twink

File:2018.06.10 Troye Sivan at Capital Pride w Sony A7III, Washington, DC USA 03443 (27870870367).jpg has been described in media, and by himself, as a twink.{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Davey |date=28 August 2018 |title=Troye Sivan Talks Being a Queer Icon — And Being Labeled a Bottom |url=https://www.them.us/story/troye-sivan-bloom-interview |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=Them |language=en-US |archive-date=23 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623221418/https://www.them.us/story/troye-sivan-bloom-interview |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Harmsworth |first=Andrei |date=11 June 2023 |title=Troye Sivan says he's 'transitioning into a white twunk' |url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/troye-sivan-im-transitioning-into-a-white-twunk-c-10883059 |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=PerthNow |language=en |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240718181837/https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/troye-sivan-im-transitioning-into-a-white-twunk-c-10883059 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Sayre |first=Justin Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=189UEAAAQBAJ&dq=Troye+Sivan&pg=PA250 |title=From Gay to Z: A Queer Compendium |date=10 May 2022 |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=978-1-4521-8387-9 |page=250 |language=en |access-date=19 June 2024}}]]

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, and little or no body hair.{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Les |title=The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Subculture |publisher=Haworth Press |year=2001 |isbn=0789006367 |page=8}}{{cite news |date=23 November 2016 |title=The Four Young Murder Victims of Serial Killer Stephen Port |publisher=ITV News |url=http://www.itv.com/news/2016-11-23/the-four-young-murder-victims-of-serial-killer-stephen-port/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124051540/http://www.itv.com/news/2016-11-23/the-four-young-murder-victims-of-serial-killer-stephen-port/ |archive-date=24 November 2016}}{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Joe |date=8 May 2015 |title=Man Arrested for Having 'Twink' Images on His Computer |newspaper=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/08/man-arrested-for-having-twink-images-on-computer/ |access-date=29 December 2015 |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819100808/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/08/man-arrested-for-having-twink-images-on-computer/ |url-status=live }} Twink is used both as a neutral descriptor, which can be compared with bear,{{cite book |last=Baker |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T72TJfZoywAC |title=Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=0-8264-7343-1 |page=79 |access-date=4 December 2007 |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704012413/https://books.google.com/books?id=T72TJfZoywAC |url-status=live }} and as a pejorative.{{cite news |last=Sunderland |first=Mitchell |date=25 February 2015 |title=It's Hard Out Here for a Twink |website=Vice |department=News |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/its-hard-out-here-for-a-twink-456/ |access-date=29 December 2015 |archive-date=30 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130043122/http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/its-hard-out-here-for-a-twink-456 |url-status=live }}

Etymology

{{wiktionary|twink|twinks}}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'{{-"}}.{{cite book |author1=Partridge |first=Eric |url=https://archive.org/details/newpartridgedict00tomd |title=A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=9781134963652 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newpartridgedict00tomd/page/2025 2025] |language=English |access-date=27 August 2015 |url-access=registration |via=Archive.org}} Oxford Dictionaries claims twink has origins in the 1970s.{{cite web |title=Twinkie |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/twinkie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110031118/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/twinkie |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 2013 |website=Oxford Dictionary |publisher=Oxford Press |access-date=19 August 2014 |ref=oxford}}{{cite web |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twink |access-date=22 August 2015 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222170135/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twink |url-status=live }}

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";{{cite book |last=Baker |first=Paul |title=Polari – The Lost Language of Gay Men |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=0-415-26180-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRKCAgAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |access-date=10 July 2008 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024010108/https://books.google.com/books?id=MRKCAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Reuter |first=Donald F. |year=2006 |title=Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext, and the Sublime |page=215 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=0-312-35427-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FpPbfVRm3MC&q=twink+gay |via=Google Books |access-date=4 December 2007 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710024734/https://books.google.com/books?id=7FpPbfVRm3MC&q=twink+gay#v=snippet&q=twink%20gay&f=false |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Sagon |first=Candy |date=13 April 2005 |title=Twinkies, 75 Years And Counting |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46062-2005Apr12.html |access-date=11 July 2008 |archive-date=28 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628233728/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46062-2005Apr12.html |url-status=live }} by comparison, the young men are described as "short, and blond, and full of creme", with creme being a euphemism for semen.{{cite book |last=Petkovich |first=Anthony |year=2002 |title=The X Factory: Inside the American Hardcore Film Industry |publisher=Headpress |isbn=978-1-900486-24-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ghuHL0JZ1kC |via=Google Books |access-date=2 August 2013 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024010114/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ghuHL0JZ1kC |url-status=live }}

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".{{cite web |title=Terms and Definitions |url=http://oregonstate.edu/pridecenter/panels/terms.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118013751/http://oregonstate.edu/pridecenter/panels/terms.php |archive-date=18 January 2008 |access-date=13 March 2008 |series=Pride Panel |publisher=Oregon State University |department=OSU Pride Center}}{{cite dictionary |title=Twink |dictionary=The Free Dictionary |url=http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Twink |access-date=13 March 2008 |department=Acronyms |archive-date=1 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701140844/http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Twink |url-status=live }}

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,{{cite news |last1=SHACOCHIS |first1=BOB |title=Sunday Book Review, Here Comes the Bride |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Shacochis-t.html?pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |date=16 December 2007 |access-date=19 August 2014 |archive-date=20 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820105511/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Shacochis-t.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }} 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."{{cite book |last=McGinniss |first=Joe |title=Never Enough |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7432-9636-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/neverenough00mcgi_0/page/280 280] |url=https://archive.org/details/neverenough00mcgi_0 |url-access=registration |quote=McGinniss never enough twink. |access-date=10 July 2008}}

It has also been sparingly used to describe straight male celebrities who are skinny and have a youthful appearance, like Timothée Chalamet,{{Cite news |last=Haramis |first=Nick |date=14 May 2018 |title=Welcome to the Age of the Twink |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/t-magazine/age-of-the-twink.html |access-date=15 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=24 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224014546/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/t-magazine/age-of-the-twink.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Mezzolani |first=Ario |date=1 December 2023 |title=The Twink King: from Antinous to Troye and Timothée, the beauty of humanity |url=https://lampoonmagazine.com/article/2023/12/01/what-twink-means-tribe-queerbaiting-binary-patriarchy-heteronormativity-troye-sivan-timothee-chalamet/ |website=Lampoon Magazine |access-date=15 May 2024 |archive-date=5 July 2024 |archive-url=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/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Stopera |first1=Matt |last2=Galindo |first2=Brian |date=15 July 2021 |title=35 Celebrities Straight People Never Knew Were Twinks |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/celebs-that-are-twinks |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=BuzzFeed |language=en |archive-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515190427/https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/celebs-that-are-twinks |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Anne |first=Quimberly |date=14 November 2023 |title=Timothée Chalamet Shows Off Inner Twink As Troye Sivan in SNL Sketch |url=https://instinctmagazine.com/timothee-chalamet-shows-off-inner-twink-as-troye-sivan-in-snl-sketch/ |access-date=22 June 2024 |website=Instinct Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=30 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530201556/https://instinctmagazine.com/timothee-chalamet-shows-off-inner-twink-as-troye-sivan-in-snl-sketch/ |url-status=live }} although some object it to being used to refer to non-gay men.{{Cite web |last=Rude |first=Mey |date=9 February 2023 |title=Just a Reminder: Twinks Have to Be Gay |url=https://www.out.com/celebs/twinks-are-gay-not-straight |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=www.out.com |language=en |archive-date=22 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522151449/https://www.out.com/celebs/twinks-are-gay-not-straight |url-status=live }}

= Gay subculture =

File:Grindr User Survey Subculture.jpg they identify with prior to its update in 2017, using twink as an example]]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.{{Cite journal |last=Maki |first=Justin L. |date=2017 |title=Gay Subculture Identification: Training Counselors to Work With Gay Men |url=https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/gay-subculture-identification |journal=Ideas and Research You Can Use: VISTAS |pages=1–12 |via=ACA Knowledge Center |access-date=23 April 2018 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123064031/https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/gay-subculture-identification |url-status=dead }}

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."{{cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-new-grindr-zero-feet-away-225991411.html |title=The New Grindr: Zero Feet Away |last=Grindr |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en |access-date=23 April 2018 |archive-date=8 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508201121/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-new-grindr-zero-feet-away-225991411.html |url-status=live }}

= 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.{{cite book |last1=Jacobson |first1=Scott |title=Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk |last2=Levin |first2=Todd |last3=Roede |first3=Jason |publisher=Random House, Inc. |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-307-59216-3 |pages=204–205}} {{ISBN|978-0-307-59216-3}}.{{cite book |last=Mowlabocus |first=Sharif, Dr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cciagVwKWPcC&pg=PA113 |title=Gaydar Culture: Gay Men, Technology, and Embodiment in the Digital Age |date=28 December 2012 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=9781409492627 |access-date=17 September 2017 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024010109/https://books.google.com/books?id=cciagVwKWPcC&pg=PA113 |url-status=live }}

Essayist Zeb J. Tortorici notes that gay twink porn thrives on the production and performance of "consumable and visually/anally receptive masculinity."{{cite book |last=Driver |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHEcZEcgFfcC |title=Queer Youth Cultures: Performative and Political Practices |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7914-7886-8 |pages=199–215 |access-date=2 August 2013}} 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".{{cite book |last=Driver |first=Susan |year=2010 |chapter=Queering pornography |title=Queer Youth Cultures |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7337-5}} 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.