Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
A reader emailed me about this article this morning. Holy cow. I mean, the Worldnutdaily is known for publishing all kinds of crazy nonsense, but this one might take the cake. Here's the title of the article:
A devil food is turning our kids into homosexuals
The title alone started me laughing, before I'd even read on to find out what this devil food is. And the winner is: soybeans. Jim Rutz claims that soy is "feminizing." Seriously. I'm not making this up.
I have nothing against an occasional soy snack. Soy is nutritious and contains lots of good things. Unfortunately, when you eat or drink a lot of soy stuff, you're also getting substantial quantities of estrogens.Estrogens are female hormones. If you're a woman, you're flooding your system with a substance it can't handle in surplus. If you're a man, you're suppressing your masculinity and stimulating your "female side," physically and mentally.
But wait, it gets better:
Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them.
Hilarious. Now bear in mind that American consumption of soy products is very low compared to countries of the far East. Americans on average consume less than 1 gram of soy per day. Compare that to Japan (8.7 grams per day), China (3.4 grams per day), Korea (6.2-9.6 grams per day) and Indonesia (7.4 grams per day). If Rutz is right, homosexuality should be rampant in those countries. And yet it's not. So much for that theory. For a good article refuting all of this nonsense, go here.
On the other hand, Jason Kuznicki provides some evidence for this argument here. I just wonder what would happen if you made tofu quiche. With salmon mousse.
Comments
I think you should change the title of this post from "Dumbest Worldnut Claim Ever?" to "Dumbest Worldnut Claim Ever."
I'm lactose intolerant, and have been drinking soy milk most of my life. I can't say my penis size has been decreasing, or that I have homosexual urges now. Of course, I wasn't aware of this link between small penises and homosexuality. But I guess it must have been studied by the same scientists who did the research that Jim Rutz refers to in his article. Oh, wait a minute...
Posted by: Will | December 13, 2006 10:30 AM
er... if soy = estrogen then I'd expect that we'd have noticed a drop in fertility of those who consume it on a regular basis... like my friend who is allergic to milk proteins and drinks (and cooks with) soy milk instead. That'd be my pregnant friend....
Or did he not realize that excess estrogen can be handled by the female system and is in fact perscribed often in pill form to women everywhere as the birth control pill.
Where do they get this stuff???
Posted by: Kate | December 13, 2006 10:34 AM
The link between homosexuality and tofu will be news to traditional tofu eaters---in east Asia.
Of course, the thing about penis size might be true....
Posted by: gwangung | December 13, 2006 10:41 AM
Just a quick note to the female posters here, I am single and have bever consumed soy products. :D
Posted by: kehrsam | December 13, 2006 11:02 AM
"Never", of course. Damn, steeping on my own joke.
Posted by: kehrsam | December 13, 2006 11:03 AM
Unfortunately, they've changed the title to the only slightly less hilarious "Soy is making kids 'gay.'" But I do like the scare quotes.
Posted by: argystokes | December 13, 2006 11:19 AM
The money quote for me was this brilliant insight:
"Research in 2000 showed that a soy-based diet at any age can lead to a weak thyroid, which commonly produces heart problems and excess fat. Could this explain the dramatic increase in obesity today?"
We are fat because of the consumption of too much soy? There is something seriously wrong with Jim Rutz and anyone that allows this nutter to post tripe like this.
Posted by: Brian Wenhold | December 13, 2006 11:20 AM
The next claim will be that no homosexuals lived in America, Asia, Africa and Australia before soy was imported from Asia.
Posted by: sparc | December 13, 2006 12:01 PM
So I just checked and the soy/grain burgers I had for dinner last night has caused no shrinkage. Now I will grant that not being a vegetarian I don't eat soy daily, but I eat a lot of it and my penis is the same size it was when I was a teen, before I had ever heard of tofu. And while my gut has grown a couple inches in the last year, I maintained the same weight from 16 until 30. Getting fat has nothing to do with soy, just my metabolism slowing - I'm not very good at restricting my diet, didn't have to for years.
I did go through a sexual expierimenting phase when I was younger, before I ate much soy. I discovered I wasn't very interested in sex with men and the mountains of soy I have eaten since have done nothing to change that. Though, I did discover a couple of tests to determine the gender of ones brain. While I am decidedly male, I was less male than average and less male on one of the tests than the woman who linked them. But then the traits that IDed me as feminine are pre-soy traits.
Posted by: DuWayne | December 13, 2006 12:10 PM
Wouldn't this be a cure for lesbianism, then? You'd think they'd be excited about this over at Exodus International.
(Caus' lesbians don't normally eat tofu....)
Posted by: ck | December 13, 2006 12:17 PM
I find it amusing that an article in a right-wing "Christian" publication is arousing so many comments about lesbians and penis-size. We'll have to take a long hard look at this phenomenon. Or maybe a short hard look. Either way, I look forward to your penetrating insight. Perverted -- oops, I mean enquiring -- minds want to know...you know?
At the very least, WorldNutDaily has a really great plot for a really bad porn movie here...how about a possible working title of "Orgazmo vs. the Feminizing Soymonster?" (Not to be confused with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who NEVER touched soy products, and whose Noodly Appendage satisfies the faithful by its Immeasurable Dimensions and Irreducible Kinky Komplexity.)
Posted by: Raging Bee | December 13, 2006 12:56 PM
Though asians are not known for their shining cariers as male porn stars. In fact the japanese have statistical the smalest penis lenght in the world. So they may be some half thruth behind this
Posted by: balom | December 13, 2006 2:24 PM
Though asians are not known for their shining cariers as male porn stars. In fact the japanese have statistical the smalest penis lenght in the world. So they may be some half thruth behind this
Yeah, well it sure isn't affecting the fertility...
Posted by: gwangung | December 13, 2006 3:23 PM
So does this include soy lecithin and soybean oil? Those are in almost as many foods as high fructose corn syrup. We're probably all just one peanut butter and banana sandwich or Starbuck's coffee away from truly loving our fellow man or woman, as the case may be.
Posted by: Jason I. | December 13, 2006 3:32 PM
You meant "stepping", right?
Posted by: chris | December 13, 2006 7:24 PM
You know what they say about jumping to conclusions....
Posted by: kurt ehrsam | December 13, 2006 8:47 PM
No, no, no... soy only causes the "gay" in males. Female "lesbianism" is caused by exposure to florescent lights in the workplace (and further aggravated by the wearing of pants).
Posted by: jpf | December 14, 2006 9:23 AM
Am I the only one who finds it odd they didn't choose a more obvious candidate for their 'devil food'? Like, say, devil's food cake, or maybe devilled ham?
Posted by: mgjsslt | December 14, 2006 2:54 PM
Once again, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It all stems from people taking a little science and misapplying it. Yes, soy increases estrogen levels in men, but so does aging. You ever notice how older men, especially post-middle age, become more emotional and "softer"? That's because they stop producing as much testosterone. Women, on the other hand, produce less estrogen after menopause, and so they usually become more masculinized - dark facial hair, greater confidence, and of course, no more menses. Hormones are not a large factor in our sexual make-up, but act more like a drug. They affect our mood and our action, but not the underlying motivation. If you want a true look at the involvement of hormones in gender identity, look at the sexual development of infant transgenders - people who were born with...let's say "ambiguous" genitalia. These people are often assigned gender shortly after childbirth which is often the opposite of their true gender. However, even though they are raised as their assigned gender, their sexual attractions usually match their genetic gender. Devil's food - no...but it sure can make you gassy.
Posted by: Andrewsmash | December 14, 2006 3:56 PM
Asian penises are just fine, thank you very much. (T.T)
Posted by: Diego | December 18, 2006 4:52 PM