Astrology functioned as stress coping and identity-building for women and LGBTQ+ people

Evidence

Pundits posited millennials’ new interest in star signs as a response to the era’s political turbulence. “People tend to turn to astrology in times of stress,” The Atlantic’s Julie Beck explained. Millennials, as “the most stressed generation,” found both comfort and empowerment in its cosmic frameworks. Beyond being a coping mechanism, astrology offered a fun, inclusive, and distinctly woo-woo form of feminism. For women and LGBTQ+ communities, it became a way to navigate careers, relationships, and the creation of new identities. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 605