Women are testing men's tofu tolerance. Here's why

Do you like tofu? Your reaction to that question may say more about you than you realize.

Or at least, that's what some women on social media are arguing, using men's reactions to the soy-based product as a sort of litmus test for how they view women.

"Men's views on tofu directly reflect their views on women," a woman says in a video posted to TikTok that has gained nearly 3 million views, adding when men respond to it with "intense disgust," it's tied to fragile masculinity and fear of their place in society.

Both in the comments and in video responses, others have chimed in to agree. User @angelinanicollle received 1 million views for a video in which she adds, "tofu and soy hate is so forced and it's because everybody is so uneducated," pointing to debunked claims that eating soy products will raise men's estrogen levels.

TikTokers may be onto something, said Emily Contois, author of "Diners, Dudes, and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture" and associate professor of media studies at The University of Tulsa.