The language surrounding soybean caution assumes a heteronormative, Western-centric, cisgender lens wherein foods can disrupt “normal bodies.” The othering of non-white and queer bodies and minds is what fueled the pseudoscience associated with the soybean panic of the early aughts. ​ In 2006, James (Jim) Rutz, chairman of Megashift Ministries and founder-chairman of Open Church Ministries, wrote the article Soy is making kids ‘gay’ for World Net Daily, questioning the ethics of soy consumption with an emphasis on its supposed correlation to homosexuality. Rutz makes it clear that he is “not anti-health food,” but he is against the seemingly inescapable and feminizing soybean. ​ He continues by referencing uncited research that determined feeding a baby soy formula administers the equivalent of “five birth control pills a day.” A 2004 study by Russell J. Merritt and Belinda H. Jenks shows clinical evidence that “dietary isoflavones in soy infant formulas do not adversely affect human growth, development, or reproduction.” But according to ministry chairman Rutz, the damages of such products can be “fatal.” Feeding your baby girl soy formula may fast-track her first period to the age of seven and delay your boy’s puberty, stunt his penis growth, or make him a homosexual. ​ Rachel Vaughn reframes the soybean panic in her 2022 article Queer, Toxic Soybeans and Estrogen Panic: Gendered Food Fearmongering for Media + Environment. Vaughn breaks down claims of chemical castration via soy isoflavone consumption through scientifically backed medical research, rejecting social ideologies of masculine (meat-eater) and feminine (vegetarian) diets. Vaughn cites multiple studies investigating the effects of soy-rich diets on mice and rats. The results vary with dosing and exposure duration. Although these studies produced different hormonal effects in the animals, they do not directly translate to human consumption through either soy isoflavone ingestion or the isolated quantities of soy that occur in human diets. Vaughn concludes by reminding readers to “embrace complex nutritional nuances” and that “emphasizing dietary context, timing, and dosage is absolutely key.” Works Cited Rutz, J., “Soy is making kids ‘gay’”. World Net Daily, Dec. 2006, https://www.wnd.com/2006/12/39253/ Merritt, R., and Jenks, B. “Safety of Soy-Based Infant Formulas Containing Isoflavones: The Clinical Evidence”. vol. 134, no. 5, The Journal of Nutrition, May 2004, pp. 1220-24. ScienceDirect, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316623027906 Vaughn, R., “Quee, Toxic Soybeans and Estrogen Panic: Gendered Food Fearmongering”. vol. 4, no. 2, Media + Environment, Sep. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1525/001c.37271