A while ago, I saw a TikTok about a woman explaining how when she goes on dates she’ll always ask men what their sign is, not because she is genuinely curious, but because the way they react tells her everything she needs to know about that person.
I can’t even begin to explain the number of times I’ve asked a man what his sign is and I’ll get the classic response of “don’t tell me you believe that garbage”. For instance, I specifically remember the time when a man turned to me, unprovoked, and said “you seem like the type of girl to believe in astrology” in the most insulting tone imaginable. What is it with men and hating astrology? They will constantly give you the excuse of science but in reality, I believe there’s a strong and underlying misogynistic tone.
An article called “Do you hate astrology or are you just sexist?” brings up an excellent point about where astrology is found in our day-to-day lives. Specifically, daily horoscopes are typically in magazines directed towards identifying women. You aren’t going to open up Sports Illustrated, a magazine with a mainly male-identifying audience, to find a spot in the corner talking about how Libra’s are going to fall in love next week. Horoscope readings are saved for female-dominated magazines like Cosmopolitan.
The article continues on to mention the other dominating topics we find in women-oriented magazines. Makeup, fashion, pop culture, and all of these sections are associated with being “dumb” or “shallow” simply because of women like them. Women are mocked for every single interest they have, so of course, astrology is just another factor to slap onto that list. There are men who feel entitled to belittle every single thing a woman likes. If you do like makeup and fashion then you’re just like every other girl. If you like sports or other typically male-dominated activities then you’re doing it for attention.
Furthermore, astrology is actually an incredibly complex practice. There’s more to it than generalizing to “all Leos are going to have a bad day today”. There are so many planets and their different phases that have to be taken into account and generally astrology isn’t used to predict the future, it’s used to help understand yourself. It’s just like any other spiritual practice that is judged significantly less, but of course, astrology is always dumbed down to “haha women believe in the stars”.
Not everyone needs to believe in astrology but there is also no harm in letting people believe what they want. You won’t lose anything by just telling someone your star sign but you will probably come off as rude if you shut down the idea of the zodiac right away.
Moral of the story: just let people be. Women who believe in astrology aren’t dumb and the misogyny towards astrology isn’t cute. So keep asking people their sign! Their reaction to the question will tell you everything you need to know.