Non Threatening Boys*: How Zohran Mamdani Internet Boyfriended His Way to Victory
As the old internet adage goes: “One of the most attractive things a man can do is have no social media presence.” I used to agree. During the Nominee announcements for the all-important Las Culturistas Culture Awards earlier this month, Non Threatening Boy* Matt Rogers announced “Zohran Mamdani press tour being somehow not cringe” as a nominee for the Social Change Moment of the Year Sponsored by West Elm Award – and dare I say, a front runner.
This, on the heels of Mamdani’s democratic primary win, was one of many indicators that Zohran Mamdani has cemented himself as the internet boyfriend of the moment. In the days that followed, I gushed about his platform and all he had achieved in conversations with people who were enthusiastic to do the same, until I realized two things: first, that I cared an unusual amount, given that I can't vote in the US; and second, that I have never spoken about a man this way. I spent the days after wondering what it was about him that enlists hotgirls4zohran and aunties4zohran alike. Why was it that our relationship with this internet boyfriend felt less like a one-sided obsession and more like a courtship?
