Boi (slang)
{{Short description|Slang LGBT word for a masculine-presenting person}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
Boi (plural: bois) is slang within butch and femme and gay male communities for several sexual or gender identities.{{cite book|author1=Meredith Maran|author2=Angela Watrous|title=50 Ways to Support Lesbian & Gay Equality: The Complete Guide to Supporting Family, Friends, Neighbors — or Yourself ..|publisher=New World Library|year=2005|isbn=1-930722-50-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3Pk1-8oIZYC}}{{cite book|author=Levy, Ariel|title=Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2006|isbn=0-7432-8428-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IubF3WamjDYC}}
The term has also been used, independently of any meaning related to sexuality, as an alternate spelling for boy.{{Cite web|title=boi|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/boi/|access-date=2020-09-09|website=Dictionary.com|language=en-US}}
The term is also used in Wales (United Kingdom), particularly in the north, as a familiar term of address or greeting to anyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The plural is bois, and may be addressed to a mixed, or any single sex, group. Geriadur Cyffredinol Cysgair
Usage
=In the LGBT community=
The term boi may be used to denote a number of sexual orientations and possibilities that are not mutually exclusive:{{cite book
|author=Curzan, Anne|title=Gender Shifts in the History of English|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-521-82007-3}}
- A boyish lesbian.{{cite web |title=Definition of 'boi' |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/boi |publisher=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=22 April 2019 |quote=in British ... a lesbian who adopts a boyish appearance or manner}}
- A submissive butch in the BDSM community.
- A young trans man, or a trans man who is in the earlier stages of transitioning.{{cite web
|author=Crain, Chris|title=Who's The Fairest Twink Of Them All?
|work=San Francisco Bay Times|date=November 22, 2007|url=http://www.sfbaytimes.com/index.php?sec=article&article_id=7066|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329004401/http://www.sfbaytimes.com/index.php?sec=article&article_id=7066|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2012|access-date=May 15, 2018}}
- A younger bisexual or gay man who may have effeminate characteristics. The term can also be used by anyone who wishes to distinguish from heterosexual or heteronormative identities.{{Failed verification|date=March 2024}}
Boi may also refer to someone assigned female at birth, who generally does not identify as, or only partially identifies as feminine, female, a girl, or a woman. Some bois are trans or intersex people.{{cite book|author=Faderman, Lillian|author2=Stuart Timmons|author2-link=Stuart Timmons|title=Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians|publisher=Basic Books|year=2006|isbn=0-465-02288-X|url=https://archive.org/details/gaylahistoryofse00lill/page/354/mode/2up |page=355}}
They may be gay or queer.{{cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/boi/ |title= boi |work=www.dictionary.com |date=October 25, 2018 |access-date=November 10, 2022}} Many trans bois are also genderqueer/nonbinary (in itself a trans/transgender group), or might identify as cis persons or trans men, and yet practice genderfuck in which they do not fit in either masculine or feminine binary gender presentation. Bois may prefer a range of pronouns, including "he", "she", or nonbinary and gender-neutral pronouns such as "they".{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9556134 |title=Boi or grrl? Pop culture redefining gender |work=NBC News |date=October 1, 2005 |access-date=December 21, 2020}}
= Usage in popular culture and meme culture =
One of the earliest usages of the term boi was with the rapper Big Boi.{{cite web |url=http://www.bluesandsoul.com/feature/559/boi_o_boi/ |title=Big Boi: Boy O Boi! |access-date=December 21, 2020}} In the early 2000s the term came into usage within skateboarding culture. The term came into popular culture again with the song "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne.
{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/70881/lavignes-sk8ter-boi-is-big-screen-bound |title=Lavigne's 'Sk8ter Boi' Is Big Screen Bound |date=May 28, 2003 |publisher=Billboard |access-date=December 21, 2020}} The term came into meme culture with the Dat Boi meme: an animation of a frog on a unicycle usually accompanied by the caption "Here come dat boi. (O shit waddup!)"{{Cite web|last=Lopez|first=German|date=2016-05-27|title=Dat boi, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/5/27/11789968/dat-boi-o-shit-waddup|access-date=2020-09-09|website=Vox|language=en}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Wiktionary|boi}}
- {{cite news|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/n_9709/|title=Where the Bois Are|last=Levy|first=Ariel|work=New York|access-date=11 May 2015}}
{{Sexual identities}}
{{LGBT slang}}
{{LGBT |culture=yes}}