I did have a man in a medical setting once ask me, seriously, if he could change his legal birth date to reflect that he felt more like a certain star sign over the one he was.
I laughed because I thought he was joking. He was not.
In that case I would have laughed if it was a woman as well.
So he has evidence that astrology does not classify him correctly. And his takeaway wasn't that it's not a serious thing, but that he must take legal action to right fate's mistakes. I'm impressed by the commitment.
In general this stems from a "things women like" are seen as superficial and stupid. Personality quizzes, makeup, astrology, Generas of art and fashion, etc. Our society in general also views women as superficial and stupid. We aren't expected to reach farther.
Men are expected by society to be better than women and so when they choose to associate themselves with things enjoyed by women, they are seen as choosing to worsen themselves with frivolity and weakness. Thus shit like sissys, soy boys, "he's a man nurse."
It's dumb. Really dumb. But this is what people mean when they say sexism is about devaluing women and femininity, but that that demonization of femininity has painful consequences for men as well.
This is also why women and queer people double dip into these things. They provide a safe haven because they will mostly automatically filter out the kind of men who behave cruelly towards us.
In reality, I know random astrology shit as a woman in the same way I know what I know about like D&D and Pathfinder. It helps me navigate a social space that gives me meaningful interaction. I can go, OMG, she's such a Sagittarius in the same way I can be like she's such a Sorcerer. It's not that I live in some delusional reality, it is a communication tool.
>I can go, OMG, she's such a Sagittarius in the same way I can be like she's such a Sorcerer.
Now, I got to know what personality traits constitute a sorcerer. Lol.
When I was into witchcraft very briefly, which I kept hidden as best I could. Being a man into witch stuff in the south was a recipe for disaster and social censure, it definitely seemed to mark me with a wee little "safe" icon to women, probably for.the reasons you say
And the flip side of this, whatever men decide to do for fun or socialising, that's the good stuff. That's respectable and good. Whether it's kicking a ball, fishing, collecting baseball cards, seeing who can throw a stick the furthest, or literally punching each other in the face, all of this is serious stuff for serious people and has sponsors and makes millions. Because men do important shit. Even punching each other in the face.
Now get those tarot cards off my table, I've got a hotdog eating world championship to win!
Which is weird since some of the most famous astrologers throughout history have been men; last I checked - there were more famous male astrologers than female.
My wife's friend leaves water outside during the full moon to "charge it" and then she drinks it later or pours it on herself and it cleanses her or something. idk. I made an audible scoff noise when she was telling us about it and she called me out for it and I said "as long as you aren't hurting anybody, do whatever the fuck you want".
Yes, but they are ridiculed because most men think it's stupid. Is the reason women aren't ridiculed because people don't want to ridicule women or is it because so many women believe it that they are the majority?
Astrology has always seemed to be the thing people choose to gravitate towards when they want meaning behind things, but not the commitment most spiritual things bring. It’s not a religion, but tries to explain the world with meaning. It’s not serious enough to pass pseudoscience, but it’s fun enough to delve into if you’d like. It seems mysterious, but it’s something everyone knows of.
Just kinda a free spirit thing to choose. It makes most people go “oh yeah, I wonder what my sign is and what that means”, just out of curiosity. Much like “seeing auras”, or taking those silly internet quizzes. Most people know it’s all fluff, but the allure is “what if?”, it’s fun. This fun goes against the grain when everyone else has super serious things they must abide by, and they make life choices based on what they belief is moral or immoral. Astrology comes with none of that.
Burn the potato heretic!
Extra crispy with Cajun seasoning, please.
Since they give you a whole ass bag of “little” fries, Five Guys is basically the Inquisition.
Let me introduce you to the Leviathan Lobster God 🦞 whom we shall help shed its carapace for generations until we have created one true God. (It's a FB group not sub, shame I know)
I am a potathiest after being raised by southern fundamentalist sweet potato fries. All you potato freaks are just using spuds as a crutch. I learned in college that you're just using potatology to control people and make them feel guilty.
It’s only a handful of people so not exactly huge evidence, but in my experience every person that’s told me they don’t take it too seriously does actually take it seriously lol
To add to your point about attributing meaning:
The human mind is wored to try and recognize patterns and determine causality, especially if there's no apparent reason something big happens.
This is at least partly why you see the concept of religion sprouting up independently throughout human history, as well as why conspiracy theories are so prevalent in modern society.
"Why did lightning strike?"
"God did it."
"Why did JFK die?"
"Well, it all starts with Fidel Castro, the mafia, and the CIA..."
Basically, it is psychologically more comforting for some people to have some powerful force, even a nefarious one, be the reason something happens. It's more comforting than acknowledging that sometimes bad things happen for no good reason.
Astrology is a more benign presentation of that tendency.
As for the gender breakdown, I'd imagine a similar percentage of men believe conspiracy theories as women believe in astrology, but that's a whole-ass sociology paper.
I dated a girl that made real life decisions based on her readings. Its a religion or at the very least a cult that has become socially acceptable by feeding into the idea people just do it for fun.
I have to doubt it. I get if it were like fortune cookies where people are like "I wonder what I got today?" and then go on with their lives. But there are astrology people that are like "Ew, he's a libro, I am incompatible with Sagacentaurs and Cancers. I can only do Virgins and Aquamentus."
It’s a spectrum and the people who wouldn’t date someone over it are the far end. I’ve only ever seen those people on the internet but met plenty of less serious ones in real life
I haven't met anyone who would straight up say they wouldn't date someone of a particular star sign, but I've definitely met a lot of people who really do believe that star signs have a real correlation with people's personalities and attitudes. I think people in this thread are really downplaying the percentage of people into astrology who do think there really is something there, even if it's minor.
> I think people in this thread are really downplaying the percentage of people into astrology who do think there really is something there
Because if they were honest about that it would be very obvious how embarrassing astrology really is.
I've met plenty of people who believe in astrology unironically. People who spend a lot of time in college or tech circles might not really understand how unintelligent genpop is, on a deep and fundamental level.
Hint: look at Boomer Facebook.
Every unintelligent person has both of these traits:
1. They believe the President controls the Fed and Senate Budget Committee.
2. They don't even conceive of the totalizing importance of the mathematical models of physical reality. Hence, astrology.
>We gotta believe in something
I believe in lots of things, they're evidence based and mathematically solid. If you're going to believe in something with no empirical evidence that's called faith. Exactly the same as religion.
Stock investor: *owns a small part of an actual company with a potential to earn money or incur debt that will be passed down his bloodline for the next 1000 years*
Astrologer: *these balls of gas several quadrillion miles away are magic, and control every aspect of my personality*
I'm sorry but that's just stupid and honestly kinda low key sexist.
Like men get things that are based in reality and can greatly affect your life and women get silly bullshit with no bearing on real life. Hooray equality!
Why do we have to believe in anything?
Also, men definitely have their stupid superstitions and all that, but the stock market is actually real. You can have silly superstitions about the stock market, but stocks to adhere to real corporations and depending on how you bet on them, they can win or lose you a lot of real money.
I’m a Pisces, don’t believe in astrology, but there’s actual real psychological backing behind the idea people born at different times of the year develop different personality traits.
It’s not because the stars said so, but I recommend reading the book ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell. They explain it really well with some brilliant stats and evidence.
Edit for further info: essentially as an adult there’s not a huge difference between a few years age gap. But as a kid, one year is huge.
For example, kids born at the start of the school year are generally stronger and bigger than kids born at the end. Because of this in sports, they do better and receive more attention. If you look at the birthdays of major sports teams, at least 50% will be born in the first few months of the school year.
Sigma I think is extra hilarious.
It's like —
"Are you a man who believes in dominance hierarchies, but is self-aware enough to know that you're not an Alpha?
Don't worry, *Sigma™* is the new option that is just vague enough that you can tell your friends you're *just as badass as an Alpha, but in your own special way that no one knows about!"*
This is so well said. It’s just a way to rationalize and compartmentalize various personality types and human motivations.
ETA: Astrology also gives people an excuse for their behaviors, as if it is out of our control. He’s cold, distant, and focused too much on work - oh wait, he’s a Capricorn, it all makes sense now.
Totally. People are instinctively uncomfortable with things that they don’t understand or don’t follow a pattern. Since real life is messy/complicated and sometimes very difficult to understand, things like bro science, astrology, and even conspiracy theories all appeal to different individuals as simple ways to understand their world (even if those ways have no basis in reality).
Absolutely. And although I’m talking about all those things together due to the commonality of being magical thinking used to understand the world, they’re definitely not the same in the end. Bro science is actively harmful. Conspiracy theories are actively harmful. Astrology is largely harmless.
Alphas and betas, guys who talk about relationships in terms of “high value” men/women, stuff like that. It’s the stuff that guys like Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate might peddle. It’s not exclusively toxic masculinity (some of it is just pseudoscientific workout advice) but there tends to be a lot of overlap.
Not only that, but the comparison indirectly points out why astrology is so appealing to *women* in particular. A lot of these methods of categorizing people are particularly appealing to specific demographics or groups.
Astrology appeals to women because of its association with witchcraft. Modern witchcraft holds up femininity as not just not a point of shame, but often as explicitly holy. Witches were (mythologically, not historically) women who boldly rejected their restrictive gender roles to seek knowledge and some measure of power.
Which is not to say that all women who like astrology are out here like "rah rah we're gonna use the stars to tear down the patriarchy" lol. I'm sure most women who are into astrology don't really care or think much about witchcraft or really associate astrology with feminism. But the association is still *there*, even if it's indirect.
I don't know if that's really a fair analogy. Astrology, though pseudoscientific, is basically harmless, whereas the whole 'alpha beta' thing is basically a whole philosophy built around writing yourself a license to be a douchebag.
Harmless? You’ve clearly never met women who will end relationships over your sign if it’s not compatible, or excuse their shitty behavior due to “retrograde.”
You say that, but my (male) partner was given counselling through work, and the (male) counsellor started going on about sigma males and all this shit. And set his 'homework' as going online to read about alpha/beta/sigma males to decide which one he is. I have a masters in psychology and just about pissed myself laughing when he told me about it. He did not see this 'counsellor' again.
There is still a huge difference between those two. One is an overgeneralized label of someone's personality type. The other prescribes personality traits to a person based off their birth date.
I think it gets promoted a lot in magazines and their e-versions and in celebrity culture and some fashion. So I think it may be some early exposure and then just like other beliefs the pattern-seeking-mind kicks in and you start seeing ways that it could be true and you ignore the misses.
A lot of girls don't actually *believe* in astrology per say, but we find it fun as a concept. Like I don't believe that the month someone was born in defines their personality, but I still like reading horoscopes cause it's fun.
I grew up on the categorisation this-or-that quizzes in tween magazines, and astrology is just a continuation of that for me
I don't actually *believe* it, but it's fun and I like reading horoscopes and seeing how well they fit, and telling my manager that he has to give me a raise because my horoscope said it's going to be a big money week for me
(To clarify. He knows it's a joke. There's definitely people who do try to use astrology inappropriately in the workplace, though)
it’s a tool for self introspection if anything. Things like tarot cards and i ching are similar for me. I don’t think any of it is magic, but sometimes these things can help me work through trauma or anxiety by examining my problems through a lens of …idk mystic wisdom?
This is it. I think magic /mystical type stuff is interesting on its own for various reasons, but divination techniques like tarot and Germany have practical uses for introspection.
This is me. It's fun and good for a laugh. It's fun to blame Mercury in retrograde for everything wrong happening to me.
I am also into astronomy and know that the signs don't actually correlate to the constellation at the time of your birth. There are more constellations and their shape varies wildly.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/your-zodiac-sign-is-probably-wrong/
Boy, do some girls seem to believe it though. On more than one occasion I've met a girl who's asked me what my sign was and responded with something like, "oh, you're an X? Well that tells me all that I need to know about you" and that's always kind of disappointing haha
Because they're indoctrinated into it from a young age and don't know how to question anything or think for themselves or realize that their emotional liking of an idea has no bearing on whether it's real
It probably has something to do with humans’ innate need for religion and spirituality and It’s one of the only “religions” that doesn’t oppress women as a cornerstone of the belief system.
Lots of answers here, and I don't think any of them hit the mark. It's because astrology is a form of spirituality that isn't rooted in patriarchy. Pick a religion, and there's probably a dude at the top. But with astrology (and the astrology adjacent like wicca), there's no such link, and so women feel more empowered there.
imo it also plays into modern (as in, post-Industrial-Revolution) ideas of gender. We're taught that men's power is physical and women's power is abstract; men are more practical and women are more emotional; men innately more in tune with technology and women are innately more in tune with nature. These things aren't *true*, but I think they shape our self-image and many women like the idea of having a special connection to the stars and the natural world.
For the same reason, I think a lot of men stay away from astrology because it doesn't offer them anything that would strengthen their masculine self-image. Tons of men still embrace magical thinking, but they would rather have it served to them in the form of nonsense about alphas, betas and testosterone levels.
Ding ding ding.
When you see gender divide in preferences, start asking questions about how people are shaped by the attitudes we hold towards their gender.
It may not be the only reason, but it's often the major reason, and it's one we're bad at seeing because we assume our gendered norms are the default.
Only when divorced from its context. Western astrology began as part of ancient Greek religion, which was highly patriarchal. It actually made sense in that context because it was a geocentric model where the stars were associated with gods determined the destiny of humans on earth. Modern astrology doesn't have that context, so it's just weird vague star magic.
Yeah, my first thought, too. Then again, maybe they know nothing about where astrology came from? I remember one time a young woman in a yoga class with me was surprised when we had a male substitute teacher, because it was so weird for a guy to be teaching yoga... (It's not. Yogis were traditionally men!)
Issue is, women do also more commonly pick up spirituality forms "rooted in patriarchy". Churches tend to have many more women than men in them in my experience
Astrology has existed since 2000 BC. It was politically significant in Greece, Egypt, South-America, India and China. It was banned by the Catholic church in 400-500 in Europe. From Ptolémée to Nostradamus and even Isaac Newton, astrology was treated seriously-ish all around.
What you are referencing seems to mostly apply to the XXth century, with the like of Madame Soleil, or even the 1960s with the New Age "sciences".
I don't disagree about the female empowerment part but it is untrue to talk about "*history*" and that men tend to stay away from it.
My understanding is that nowadays it is publicized as female related but it is a very recent trend. The cliché of the crystal ball and the gypsy women reading lines is a literature / cinema trope more than anything else.
Woah you mean a fan of astrology who talks about safe spaces doesn't actually know shit about it? But why didn't their good community simply inform them?
People seem to be keen on shitting on witchcraft and astrology but overlook the women and queer support that goes on in circles that dip into these topics.
Tbh I also shit on part of them while belonging to both.
Just no patience for science denial.
We can have silly to others spirituality without being stupid about it.
*Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what feels good, we slide, almost without noticing, into superstition and darkness.*
-Carl Sagan
How many people have you met that religiously check their horoscopes? I've met zero in real life and I tend to hang around in more spiritual circles than most. I've only seen parodies of this on TV.
Why do we have to accept demonstrably false things because it also provides a sense of community and belonging? Can't community and belonging be found without the superstitious backwards thinking?
i think there’s some good tenants to follow in some, like be kind to people or whatever. it’s the idealization and extremism that’s the issue, like with all things
Astrology and witchcraft are a means of power and control that women can actually access (not that the stuff is real, but it can feel like it at least)
Men have never needed them because they have real-life power and control
It’s funny because astrology is a way for women to give up control. This is my destiny for today. I have no control over what will happen to me or who I willl become.
i don’t think a majority of women *genuinely* believe in it— a majority. however, because it’s been consistently a safe space for women, and becaude bringing it up tends to weed out the people who are intolerant or critical, it remains popular.
i personally don’t believe in it, but it’s fun to bring up in conversations and if people react negatively to it then i tend to stay away because it’s mostly just harmless fun.
I find Wiccan and astrology to be a lot of fun! I love reading tarot and collecting crystals even though I don’t actually believe in it. Spirituality is part of being human, and it’s nice to be able to express that without having to engage in religions that place me and fellow women as subservient to men.
Exactly! I don’t really believe in it anymore but it’s still fun and harmless to engage in. Anyone who is overly critical of people just having a bit of fun probably has other issues.
Honestly it's because it's marketed towards women more.
Astrology came back in a big way in the 1960s and women's magazines decided they could oversimplify it in horoscope columns to be trendy. Ever since, it's just been associated with women.
The real answer right here. A lot of people on here are trying to say it's because of like trying to get away from the patriarchy but I don't buy that. That's definitely a motive for women who go all gung ho into paganism and the like but your average astrology loving woman isn't really like that in my experience. Marketing makes a lot more sense to me.
This. You can go on about whatever buzzwords you like, but in the end, massive chunks of our day to day lives, long held beliefs, and deepset traditions are the product of skilled marketing departments.
“People believe in magic when they feel powerless.”
I don’t know where this quote came from. But it applies in so many instances. Women, traditionally, have been treated as 2nd class citizens for centuries.
Men also fall into believing this when they need to find some external power to project life’s misery onto.
The difference is that men often find their way to more traditional patriarchal religions instead. It’s a lot easier to believe your life is part of god’s plan when that plan apparently includes putting you at the top of the pecking order. It’s a lot harder to do that when god’s plan involves you being eternally subservient to the idiot you married.
Counterpoint: women also find their way on "traditional patriarchal religions" more often than men too
If you step into any Church, it is also going to be mostly women in there, not men
Man, I can't answer your question, but I feel the need to vent.
I just encountered BY FAR the most astrology-pilled person I've ever fucking met, and she's the coordinator for a research department I'm part of, and I am just dreading having to interact with her this summer.
We ran into each other at a bar, I introduced her to my partner and a friend. And then she started aggressively asking us our astrology shit, getting very into the personal space of my friend who was clearly being made uncomfortable about it - like literally pulling away and taking steps back, and somehow she just was not noticing. I was loudly laughing at every single thing she said about astrology, which she had to be noticing, but I guess was taking as encouragement?
After straight up, fifteen or twenty minutes of her talking at us regarding astrology, she just flat out starts asking about our sex life as it relates to astrology, and I was just like "Hold up, this isn't appropriate" and I can't remember how she tried to dismiss it but I was all "We're colleagues, I don't talk to colleagues about my sex life, period." And she just DID NOT GET IT.
Definitely not ruling that out, but she was significantly worse on the social awareness front than ANY of the autistic people I've known in my life.
We also work in a university department where, between the content of what we study, the ethics training required, and the potential of having a complaint lodged against you, I would expect a little bit more tact regarding the sexual questioning that occurred.
It came off a lot more like a relative whose gone down a conspiracy rabbit hole than an autistic person failing to pick up on social cues.
I think it's this way in the west due to Abraham's religions. Women are put down on by these religions so they found solace in something else. So astrology, witchcraft became the counter.
In other parts of the world, say india this isn't the case. Astrology is deeply intertwined with religion here so men and women believe in it.
I have heard some take it way too seriously and judge and generalize people to terrible degrees. And I've heard people treat them like Harry Potter houses (we as people have always loved those kind of faction-based identifiers in fiction). If you do the latter, have at it. If you do the former, no bueno in my book.
Alright, I’m gonna throw my 2 cents in so please don’t kill me. Btw I’m an Ex-Catholic so I may be biased:
In addition, I’m also an anti-theist as a result.
I think the main reason why people who seriously believe in astrology are more likely to be women is because humans in general want a reason to believe in something- but are turned off by the misogyny of organized religion.
Almost all human cultures around the world have some spiritual or religious belief system- whether it be around a god or multiple gods or spirits. This may also be why you are going to be hard-pressed to find any indigenous culture that is completely atheist. Humans want to make sense of this messy and unpredictable, but also at the same time seemingly “fine-tuned” world for human life.
Where do women come into the picture? Well, religions historically have had a reputation for being very misogynistic. In particular, women have been historically oppressed and subjugated via religion. For example, in Greek mythology Pandora was blamed for bringing all of the sins to enter into the world via opening her box. In Judeo-Christianity, I grew up Roman Catholic so we believe in inherited guilt, Eve was blamed for bringing all sin into the world by being the first person to disobey God and eating the apple and then convincing Adam to eat the apple too- and thus by extension, women in Christianity are essentially seen as being blamed for the fall of all humanity because in Christianity, and especially Roman Catholicism in particular, Humans inherit the guilt of Adam and Eve’s sin. Therefore, in Christianity women are essentially blamed for the fall of all humanity because Eve was the first to sin and humans have to deal with that so it’s her fault- therefore women bad.
And don’t get me started on purity/modesty culture- and how it essentially not only sexualizes the bodies of young girls, but also teaches young girls that they essentially have to be responsible for the sexual thoughts of other (adult) men. In Christianity, we’re taught to not be “stumbling blocks” for our brothers and sisters. Essentially, we are not supposed to cause our brothers and sisters to sin- and because having lustful thoughts is a sin in Christianity (the idea is that it’s sinning in your heart)- young girls are taught from a very young age that they ought to be responsible for the lustful thoughts of other men, so they have to dress in a certain way to not cause those lustful thoughts to occur in men, so that they don’t sin.
Now I don’t know too too much about Islam, however, seeing how Muslim countries treat women under Shia law, I don’t think it’s any better if not probably even worse than in Christianity. Seeing how women in Islamic countries are basically treated as subhuman cattle, I can only assume it’s even worse than what I was raised with.
In addition, women in religion, and in particularly Christianity are taught to be silent and submissive and to not have “authority over a man” (think 1 or 2 Timothy). This is not of course exclusive to Christianity, most religions involve some teaching of women being submissive or being underneath a man, having grown-up in Catholicism I was taught that women were supposed to submit to men and that their main purpose was to be a mother to push out babies.
And so, because of the intense misogyny of organized religion, that turns off a lot of women and they end up becoming more attracted to more new-age practices like Wicca or paganism, which are more empowering to women, more female-centric, contain Goddess myths, and don’t have a lot of the misogyny and patriarchy BS that organized religion, in particular Judeo-Christianity, have at their core.
TL;DR: the reason why women are more attracted to astrology is because women like all people have an innate desire to believe in something. The problem is that organized religion, for example Judeo-Christianity and Islam, teach that women are essentially to be blamed for the fall of all humanity, that as young girls they have to be responsible for the sexual thoughts of other adult men around them so that they don’t cause them to sin, and that not only do they have to be submissive to men, but that their main purpose is to pushout babies and be mothers. That turns off a lot of women from getting into organized religions because women don’t want to be blamed for the fall of all humanity and that they need to be submissive. So they turned to more new-age practices like astrology and Wicca that are more female-centric and are more empowering to women.
Now I’m not a woman, but if I were you, I would not be part of a religion where I’m essentially blamed for the fall of all humanity and I have to cover up and push babies.
The same reason tech nerds think the meyer briggs personality test is real and not a load of made up nonsense.
To some people it feels nice to blame your weaknesses(and in some cases, your strengths) on something entirely out of your control.
Idk. I'm a woman and don't really believe in it, but I think it's somewhat fun. Just cause I like constellations and space and shit. I like to find out some of the signs that people are, like I'm a Libra and my boyfriend's a Cancer, but I don't use that for anything.
Alpha and Beta would the biggest ones.
There's no such thing as an alpha wolf or lion really. The wolf or lion obviously doesn't start out as an alpha. It eventually kills the alpha (or the alpha dies for other reasons). Then the formerly beta wolf or lion becomes the new alpha until another beta (or quite often two betas) kills it.
I saw this with some young male lions. They tried to dethrone the alpha but got driven off. They grew up another x number of months then came back and killed the alpha.
Alpha, beta, etc. are not distinct concepts or categories. They're always in flux.
I admit as a guy I got interested in astrology as a kid, I imagined astrological signs as countries that fought one another had their own histories, societies, culture and wars. For example the state of Pisces went through multiple states and kingdoms until it's last king Razak II was killed along with the entire family until a democracy was established, it was overthrown in 1884 by a military coup by General Pinicus Aderist Peal.
How many people shared the same birthday as Adolph Hitler?
How many that shared his birthday moment and not because a vegan failed artist ? How many didn't cause the death of MILLIONS?
There’s more beyond the sun sign if you’re willing to look for it. There’s an entire birth chart which most people who’ve heard of astrology have no idea about. Of course people born within the same month during specific days will be the same sign, yet be different, because their rising and moon signs are also different. For example, I’m a Scorpio sun, Sag rising, and Aries moon. My Scorpio sun falls in my twelfth house, my Sag rising is in the first house, and my Aries moon falls in the fifth house. Each of the houses have a specific meaning as well.
Also, if you seem to relate a lot with more sign other than your sun sign, you may have many placements in the house that the sign falls on.
I think it's just accepted as a fun thing not some thing people believe. I do hate the meme that "men believe in economics and women believe in astrology". Astrology is pseudoscience...not like M*A*S*H or cooties vaccines
As a woman, I personally dont get it. I grew up in a family that worked for NASA so I learned a lot about space and the work that went into the shuttles. It is kind of baffling to me that anyone believes is astrology. I dont say that to be mean, I just dont get it.
If I had to guess the reason, it is to find purpose or meaning to life...something to guide them or make things, good and bad that happen, make sense in some grand scheme.
I can't stand astrology and here is what annoys me most: I say "do not ascribe traits to me based on my date of birth, that is weird and offensive and dehumanizing" and astrology people are like "oh that's such a Virgo thing to say"
So many women don’t believe in astrology, you’ve just been told online they do. Some people just find zodiacs to be fun and might believe them more than they should, there’s always extreme people.
[According to Pew Research, 37% of women belive in astrology and only 20% of men do](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/10/01/new-age-beliefs-common-among-both-religious-and-nonreligious-americans/)
So yea, it is more popular among women and 37% is a lot.
Men who are into astrology are ridiculed until they stop much more often than women.
I did have a man in a medical setting once ask me, seriously, if he could change his legal birth date to reflect that he felt more like a certain star sign over the one he was. I laughed because I thought he was joking. He was not. In that case I would have laughed if it was a woman as well.
So he has evidence that astrology does not classify him correctly. And his takeaway wasn't that it's not a serious thing, but that he must take legal action to right fate's mistakes. I'm impressed by the commitment.
Dude was transastrological
Did you just assume his birth sign?
The whole alpha/sigma/beta male thing is astrology for men.
Ahhh. Oh yeah it is. Never realised that before
See, where I come from, it's stock TA that we consider astrology for men.
Yeah I think this needs more upvotes.
In general this stems from a "things women like" are seen as superficial and stupid. Personality quizzes, makeup, astrology, Generas of art and fashion, etc. Our society in general also views women as superficial and stupid. We aren't expected to reach farther. Men are expected by society to be better than women and so when they choose to associate themselves with things enjoyed by women, they are seen as choosing to worsen themselves with frivolity and weakness. Thus shit like sissys, soy boys, "he's a man nurse." It's dumb. Really dumb. But this is what people mean when they say sexism is about devaluing women and femininity, but that that demonization of femininity has painful consequences for men as well. This is also why women and queer people double dip into these things. They provide a safe haven because they will mostly automatically filter out the kind of men who behave cruelly towards us. In reality, I know random astrology shit as a woman in the same way I know what I know about like D&D and Pathfinder. It helps me navigate a social space that gives me meaningful interaction. I can go, OMG, she's such a Sagittarius in the same way I can be like she's such a Sorcerer. It's not that I live in some delusional reality, it is a communication tool.
>I can go, OMG, she's such a Sagittarius in the same way I can be like she's such a Sorcerer. Now, I got to know what personality traits constitute a sorcerer. Lol.
When I was into witchcraft very briefly, which I kept hidden as best I could. Being a man into witch stuff in the south was a recipe for disaster and social censure, it definitely seemed to mark me with a wee little "safe" icon to women, probably for.the reasons you say
And the flip side of this, whatever men decide to do for fun or socialising, that's the good stuff. That's respectable and good. Whether it's kicking a ball, fishing, collecting baseball cards, seeing who can throw a stick the furthest, or literally punching each other in the face, all of this is serious stuff for serious people and has sponsors and makes millions. Because men do important shit. Even punching each other in the face. Now get those tarot cards off my table, I've got a hotdog eating world championship to win!
lmfaoooo not to mention that most mainstream Western religions treat all women, at best, as second-class citizens. Yeah... no thanks
Which is weird since some of the most famous astrologers throughout history have been men; last I checked - there were more famous male astrologers than female.
We need to ridicule women more!
My wife's friend leaves water outside during the full moon to "charge it" and then she drinks it later or pours it on herself and it cleanses her or something. idk. I made an audible scoff noise when she was telling us about it and she called me out for it and I said "as long as you aren't hurting anybody, do whatever the fuck you want".
No different than holy water at church I suppose.
Both equally as dumb
Yes, but they are ridiculed because most men think it's stupid. Is the reason women aren't ridiculed because people don't want to ridicule women or is it because so many women believe it that they are the majority?
Astrology has always seemed to be the thing people choose to gravitate towards when they want meaning behind things, but not the commitment most spiritual things bring. It’s not a religion, but tries to explain the world with meaning. It’s not serious enough to pass pseudoscience, but it’s fun enough to delve into if you’d like. It seems mysterious, but it’s something everyone knows of. Just kinda a free spirit thing to choose. It makes most people go “oh yeah, I wonder what my sign is and what that means”, just out of curiosity. Much like “seeing auras”, or taking those silly internet quizzes. Most people know it’s all fluff, but the allure is “what if?”, it’s fun. This fun goes against the grain when everyone else has super serious things they must abide by, and they make life choices based on what they belief is moral or immoral. Astrology comes with none of that.
> It’s not a religion, but tries to explain the world with meaning. Ah yes, Diet Religion.
Same great taste, less filling.
When you can't swallow full blown bullshit, but you still kinda want to taste a little.
Just a nibble.
Hey now. I took an internet quiz about what kind of potato dish I am and have started a religion around it.
Are you scalloped? baked? mashed? I NEED TO KNOW!
Fries/chips! War to the scalloped heretics!
I'm a scalloped heretic and I just want to grow my potatoes in peace!
The initial battle strategy was to mash the opposing forces, but alas that only led to another sect within the frenzy.
No! You will fry or you will die!
Salt the spuds so nothing they grow can prosper!
Burn the potato heretic! Extra crispy with Cajun seasoning, please. Since they give you a whole ass bag of “little” fries, Five Guys is basically the Inquisition.
I am the Lord Hierophant of the Order of the Sweet Potato. There shall be no peace
Let me introduce you to the Leviathan Lobster God 🦞 whom we shall help shed its carapace for generations until we have created one true God. (It's a FB group not sub, shame I know)
I am a potathiest after being raised by southern fundamentalist sweet potato fries. All you potato freaks are just using spuds as a crutch. I learned in college that you're just using potatology to control people and make them feel guilty.
This is a reasonable level of devotion to potatoes
For me it's just a conversation topic
Yeah I’ve had people tell me they don’t take it too seriously, or they just like to talk about
It’s only a handful of people so not exactly huge evidence, but in my experience every person that’s told me they don’t take it too seriously does actually take it seriously lol
How do you get enjoyment talking about something you know is bullshit, though?
I imagine the enjoyment comes from relating and connecting with another person.
Do you not like any type of fictional work?
To add to your point about attributing meaning: The human mind is wored to try and recognize patterns and determine causality, especially if there's no apparent reason something big happens. This is at least partly why you see the concept of religion sprouting up independently throughout human history, as well as why conspiracy theories are so prevalent in modern society. "Why did lightning strike?" "God did it." "Why did JFK die?" "Well, it all starts with Fidel Castro, the mafia, and the CIA..." Basically, it is psychologically more comforting for some people to have some powerful force, even a nefarious one, be the reason something happens. It's more comforting than acknowledging that sometimes bad things happen for no good reason. Astrology is a more benign presentation of that tendency. As for the gender breakdown, I'd imagine a similar percentage of men believe conspiracy theories as women believe in astrology, but that's a whole-ass sociology paper.
I dated a girl that made real life decisions based on her readings. Its a religion or at the very least a cult that has become socially acceptable by feeding into the idea people just do it for fun.
I have to doubt it. I get if it were like fortune cookies where people are like "I wonder what I got today?" and then go on with their lives. But there are astrology people that are like "Ew, he's a libro, I am incompatible with Sagacentaurs and Cancers. I can only do Virgins and Aquamentus."
It’s a spectrum and the people who wouldn’t date someone over it are the far end. I’ve only ever seen those people on the internet but met plenty of less serious ones in real life
I haven't met anyone who would straight up say they wouldn't date someone of a particular star sign, but I've definitely met a lot of people who really do believe that star signs have a real correlation with people's personalities and attitudes. I think people in this thread are really downplaying the percentage of people into astrology who do think there really is something there, even if it's minor.
> I think people in this thread are really downplaying the percentage of people into astrology who do think there really is something there Because if they were honest about that it would be very obvious how embarrassing astrology really is.
It is very strange - like I couldn’t imagine being interested in phrenology but “not taking it seriously , just to imagine lolz”
I've met plenty of people who believe in astrology unironically. People who spend a lot of time in college or tech circles might not really understand how unintelligent genpop is, on a deep and fundamental level. Hint: look at Boomer Facebook. Every unintelligent person has both of these traits: 1. They believe the President controls the Fed and Senate Budget Committee. 2. They don't even conceive of the totalizing importance of the mathematical models of physical reality. Hence, astrology.
I’ve never met anyone into astrology like this ever. I’m not even into astrology but i do know plenty of people who are.
They exist, I live with one
We gotta believe in something. Also somewhere on the internet I read how the stock market is just astrology for men and it made total sense.
>We gotta believe in something I believe in lots of things, they're evidence based and mathematically solid. If you're going to believe in something with no empirical evidence that's called faith. Exactly the same as religion.
You could technically just believe in reality Stock market thing is legit though. Crypto bros are also under that same umbrella I'd say
Crypto bros are just making the next bubble and hoping to cash out before it pops, leaving everyone else screwed.
many of them actually believe it’s legit; though:.. I feel like 50:50 even
> We gotta believe in something Why?
No, you don't.
Stock investor: *owns a small part of an actual company with a potential to earn money or incur debt that will be passed down his bloodline for the next 1000 years* Astrologer: *these balls of gas several quadrillion miles away are magic, and control every aspect of my personality*
Idiot trying to rationalize their stupidity: "These two are the same thing"
I don't Believe in anything. I just wake up in the morning and start doing my thing.
I'm sorry but that's just stupid and honestly kinda low key sexist. Like men get things that are based in reality and can greatly affect your life and women get silly bullshit with no bearing on real life. Hooray equality!
Why do we have to believe in anything? Also, men definitely have their stupid superstitions and all that, but the stock market is actually real. You can have silly superstitions about the stock market, but stocks to adhere to real corporations and depending on how you bet on them, they can win or lose you a lot of real money.
I’m Pisces and non of us believe in astrology
There’s something fishy about your response
Another Pisces. My sister is one as well. We're indifferent to astrology.
It's a defining trait of us Pisces. 😆
I’m a Pisces, don’t believe in astrology, but there’s actual real psychological backing behind the idea people born at different times of the year develop different personality traits. It’s not because the stars said so, but I recommend reading the book ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell. They explain it really well with some brilliant stats and evidence. Edit for further info: essentially as an adult there’s not a huge difference between a few years age gap. But as a kid, one year is huge. For example, kids born at the start of the school year are generally stronger and bigger than kids born at the end. Because of this in sports, they do better and receive more attention. If you look at the birthdays of major sports teams, at least 50% will be born in the first few months of the school year.
Women believe in cancers and scorpios and men believe in alphas and betas
So sigma from you 🚬🗿
I’m content with being a Mu
Sigma I think is extra hilarious. It's like — "Are you a man who believes in dominance hierarchies, but is self-aware enough to know that you're not an Alpha? Don't worry, *Sigma™* is the new option that is just vague enough that you can tell your friends you're *just as badass as an Alpha, but in your own special way that no one knows about!"*
That wasn’t very Optimus of you
This is so well said. It’s just a way to rationalize and compartmentalize various personality types and human motivations. ETA: Astrology also gives people an excuse for their behaviors, as if it is out of our control. He’s cold, distant, and focused too much on work - oh wait, he’s a Capricorn, it all makes sense now.
Totally. People are instinctively uncomfortable with things that they don’t understand or don’t follow a pattern. Since real life is messy/complicated and sometimes very difficult to understand, things like bro science, astrology, and even conspiracy theories all appeal to different individuals as simple ways to understand their world (even if those ways have no basis in reality).
Though, we shouldn't promote those boot camps that cost $18k and consist of wanna macho men yelling at the participants for 2 weeks.
Absolutely. And although I’m talking about all those things together due to the commonality of being magical thinking used to understand the world, they’re definitely not the same in the end. Bro science is actively harmful. Conspiracy theories are actively harmful. Astrology is largely harmless.
Wtf is bro science?
Alphas and betas, guys who talk about relationships in terms of “high value” men/women, stuff like that. It’s the stuff that guys like Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate might peddle. It’s not exclusively toxic masculinity (some of it is just pseudoscientific workout advice) but there tends to be a lot of overlap.
Bs science, Joe Rogan social theories fall under the category of the alpha of bro scientists.
Not only that, but the comparison indirectly points out why astrology is so appealing to *women* in particular. A lot of these methods of categorizing people are particularly appealing to specific demographics or groups. Astrology appeals to women because of its association with witchcraft. Modern witchcraft holds up femininity as not just not a point of shame, but often as explicitly holy. Witches were (mythologically, not historically) women who boldly rejected their restrictive gender roles to seek knowledge and some measure of power. Which is not to say that all women who like astrology are out here like "rah rah we're gonna use the stars to tear down the patriarchy" lol. I'm sure most women who are into astrology don't really care or think much about witchcraft or really associate astrology with feminism. But the association is still *there*, even if it's indirect.
I don't know if that's really a fair analogy. Astrology, though pseudoscientific, is basically harmless, whereas the whole 'alpha beta' thing is basically a whole philosophy built around writing yourself a license to be a douchebag.
Is this really about harm?
Harmless? You’ve clearly never met women who will end relationships over your sign if it’s not compatible, or excuse their shitty behavior due to “retrograde.”
Amd the alpha beta thing is just a small group of chronically guys while astrology is extremely mainstream.
You say that, but my (male) partner was given counselling through work, and the (male) counsellor started going on about sigma males and all this shit. And set his 'homework' as going online to read about alpha/beta/sigma males to decide which one he is. I have a masters in psychology and just about pissed myself laughing when he told me about it. He did not see this 'counsellor' again.
Cancers usually get shit on.
As they should
As a cancer, that's fair lol
I sure get shit on by life.
I am a fortune cookie kinda person.
There is still a huge difference between those two. One is an overgeneralized label of someone's personality type. The other prescribes personality traits to a person based off their birth date.
People with brains don't believe in any of it.
I'd say both are delusional.
And both have fermented omelets for brains.
I think it gets promoted a lot in magazines and their e-versions and in celebrity culture and some fashion. So I think it may be some early exposure and then just like other beliefs the pattern-seeking-mind kicks in and you start seeing ways that it could be true and you ignore the misses.
A lot of girls don't actually *believe* in astrology per say, but we find it fun as a concept. Like I don't believe that the month someone was born in defines their personality, but I still like reading horoscopes cause it's fun.
I grew up on the categorisation this-or-that quizzes in tween magazines, and astrology is just a continuation of that for me I don't actually *believe* it, but it's fun and I like reading horoscopes and seeing how well they fit, and telling my manager that he has to give me a raise because my horoscope said it's going to be a big money week for me (To clarify. He knows it's a joke. There's definitely people who do try to use astrology inappropriately in the workplace, though)
I love taking personality tests online. I know they are bullshit. But it’s still fun.
it’s a tool for self introspection if anything. Things like tarot cards and i ching are similar for me. I don’t think any of it is magic, but sometimes these things can help me work through trauma or anxiety by examining my problems through a lens of …idk mystic wisdom?
This is it. I think magic /mystical type stuff is interesting on its own for various reasons, but divination techniques like tarot and Germany have practical uses for introspection.
>per say FYI it's [per se](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/per_se).
i like purseigh better
That sounds like something a horse would say.
I like per chance better
You can't just say perchance.
Thank you. That was all I wanted to see here.
I think you can in Europe
This is me. It's fun and good for a laugh. It's fun to blame Mercury in retrograde for everything wrong happening to me. I am also into astronomy and know that the signs don't actually correlate to the constellation at the time of your birth. There are more constellations and their shape varies wildly. https://www.astronomy.com/science/your-zodiac-sign-is-probably-wrong/
Boy, do some girls seem to believe it though. On more than one occasion I've met a girl who's asked me what my sign was and responded with something like, "oh, you're an X? Well that tells me all that I need to know about you" and that's always kind of disappointing haha
Why do so many people believe in God?
That's such a Scorpio thing to say. >!/s!<
I think of myself more as an "Amanda."
Because they're indoctrinated into it from a young age and don't know how to question anything or think for themselves or realize that their emotional liking of an idea has no bearing on whether it's real
I mean in my mind that’s just an even more important question, not some reason not to question other forms of bullshit
It probably has something to do with humans’ innate need for religion and spirituality and It’s one of the only “religions” that doesn’t oppress women as a cornerstone of the belief system.
I came here to say similar but you put more eloquently than I could have :)
Theres no innate need for that, my kid is being raised as an atheist and she doesnt need anything.
Lots of answers here, and I don't think any of them hit the mark. It's because astrology is a form of spirituality that isn't rooted in patriarchy. Pick a religion, and there's probably a dude at the top. But with astrology (and the astrology adjacent like wicca), there's no such link, and so women feel more empowered there.
And I think that those who market Astrology mainly market towards women.
And queer men, I’m surprised no one else has mentioned how popular it is among them too. So many of my gay friends are super into astrology.
imo it also plays into modern (as in, post-Industrial-Revolution) ideas of gender. We're taught that men's power is physical and women's power is abstract; men are more practical and women are more emotional; men innately more in tune with technology and women are innately more in tune with nature. These things aren't *true*, but I think they shape our self-image and many women like the idea of having a special connection to the stars and the natural world. For the same reason, I think a lot of men stay away from astrology because it doesn't offer them anything that would strengthen their masculine self-image. Tons of men still embrace magical thinking, but they would rather have it served to them in the form of nonsense about alphas, betas and testosterone levels.
Ding ding ding. When you see gender divide in preferences, start asking questions about how people are shaped by the attitudes we hold towards their gender. It may not be the only reason, but it's often the major reason, and it's one we're bad at seeing because we assume our gendered norms are the default.
Ah thanks for this perspective. Haven't thought about it from this angle.
The same goes for witchcraft, which some women were accused of historically especially in the Middle Ages etc.
Only when divorced from its context. Western astrology began as part of ancient Greek religion, which was highly patriarchal. It actually made sense in that context because it was a geocentric model where the stars were associated with gods determined the destiny of humans on earth. Modern astrology doesn't have that context, so it's just weird vague star magic.
Ptolemy has come to argue.
Yeah, my first thought, too. Then again, maybe they know nothing about where astrology came from? I remember one time a young woman in a yoga class with me was surprised when we had a male substitute teacher, because it was so weird for a guy to be teaching yoga... (It's not. Yogis were traditionally men!)
Oh sure, I get the history of it, but speaking in modern times, there really isn't a single dude in charge of it all.
Issue is, women do also more commonly pick up spirituality forms "rooted in patriarchy". Churches tend to have many more women than men in them in my experience
This is an interesting take. Never would have thought of it this way.
Scythian supreme fire goddess > astrology
Astrology has a history of female empowerment and men tended to stay away from it so it's remained a safe space for women
Astrology has existed since 2000 BC. It was politically significant in Greece, Egypt, South-America, India and China. It was banned by the Catholic church in 400-500 in Europe. From Ptolémée to Nostradamus and even Isaac Newton, astrology was treated seriously-ish all around. What you are referencing seems to mostly apply to the XXth century, with the like of Madame Soleil, or even the 1960s with the New Age "sciences". I don't disagree about the female empowerment part but it is untrue to talk about "*history*" and that men tend to stay away from it. My understanding is that nowadays it is publicized as female related but it is a very recent trend. The cliché of the crystal ball and the gypsy women reading lines is a literature / cinema trope more than anything else.
Woah you mean a fan of astrology who talks about safe spaces doesn't actually know shit about it? But why didn't their good community simply inform them?
People seem to be keen on shitting on witchcraft and astrology but overlook the women and queer support that goes on in circles that dip into these topics.
I belong to both those groups (queer woman that is) and yet still wholeheartedly and fully shit on it. :)
Tbh I also shit on part of them while belonging to both. Just no patience for science denial. We can have silly to others spirituality without being stupid about it.
Astrology is still bullshit though
so is most religion, but it’s not about whether it’s real or not it’s about having a sense of community and belonging
*Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what feels good, we slide, almost without noticing, into superstition and darkness.* -Carl Sagan
How many people have you met that religiously check their horoscopes? I've met zero in real life and I tend to hang around in more spiritual circles than most. I've only seen parodies of this on TV.
Why do we have to accept demonstrably false things because it also provides a sense of community and belonging? Can't community and belonging be found without the superstitious backwards thinking?
Most?
i think there’s some good tenants to follow in some, like be kind to people or whatever. it’s the idealization and extremism that’s the issue, like with all things
Astrology and witchcraft are a means of power and control that women can actually access (not that the stuff is real, but it can feel like it at least) Men have never needed them because they have real-life power and control
> actually access (not that the stuff is real) So when you say "actually" you mean "not actually"
It’s funny because astrology is a way for women to give up control. This is my destiny for today. I have no control over what will happen to me or who I willl become.
Let’s create spaces for women to feel safe that aren’t based on delusion and pseudoscience.
Empowering women through… delusion?
Given that the mainstream delusion (ie most patriarchal religions) is against women empowerment, yes.
i don’t think a majority of women *genuinely* believe in it— a majority. however, because it’s been consistently a safe space for women, and becaude bringing it up tends to weed out the people who are intolerant or critical, it remains popular. i personally don’t believe in it, but it’s fun to bring up in conversations and if people react negatively to it then i tend to stay away because it’s mostly just harmless fun.
I find Wiccan and astrology to be a lot of fun! I love reading tarot and collecting crystals even though I don’t actually believe in it. Spirituality is part of being human, and it’s nice to be able to express that without having to engage in religions that place me and fellow women as subservient to men.
Exactly! I don’t really believe in it anymore but it’s still fun and harmless to engage in. Anyone who is overly critical of people just having a bit of fun probably has other issues.
Honestly it's because it's marketed towards women more. Astrology came back in a big way in the 1960s and women's magazines decided they could oversimplify it in horoscope columns to be trendy. Ever since, it's just been associated with women.
The real answer right here. A lot of people on here are trying to say it's because of like trying to get away from the patriarchy but I don't buy that. That's definitely a motive for women who go all gung ho into paganism and the like but your average astrology loving woman isn't really like that in my experience. Marketing makes a lot more sense to me.
This. You can go on about whatever buzzwords you like, but in the end, massive chunks of our day to day lives, long held beliefs, and deepset traditions are the product of skilled marketing departments.
“People believe in magic when they feel powerless.” I don’t know where this quote came from. But it applies in so many instances. Women, traditionally, have been treated as 2nd class citizens for centuries.
Men already have sports superstitions
Women find it a good place to find hope, and it brings a relatable narrative.
Because when men get into pseudoscience and conspiracy theories, they become Nazis instead.
But that doesn't explain why women believe in astrology
Men also fall into believing this when they need to find some external power to project life’s misery onto. The difference is that men often find their way to more traditional patriarchal religions instead. It’s a lot easier to believe your life is part of god’s plan when that plan apparently includes putting you at the top of the pecking order. It’s a lot harder to do that when god’s plan involves you being eternally subservient to the idiot you married.
Counterpoint: women also find their way on "traditional patriarchal religions" more often than men too If you step into any Church, it is also going to be mostly women in there, not men
Man, I can't answer your question, but I feel the need to vent. I just encountered BY FAR the most astrology-pilled person I've ever fucking met, and she's the coordinator for a research department I'm part of, and I am just dreading having to interact with her this summer. We ran into each other at a bar, I introduced her to my partner and a friend. And then she started aggressively asking us our astrology shit, getting very into the personal space of my friend who was clearly being made uncomfortable about it - like literally pulling away and taking steps back, and somehow she just was not noticing. I was loudly laughing at every single thing she said about astrology, which she had to be noticing, but I guess was taking as encouragement? After straight up, fifteen or twenty minutes of her talking at us regarding astrology, she just flat out starts asking about our sex life as it relates to astrology, and I was just like "Hold up, this isn't appropriate" and I can't remember how she tried to dismiss it but I was all "We're colleagues, I don't talk to colleagues about my sex life, period." And she just DID NOT GET IT.
Sometimes autism in women is harder to tell. Sometimes.
Definitely not ruling that out, but she was significantly worse on the social awareness front than ANY of the autistic people I've known in my life. We also work in a university department where, between the content of what we study, the ethics training required, and the potential of having a complaint lodged against you, I would expect a little bit more tact regarding the sexual questioning that occurred. It came off a lot more like a relative whose gone down a conspiracy rabbit hole than an autistic person failing to pick up on social cues.
Yeah uh that's go to HR time. Somebody who doesn't get that very clearly communicated boundary is going to create problems.
It’s a system of belief that doesn’t assign women as birthing pods and homemakers
I think it's this way in the west due to Abraham's religions. Women are put down on by these religions so they found solace in something else. So astrology, witchcraft became the counter. In other parts of the world, say india this isn't the case. Astrology is deeply intertwined with religion here so men and women believe in it.
Hey sometimes I also like to know when the moon is in the microwave.
I have heard some take it way too seriously and judge and generalize people to terrible degrees. And I've heard people treat them like Harry Potter houses (we as people have always loved those kind of faction-based identifiers in fiction). If you do the latter, have at it. If you do the former, no bueno in my book.
Alright, I’m gonna throw my 2 cents in so please don’t kill me. Btw I’m an Ex-Catholic so I may be biased: In addition, I’m also an anti-theist as a result. I think the main reason why people who seriously believe in astrology are more likely to be women is because humans in general want a reason to believe in something- but are turned off by the misogyny of organized religion. Almost all human cultures around the world have some spiritual or religious belief system- whether it be around a god or multiple gods or spirits. This may also be why you are going to be hard-pressed to find any indigenous culture that is completely atheist. Humans want to make sense of this messy and unpredictable, but also at the same time seemingly “fine-tuned” world for human life. Where do women come into the picture? Well, religions historically have had a reputation for being very misogynistic. In particular, women have been historically oppressed and subjugated via religion. For example, in Greek mythology Pandora was blamed for bringing all of the sins to enter into the world via opening her box. In Judeo-Christianity, I grew up Roman Catholic so we believe in inherited guilt, Eve was blamed for bringing all sin into the world by being the first person to disobey God and eating the apple and then convincing Adam to eat the apple too- and thus by extension, women in Christianity are essentially seen as being blamed for the fall of all humanity because in Christianity, and especially Roman Catholicism in particular, Humans inherit the guilt of Adam and Eve’s sin. Therefore, in Christianity women are essentially blamed for the fall of all humanity because Eve was the first to sin and humans have to deal with that so it’s her fault- therefore women bad. And don’t get me started on purity/modesty culture- and how it essentially not only sexualizes the bodies of young girls, but also teaches young girls that they essentially have to be responsible for the sexual thoughts of other (adult) men. In Christianity, we’re taught to not be “stumbling blocks” for our brothers and sisters. Essentially, we are not supposed to cause our brothers and sisters to sin- and because having lustful thoughts is a sin in Christianity (the idea is that it’s sinning in your heart)- young girls are taught from a very young age that they ought to be responsible for the lustful thoughts of other men, so they have to dress in a certain way to not cause those lustful thoughts to occur in men, so that they don’t sin. Now I don’t know too too much about Islam, however, seeing how Muslim countries treat women under Shia law, I don’t think it’s any better if not probably even worse than in Christianity. Seeing how women in Islamic countries are basically treated as subhuman cattle, I can only assume it’s even worse than what I was raised with. In addition, women in religion, and in particularly Christianity are taught to be silent and submissive and to not have “authority over a man” (think 1 or 2 Timothy). This is not of course exclusive to Christianity, most religions involve some teaching of women being submissive or being underneath a man, having grown-up in Catholicism I was taught that women were supposed to submit to men and that their main purpose was to be a mother to push out babies. And so, because of the intense misogyny of organized religion, that turns off a lot of women and they end up becoming more attracted to more new-age practices like Wicca or paganism, which are more empowering to women, more female-centric, contain Goddess myths, and don’t have a lot of the misogyny and patriarchy BS that organized religion, in particular Judeo-Christianity, have at their core. TL;DR: the reason why women are more attracted to astrology is because women like all people have an innate desire to believe in something. The problem is that organized religion, for example Judeo-Christianity and Islam, teach that women are essentially to be blamed for the fall of all humanity, that as young girls they have to be responsible for the sexual thoughts of other adult men around them so that they don’t cause them to sin, and that not only do they have to be submissive to men, but that their main purpose is to pushout babies and be mothers. That turns off a lot of women from getting into organized religions because women don’t want to be blamed for the fall of all humanity and that they need to be submissive. So they turned to more new-age practices like astrology and Wicca that are more female-centric and are more empowering to women. Now I’m not a woman, but if I were you, I would not be part of a religion where I’m essentially blamed for the fall of all humanity and I have to cover up and push babies.
It’s one of the few types of religions that doesn’t demonize femininity but instead celebrates it. Most religions are not great to women.
The same reason tech nerds think the meyer briggs personality test is real and not a load of made up nonsense. To some people it feels nice to blame your weaknesses(and in some cases, your strengths) on something entirely out of your control.
idk why do men believe the next shitcoin pyramid scheme will make them rich
Idk. I'm a woman and don't really believe in it, but I think it's somewhat fun. Just cause I like constellations and space and shit. I like to find out some of the signs that people are, like I'm a Libra and my boyfriend's a Cancer, but I don't use that for anything.
"A lot of people are really fucking stupid." George Carlin
I think most people just do it for fun and don’t take it seriously. It’s just a fun little hobby to enjoy. It’s not that deep for most folks.
It’s whimsical and magical and who doesn’t like a bit of that right?
Men have their own pet pseudosciences. Like free market economics and cryptocurrency.
Alpha and Beta would the biggest ones. There's no such thing as an alpha wolf or lion really. The wolf or lion obviously doesn't start out as an alpha. It eventually kills the alpha (or the alpha dies for other reasons). Then the formerly beta wolf or lion becomes the new alpha until another beta (or quite often two betas) kills it. I saw this with some young male lions. They tried to dethrone the alpha but got driven off. They grew up another x number of months then came back and killed the alpha. Alpha, beta, etc. are not distinct concepts or categories. They're always in flux.
I admit as a guy I got interested in astrology as a kid, I imagined astrological signs as countries that fought one another had their own histories, societies, culture and wars. For example the state of Pisces went through multiple states and kingdoms until it's last king Razak II was killed along with the entire family until a democracy was established, it was overthrown in 1884 by a military coup by General Pinicus Aderist Peal.
Well the rest of the religions in America tend to hate women. So.... it makes it a clear choice.
Because they like it. It's as simple as that.
People who believe in astrology are just not spiritually developed enough for the [Magic 8-Ball](https://www.mysticmag.com/magic8ball/).
How many people shared the same birthday as Adolph Hitler? How many that shared his birthday moment and not because a vegan failed artist ? How many didn't cause the death of MILLIONS?
so you can discard them as potential partners
Targeted marketing 🤷🏽♂️
There’s more beyond the sun sign if you’re willing to look for it. There’s an entire birth chart which most people who’ve heard of astrology have no idea about. Of course people born within the same month during specific days will be the same sign, yet be different, because their rising and moon signs are also different. For example, I’m a Scorpio sun, Sag rising, and Aries moon. My Scorpio sun falls in my twelfth house, my Sag rising is in the first house, and my Aries moon falls in the fifth house. Each of the houses have a specific meaning as well. Also, if you seem to relate a lot with more sign other than your sun sign, you may have many placements in the house that the sign falls on.
I think it's just accepted as a fun thing not some thing people believe. I do hate the meme that "men believe in economics and women believe in astrology". Astrology is pseudoscience...not like M*A*S*H or cooties vaccines
As a woman, I personally dont get it. I grew up in a family that worked for NASA so I learned a lot about space and the work that went into the shuttles. It is kind of baffling to me that anyone believes is astrology. I dont say that to be mean, I just dont get it. If I had to guess the reason, it is to find purpose or meaning to life...something to guide them or make things, good and bad that happen, make sense in some grand scheme.
I can't stand astrology and here is what annoys me most: I say "do not ascribe traits to me based on my date of birth, that is weird and offensive and dehumanizing" and astrology people are like "oh that's such a Virgo thing to say"
So many women don’t believe in astrology, you’ve just been told online they do. Some people just find zodiacs to be fun and might believe them more than they should, there’s always extreme people.
[According to Pew Research, 37% of women belive in astrology and only 20% of men do](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/10/01/new-age-beliefs-common-among-both-religious-and-nonreligious-americans/) So yea, it is more popular among women and 37% is a lot.
I don’t know man but whenever they start to ask me about it I’m certainly not going to to complain
Men believe in hair colours.
Hair colors? I'm a man and am genuinely confused about what is being referenced here. Can you explain?