Dating in 2025 looks a lot different today than it did in the past, and the idea of being single has also changed with the times. Rather than worrying about being wanted, many women are now adhering to the concept of being "boysober."
But what does it really mean to be boysober?
The new movement took over in 2024 after Hope Woodard shared a video TikTok declaring the "rules" for keeping boysober, meaning no dates, no romance, no situationships, no dating apps, just prioritizing your own journey and focusing on who you are outside of a relationship and what you really want.
Woodard is expanding on this idea through her new podcast Boysober, making it "customizable for anyone who feels the need to explore their relationship to relationships" regardless if they are a woman or if they are even interested in men. No more seeking romantic validation, simply learning about what it means for you to "heal yourself."
In the first episode of the podcast released May 28, Woodard explained how her initial video struck a chord with many commenters who shared that they were in similar situations "having an addiction to male validation, being unable to decenter men in life [and] stuck constantly in a trauma loop of romance."
She also shared what happened when she launched her boysober journey, realizing she needed to take "drastic measures" to break what she called a generational and societal problem that led to some "chaotic" and "self-destructive patterns" as she tried to find love.
"I had to abstain from the vices that were tearing me down. I need to take a break from men, sex and dating. I had to be boysober," she said. "You might hear that term and think it's about celibacy, but to me, boysober is about understanding yourself outside of sex and relationships and romantic validation. And man, did I have a lot to learn, and unlearn, about that."
Follow along with new episodes of the Boysober podcast at iHeart.com.