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Women deserve much more than to be considered a “foid.”

Foid comes from the word “femoid,” which combines female + the suffix -oid (meaning “like” or “resembling”). “Femoid” literally implies that women are only female-like, not fully human. “Foid” is just a shortened version.

The word “foid” isn’t simply a TikTok term in the world of BP (Black Pill/Body Positivity) or a meme that will pass by over time; this term is quite literally dehumanizing women in front of our eyes, and it goes unnoticed.

Seen across social media since Nov. 2025, the body positivity edits have gained widespread attention, both realistically and jokingly. In this “BP trend,” people are essentially ranked in terms of attractiveness. And as if this trend isn’t already beyond hurtful towards younger audiences, this genre of videos has taken a turn, shifting to a lens in which males are seen as “elite,” and women are simply objects in their world, capable of nothing but beauty and reproduction.

Although many consider it to be used in the sense that it is simply a humorous joke, there are too many cases where the word is not used for its original purpose. Oftentimes, when women stand up against these derogatory terms, they are deemed as “too woke” or “too sensitive.” And this is the exact reason why women’s opinions are ignored: because they are too “sensitive.” Given that the majority of the people who are threatened by “foid” are women, the word is doing exactly what it was intended to do: put women down.

Clearly, this isn’t the first time women have been dehumanized and put down for their intellectual and physical values, as up until the mid 1960s, less than 80 years ago, women had little to no rights in the U.S. Up until today, only 14 out of 195 countries have granted women full equal rights (Katharina).

The women who fought for their rights in the past did so to create equality and opportunity for everyone. Their struggle was about justice and fairness between men and women—not about becoming the subject of ridicule on social media. 

Every TikTok I have viewed within the last week of a woman simply sharing her opinion on any sort of topic, the comments are not flooded with the usual people starting arguments opposing what she said, but rather putting her down for something else: her gender. Photos fill the comments, men stating that opinions from “foids” don’t matter as much, not factually or statistically, only because they are women. 

The mothers of the boys who use that word did not carry a child for nine months just for him to grow up and call women “foids.” They didn’t spend years loving, teaching, and supporting their sons so he could belittle women later in life. Every time someone refers to a woman as inferior or uses a term like that, it isn’t just a careless joke among friends—it’s an insult to their own mothers, sisters, girlfriends, and the generations of women who worked and sacrificed to give them the opportunities they have today.

Next time, before using words that reduce women to something less than human, these men should remember who raised them, who supports them, and who continues to shape their lives every day. Future generations look up to their fathers, brothers, and friends, and using disrespectful words to refer to women will only teach them the worst.

Respect for women isn’t optional or old-fashioned—it’s a reflection of character. The way someone speaks about women ultimately reveals far more about them than it ever does about the women they try to put down.