12

Today’s (January 26th) Washington Post reported President Trump’s decision to end the government shutdown under the headline, “Trump caves” or “Genius.” : Right wing splits after Trump ends shutdown with no wall funding.

I came across a phrase I’m totally unfamiliar with – “Commander-in–Soy” in the following paragraph in the article:

“Some is the key word here, however. While Mike Cernovich, a far-right online personality, tweeted that Trump was now the “Commander-in Soy” and that Pelosi was “alpha,” others rallied around the President.

Apparently the word, “Commander-in-Soy” seems to be used in negative or derogatory nuance vis-à-vis “alpha” for Nancy Pelosi, but I’m not able to relate soy to Commander-in-Chief.

Both online Oxford and Cambridge Dictionary I’ve checked provide definition of soy no more than:

  • Made of soy bean. - Cambridge Dictionary

    1. Protein derived from the beans of an Asian plant.
    2. Widely cultivated plant of the pea family which produces soya beans. – Oxford Dictionary

And I don’t see any headings of “Commander-in Soy” on google search.

"Alpha," I know what it means. But What does "Soy" here mean?

Can the word, “soy” be acceptably used in such a way as “Commander-in–Soy,” or “Someone who's a kind of Soy.”?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    It is Commander-in-Soy, capital S for Soy: see my answer. – Arm the good guys in America Jan 27 '19 at 5:58
  • @ 9fyj'j55-8ujfr5yhjky-'tt6yhkjj . Thanks for your pointng out S of soy should be capital. I corrected it accordingly. – Yoichi Oishi♦ Jan 27 '19 at 6:14
11

The usage is Commander-in-Soy, which is a play on words on the president's role as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. Note that Soy is capitalized in this usage.

One soy product is actually called "commander":

enter image description here

It means that Trump displayed weak, "feminine" characteristics by backing down on his pledge not to end the shutdown without wall funding.

Soy is thought by some, perhaps more on the right side of the US political spectrum, to cause "male breasts" and other feminine characters.

See articles such as Can Soy Feminize a Boy?

Is This the Most Dangerous Food For Men? There may be a hidden dark side to soy, one that has the power to undermine everything it means to be male

and

Soy is making kids "gay"

Alpha refers to being the alpha male or leader of a pack, and this role has been given to Ms Pelosi, who led the Democratic Party opposition to the continued shutdown. This represents another "role reversal" as far as gender is concerned.

Improve this answer
3
  • 2
    I wonder how many per cent of Americans easily relate soy to femininness top of mind. – Yoichi Oishi♦ Jan 27 '19 at 9:06
  • 13
    @user240918 It originated as a smear against the US political left, the thought being that we comprise vegans and people who otherwise won't eat their meat, subsisting off soy products instead. That this is an explanation for why we are so physically weak. It started as a joke -- it must be the soy, making all the men effeminate (and therefore inferior). Then "soyboy" caught on, then add a layer of postmodern conservatism, and here we are. No specific sources on this one -- just accrued knowledge. – user50519 Jan 27 '19 at 10:06
  • 3
    To make this even more tangled, you have some on the receiving side of this ironically reappropriating “soyboy” like five minutres after it was coined. And the running thread of both the soy thing and the alpha/beta distinction being based in dubious science due to people craving for factual grounding for their worldview. (The feminizing effects of soy are mostly based on research from the 50s on sheep eating a legume related to soy. The wolf pack dynamics are based on observations of wolves in captivity and don’t hold up to wild wolves that are more eusocial and egalitarian than that.) – millimoose Jan 27 '19 at 14:47

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.