Back in August, TikTok's self-proclaimed "crunchy mama" @vibinggranolamom took to the social media platform with a high-iron bean soup recipe for "anemic girlies" that quickly went viral. But what started as an innocent enough food video has exploded into a much larger conversation.
Commenters quickly took issue with the main ingredient: beans. "Can I substitute beans with something else?" one user wrote. "Beans? That's a deal breaker," another added. Basically, half of the entire internet was pissed they couldn't make bean soup without beans because they can't eat beans for [insert whatever reason].
"A lot of people were asking what if they don’t like beans," @vibinggranolamom said in a follow up video to her soup recipe. "I honestly don’t really have a sub for the beans, there’s a lot of high-iron foods out there though."
While the entire internet was fighting over bean soup, TikToker @sarahthebookfairy was developing a theory around the phenomenon: the "what about me?" effect.
"This girl makes a bean soup that's high in iron to help with your period, and it has a gajillion different beans in it," she explained in her video. "It's called bean soup, and she's got all these comments being like, 'well, what should I do if I don't like beans? Well, how do I make this without beans? Can you substitute the beans?' Instead of just saying 'hey, if I don’t like beans, maybe I shouldn’t watch this bean soup video.'"
Sarah calls the viral bean soup video a prime example of this "what about me?" effect. "It's when someone sees anything that doesn't really pertain to them or they can't fully relate to, and they find a way to make it about them," she says. "Or [they] try to seek out certain accommodations for their nuanced personalized situation instead of recognizing that maybe they're they're just not the target audience."
It's a common theme on social media, too. Commenters want to make the sangria recipe without wine. The bread looks so good but they're gluten intolerant! The examples go on.
Users were quick to agree with @Sarahthebookfairy's take on the subject. "I swear the bean soup fiasco should be in future sociology textbooks...like it sums up gen z culture so well," one person wrote. Another commenter added, "THIS. Not everything is for everyone and that's okay."
