Women are sounding the alarm about the pipeline that is propelling them into conservative and even far right content, all because they searching for ways to bake bread
Girls just want to bake bread, but it comes with an unexpected toll. Women are growing increasingly confused and frustrated that their social media searches and interest in bread-making content is tilting their social media feeds into the realm of conservative and even far-right content.
Women online began sharing their collective experience of the ‘bread to far right pipeline’ in the comment section of andraberghoff’s recent Instagram post about the PrettyLittleThing rebrand. The original post called out the ‘soft and demure’ rebrand of the fast-fashion company as an indicator of a cultural push towards conservatism and modesty.
The comment section quickly became a space for women to point out other cultural indicators they’ve noticed giving rise to conservative ideals. One user wrote: “Also the bread to conspiracy theory pipeline?? What’s that? Why do you get a video of a woman making bread and then go looking for other bread videos and suddenly get all the far right posts??”
The comment immediately gained traction, with other users quickly confirming they experienced and noticed the clear algorithm pipeline themselves: Watching food content by typical ‘tradwife’ or ‘homestead’ creators (it is arguably, very satisfying) results in their social media feeds became overrun with conservative content.
“Somehow bread became a dog whistle for white supremacy, like WTF,” one user added. Another wrote: “Fr I’m just trying to watch sourdough videos in peace.” Even those just watching bread baking videos for pleasure aren’t safe, according to one commenter: “I have to eat strictly gluten free so I get my bread fix watching videos. ‘Bread to conspiracy’ describes it perfectly.”
One commenter contended that it is not at all farfetched to be pushed into content that is typically seen as traditional or anti-establishment, arguing that there is a clear logic to it: “It’s because usually people who care enough to make their own bread realize what is actually in food. Then they realise why it got put there.
They added: “Then they realize they feel better eating clean. Then they question modern medicine. They do research and feel the results in them and their peers. They get chickens. Then a lot of chickens then goats … self sufficiency is a drug … it happens to be better for you than most medicines and foods that are pushed on us.”
The bread to far right pipeline is a clear call back to Crunchy to Alt Right pipeline that gained significant attention in 2022. ‘Crunchy’ became a social media moniker for content creators who go to significant measures to grow and cook their own food, mostly as a means of avoiding the unnecessary and harmful pollutants in modern food.
Many at the time were quick to point out that the ‘crunchy mom’ content was pushing women into more traditional gender roles, placing them ‘back in the kitchen’ and occupying their time and energy with arduous cleaning, cooking and childcare tasks. Essentially glorifying the traditional lifestyle as better for women and their families.
This new bread to conspiracy trend proves the crunchy to alt right pipeline never really went away. If anything, it’s only getting more difficult for both men and women to avoid trip-wires that will propel their algorithm into radical content.
I’ve already caught myself on numerous occasions avoiding posts or thumbnails that intrigue me for fear of one click will impact my algorithm long-term. It’s becoming a bigger job to curate my feeds and it seems the work is pointless if tech giants are pushing their own agendas.
