Twink (gay slang) explained

Twink is gay slang for a man who is usually (but not always) in his late teens to twenties whose traits may include a slim to average physique, a youthful appearance, little or no body hair, and flamboyancy.[1] [2] [3] Twink is used both as a neutral descriptor, which can be compared with bear,[4] and as a pejorative.[5]

Etymology

The exact origins of the term twink are disputed. Some trace its first appearance to 1963, although it may be derived from an older British gay slang term twank, which means: "The quarry of a homosexual prostitute (male); a man willing and ready to become any dominant man's 'partner'.[6] Oxford Dictionaries claims twink has origins in the 1970s.[7] [8] Another possible origin of the term may be a derivation from the American snack cake Twinkie, commonly regarded as the quintessential junk food. The food is described as "little nutritional value, sweet to the taste, and creme-filled";[9] [10] [11] by comparison, the young men are described as "short, and blond, and full of creme",[10] with creme being a euphemism for semen.[10] [12]

A backronym has been constructed for twink, according to which it stands for "'teenaged, white, into no kink", although these specified traits are not universally accepted as either necessary or sufficient to classify an individual as a "twink".[13] [14]

Usage

Popular culture

In his book Never Enough (2007), about a murder committed in 2003 in Hong Kong, described by The New York Times Book Review as hard-boiled clichés with a cartoonish first impression,[15] Joe McGinniss describes a court case in which twink was defined as "a gay slang term used to denote an attractive, boyish-looking gay man between the ages of 18 and 23, slender ectomorph and with little or no body hair, often blond, often but not necessarily Caucasian."[16]

It has also been sparingly used to describe straight male celebrities who are skinny and have a youthful appearance, like Timothée Chalamet,[17] [18] [19] [20] although some object it to being used to refer to non-gay men.[21]

Gay subculture

The term also serves to identify a subculture within gay culture for which members of the community may self-identify, but their stable assurance mostly comes from acceptance by other members. The subculture, as examined now, serves as a purely physical marker for attributes any one person may hold and/or acquire, highly dependent on normative society's take on beauty standards as a whole and what the community puts forth and prescribes to.[22]

Grindr, a popular dating app for gay men, lists the term as one of many "tribes" for users to "identify themselves with a niche group and filter their search to help find their type of guy."[23]

Gay pornography

The term is often modified by various descriptors (e.g. femme twink, Euro twink, muscle twink) and is commonly used in the gay pornography industry.[24] [25]

Essayist Zeb J. Tortorici notes that gay twink porn thrives on the production and performance of "consumable and visually/anally receptive masculinity."[26] A twink is "memorable for his outer packaging", not his "inner depth". Twink can be seen as a popular subgenre in gay porn widely consumed across the globe. In gay pornographic content, a twink usually, but not in all cases, plays the role of the submissive and receiving character commonly known as a bottom.

Analysis

Susan Driver characterized the word twink as relying on "ageist and racist tropes of youth and white desirability".[27] In regards to the concept, Driver describes it as "a young, white, and performed masculinity that can be fetishized, consumed, ... clearly coded in terms of race and age", thus establishing the intersection for which race and age come together to create a hyper-sexualized denomination, often associated with sexual acts and the pornographic industry.

Jones, Ciardha, and Elliott observed that the use of twink pornography—depicting men in their late teens or early 20s who are typically of slim build—was mentioned by some users that are "exclusively attracted to children" as a legal outlet for sexual release.[28]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wright, Les . The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Subculture . Haworth Press . 2001 . 0789006367 . 8.
  2. News: 23 November 2016 . The Four Young Murder Victims of Serial Killer Stephen Port . ITV News . https://web.archive.org/web/20161124051540/http://www.itv.com/news/2016-11-23/the-four-young-murder-victims-of-serial-killer-stephen-port/ . 24 November 2016.
  3. News: Williams . Joe . 8 May 2015 . Man Arrested for Having 'Twink' Images on His Computer . . 29 December 2015 . 19 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220819100808/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/08/man-arrested-for-having-twink-images-on-computer/ . live .
  4. Book: Baker, Paul . Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang . Continuum International Publishing Group . 2004 . 0-8264-7343-1 . 79 . 4 December 2007 . 4 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230704012413/https://books.google.com/books?id=T72TJfZoywAC . live .
  5. News: Sunderland . Mitchell . 25 February 2015 . It's Hard Out Here for a Twink . Vice . News . 29 December 2015 . 30 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161130043122/http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/its-hard-out-here-for-a-twink-456 . live .
  6. Book: Partridge . A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English . Routledge . 2006 . 9781134963652 . 2025 . English . 27 August 2015 . registration . Archive.org.
  7. Web site: Twinkie . https://web.archive.org/web/20130110031118/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/twinkie . dead . 10 January 2013 . Oxford Dictionary . Oxford Press . 19 August 2014 . oxford.
  8. Web site: Online Etymology Dictionary . 22 August 2015 . 22 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222170135/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twink . live .
  9. Book: Baker, Paul . Polari – The Lost Language of Gay Men . Routledge . 2002 . 0-415-26180-5 . Google Books . 10 July 2008 . 24 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231024010108/https://books.google.com/books?id=MRKCAgAAQBAJ . live .
  10. Book: Reuter, Donald F. . 2006 . Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext, and the Sublime . 215 . St. Martin's Griffin . 0-312-35427-4 . Google Books . 4 December 2007 . 10 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240710024734/https://books.google.com/books?id=7FpPbfVRm3MC&q=twink+gay#v=snippet&q=twink%20gay&f=false . live .
  11. Web site: Sagon . Candy . 13 April 2005 . Twinkies, 75 Years And Counting . . 11 July 2008 . 28 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110628233728/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46062-2005Apr12.html . live .
  12. Book: Petkovich, Anthony . 2002 . The X Factory: Inside the American Hardcore Film Industry . Headpress . 978-1-900486-24-8 . Google Books . 2 August 2013 . 24 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231024010114/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ghuHL0JZ1kC . live .
  13. Web site: Terms and Definitions . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080118013751/http://oregonstate.edu/pridecenter/panels/terms.php . 18 January 2008 . 13 March 2008 . Pride Panel . . OSU Pride Center.
  14. Twink . The Free Dictionary . 13 March 2008 . Acronyms . 1 July 2012 . https://archive.today/20120701140844/http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Twink . live .
  15. News: SHACOCHIS . BOB . Sunday Book Review, Here Comes the Bride . . 16 December 2007 . 19 August 2014 . 20 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140820105511/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Shacochis-t.html?pagewanted=all . live .
  16. Book: McGinniss, Joe . Never Enough . Simon and Schuster . 2007 . 978-0-7432-9636-6 . 280 . registration . McGinniss never enough twink. . 10 July 2008.
  17. News: Haramis . Nick . 14 May 2018 . Welcome to the Age of the Twink . 15 May 2024 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331 . 24 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201224014546/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/t-magazine/age-of-the-twink.html . live .
  18. Web site: Mezzolani . Ario . 1 December 2023 . The Twink King: from Antinous to Troye and Timothée, the beauty of humanity . Lampoon Magazine . 15 May 2024 . 5 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240705202244/https://lampoonmagazine.com/article/2023/12/01/what-twink-means-tribe-queerbaiting-binary-patriarchy-heteronormativity-troye-sivan-timothee-chalamet/ . live .
  19. Web site: Stopera . Matt . Galindo . Brian . 15 July 2021 . 35 Celebrities Straight People Never Knew Were Twinks . 15 May 2024 . BuzzFeed . en . 15 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240515190427/https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/celebs-that-are-twinks . live .
  20. Web site: Anne . Quimberly . 14 November 2023 . Timothée Chalamet Shows Off Inner Twink As Troye Sivan in SNL Sketch . 22 June 2024 . Instinct Magazine . en-US . 30 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240530201556/https://instinctmagazine.com/timothee-chalamet-shows-off-inner-twink-as-troye-sivan-in-snl-sketch/ . live .
  21. Web site: Rude . Mey . 9 February 2023 . Just a Reminder: Twinks Have to Be Gay . 15 May 2024 . www.out.com . en . 22 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240522151449/https://www.out.com/celebs/twinks-are-gay-not-straight . live .
  22. Maki . Justin L. . 2017 . Gay Subculture Identification: Training Counselors to Work With Gay Men . Ideas and Research You Can Use: VISTAS . 1–12 . ACA Knowledge Center . 23 April 2018 . 23 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210123064031/https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/gay-subculture-identification . dead .
  23. The New Grindr: Zero Feet Away . Grindr . www.prnewswire.com . en . 23 April 2018 . 8 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240508201121/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-new-grindr-zero-feet-away-225991411.html . live .
  24. Book: Jacobson . Scott . Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk . Levin . Todd . Roede . Jason . Random House, Inc. . 2010 . 978-0-307-59216-3 . 204–205. .
  25. Book: Mowlabocus, Sharif, Dr. . Gaydar Culture: Gay Men, Technology, and Embodiment in the Digital Age . 28 December 2012 . Ashgate Publishing . 9781409492627 . 17 September 2017 . 24 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231024010109/https://books.google.com/books?id=cciagVwKWPcC&pg=PA113 . live .
  26. Book: Driver, Susan . Queer Youth Cultures: Performative and Political Practices . SUNY Press . 2008 . 978-0-7914-7886-8 . 199–215 . 2 August 2013.
  27. Book: Driver, Susan . 2010 . Queering pornography . Queer Youth Cultures . State University of New York Press . 978-0-7914-7337-5.
  28. Jones . Sarah J. . Ó Ciardha . Caoilte . Elliott . Ian A. . October 2021 . Identifying the Coping Strategies of Nonoffending Pedophilic and Hebephilic Individuals From Their Online Forum Posts . Sexual Abuse . en . 33 . 7 . 793–815 . 10.1177/1079063220965953 . 1079-0632 . 8419289 . 33084517.

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