What is Aqua Tofana? MATGA movement meaning explained as latest TikTok trend emerges post Trump's victory
The "Make Aqua Tofana Great Again," or MATGA movement, has gained traction across the United States after Trump's win in the 2024 presidential elections. Women who were frustrated with the results began posting videos on social media using the reference to a centuries-old metaphor of women poisoning their husbands.
The trend refers to the historical poison Aqua Tofana, first used in the 1600s by Gulia Tofana. Gulia reportedly used it to help women who were in abusive relationships with their husbands and wanted to escape.
According to Aspect of History, this deadly poison possibly contained arsenic, lead, and belladona. The poison was reportedly both tasteless and colorless, thus making it an efficient way of poisoning someone back in the day. Aqua Tofana was mostly concealed and kept in cosmetic items, avoiding suspicion among the husbands.
The recreated videos on social media platforms like TikTok have gained massive popularity. The users use Eminem's Venom as the background music for these videos. The videos show women emptying vials of clear liquid into another glass, and then it cuts to showing Gulia doing the same. A lot of these videos have the caption, "Sure, my body, your choice."
Several similar videos have also made it to the internet. Some suggested women should grow poisonous plants like belladona and foxglove. Many users made videos of having poison rings on. These videos sparked concerns from several netizens, including many MAGA supporters. A user (@WallStreetApes) wrote:
"They are actually advocating for killing of Donald Trump supporters through a poison called Aqua Tofana, ON CAMERA."
Some even clarified that while this poison was not found in the body back then, these days, technology has advanced enough to trace it in blood. While many have described this movement as the long-standing fight for women's rights, others claimed they sent the wrong message.
The 'Make Aqua Tofana Great Again' movement became viral shortly after the 4B movement gained traction post Trump's victory
President-elect Trump's victory didn't just give rise to the MATGA movement but reportedly also the radical feminist South Korean 4B movement. The women involved in this movement have refused to date, give birth, or have s*xual intercourse with men.
According to the reports by KFOX14, the participants of this movement explained that they were protesting against Trump's role in the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. The outlet further referred to one of the videos in which the caption read:
"Doing my part as an American woman by breaking up with my Republican boyfriend last night & officially joining the 4b movement this morning."
As for the latest MATGA trend, it is worth knowing more about Gulia Tofana, who discovered this poison. Gulia, an Italian woman, invented Aqua Tofana, which reportedly took the lives of about 600 men.
The potency of the concoction and the final outcome of so many deaths made Gulia a very significant serial killer in history.