recent development, like in the last decade or so. When I was in secondary school I don't remember any of my female classmates expressing any interest in astrology, and I sort of remember the general opinion was that reading your horoscope in a tabloid was seen as a low-status spinster thing to do.
Three questions:
Has there actually been a recent resurgence in interest in astrology? Or is my gut feeling actually mistaken, and interest in astrology has actually been constant over the past twenty years?
If "yes" to the previous question, what are the underlying causes? If astrology underwent a resurgence in popularity over the last decade, why so? Is it a "god-shaped hole" effect (when people give up organised religion, they immediately start looking for something else to take its place)? I've heard that there was a lot of VC money floating around for astrology apps a few years ago, could that be behind it? Or is that an effect rather than a cause?
Why is it such a gendered phenomenon? I literally don't think I've ever been sincerely asked what my sign is by a straight man - 100% of people who've asked me have been female (or far more rarely, gay/bi men). Is this true everywhere, or am I in a bubble and it's a less gendered phenomenon in other regions? I wonder how it ties into a tendency among women that they seem to enjoy the act of classifying people into "types": a few years ago when I was single, something like half of the dating app profiles I saw had their Myers-Briggs listed somewhere.
I feel like I encounter it less since I got out of the dating game. I don't really meet many young women anymore, and they were the main source of astrologists in my life. The comedians I've heard joke about it also tend to be young and single guys.
Are you suddenly more exposed to young women for some reason?
I'm pretty sure it's a phenomenon for most women, not just young ones. Its just that the young ones haven't picked up on how men think it is silly. My mother was really into astrology stuff, but the level of eye roll my dad gave off when she brought it up meant she preferred to talk to her children about it. My mom is also religious, and a microbiologist PhD. I've asked her about conflicting internal beliefs before, they don't seem to bother her.
Not a god-shaped hole. There is a witch-shaped hole. Its filled with astrology, seance, ghosts, crystals, etc. Its a common quirk among women, if you are straight I'd suggest making your peace with it and trying to ignore it.
This. The common people are absolutely obsessed with superstitio and always have been, and it’s gendered a bit female. Essential oils woo moms are the same thing. But, uh, bodybuilder bro lore is also the same thing.
I've been waiting for the perfect prompt for my erotica-trained LLM. Thank you, sir.
Just to even the scales a little, there is a conservative female coded astrology stand in: Lord of The Rings.
I was never a fan of either the books or the movies, but it's comes up all over the place (there are now like 5 different VC backed companies named after minor elements / characters --- Anduril, Palantir, etc.) As I understand it, Tolkien did intend for it to be a Christian allegory, but didn't want to make it as thinly veiled as things like The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
That extent to which that is true or not doesn't matter. Conservative women get their fill of woo-woo, but in the context of being a princess / queen in a holy war against Satanic forces. They might join you in rolling their eyes at astrology, but will have strong thoughts about Galadriel.
Tolkien vehemently denied that he was writing any sort of allegory in the preface of LOTR, though I guess stating things plainly is the best way to be interpreted to have meant the opposite.
I offer no argument here. Like I said, I was never really a fan.
Let's say Tolkien didn't want to be an allegory. I surrender. My point was wrong. Please forgive my fundamental stupidity.
But people still treat it as a Christian Allegory. And some of those people woo it up.
I apologize if my counter came off as needlessly pedantic.I do enjoy both books and most of the films and feel a certain misplaced responsibility. Your wider point is of course evident.
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