View source for Twink

{{ContentWarning|topic=sex}}{{Gender|title1=Twink|image1=Twink Pride Flag (proposed).svg|alternate_names=Twinkle, twinkie|caption1=Original twink pride flag by kaisuteknon<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Twinkprideflag.jpg]</ref>|coining_date=Suspected 1950's}}

'''Twink''' is a [[Gender Expression]] term from gay subculture that embraces youthful male appearance or [[effeminacy]].

Twinks are typically and traditionally associated with a few key tropes, those tropes being general physical attractiveness, a slim build, a man who is in his late teens or twenties, and a youthful appearance that lacks facial hair and often body hair as well.<ref name="pink news">{{Cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220121023603/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/04/27/what-is-a-twink/ |title=What is a twink? |author=[https://www.pinknews.co.uk/ Pink News] |archivedate=20220121023603}}</ref> In his book ''Never Enough'' (2007), 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.''"<ref name="never enough">{{Cite_print |author=McGinniss, Joe |titlepart= |title=Never Enough |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=2007 |language=English |isbn=9780743296366 |url=https://archive.org/details/neverenough00mcgi_0/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The origins of the term '''twink''' are disputed.

One possibility is that the term originates from '''twank''', an older British gay slang term which means "''the quarry of a homosexual prostitute (male); a man willing and ready to become any dominant man's <nowiki>'</nowiki>partner<nowiki>'</nowiki>''".<ref name="twank">{{Cite_print |author=Partridge, Eric |title=The New Partridge Dictionary of slang and unconventional English |contributor=Dalzell, Tom (Senior Editor); Victor, Terry (Editor) |version= |number=vol. 2 |publisher=Routledge |date=2006 |language=English |isbn=9781134963652 |url=https://archive.org/details/newpartridgedict00tomd/mode/2up}}</ref> This would date the term back to the 1920-30s.<ref name="etymonline">{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217213213/https://www.etymonline.com/word/twink |title=Twink etymology |work= |archivedate=20220217213213}}</ref>

Another possible origin of the term may be derived from '''Twinkie''', an American snack cake. The food is described as "''little nutritional value, sweet to the taste, and creme-filled''";<ref name="polari">{{Cite_print |author=Baker, Paul |title=Polari - The Lost Language of Gay Men |publisher=Routledge |date=2002 |language=English |isbn=9781134506354 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208004359/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MRKCAgAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name="gay-2-zee">{{Cite_print |author=Reuter, Donald F. |titlepart= |title=Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext, and the Sublime |contributor= |version= |number= |publisher=St. Martin's Press |date=2006 |language=English |isbn=9780312354275 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217220236/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7FpPbfVRm3MC}}</ref><ref name="twinkies">{{Cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220121084913/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46062-2005Apr12.html |title=Twinkies, 75 Years And Counting |author=Sagon, Candy |date=2005-04-13 |archivedate=20220121084913 }}</ref> by comparison, the young men are described as "''short, and blond, and full of creme''".<ref name="gay-2-zee"/> ''Cream'' is a well-known food-related euphemistic terms for semen.<ref name="gay-2-zee"/> [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twink#Etymology_3 Wiktionary] lists this as the official etymology. This dates the term back to 1963.<ref name="etymonline"/>

Oxford Dictionaries claims '''twink''' originates from the 1950s and is related to the word '''twinkle'''.<ref name="twinkle">{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217214029/https://www.lexico.com/definition/twink |title=Twink definition |author=Oxford Dictionary}}</ref>

===Controversy===
Due to its suspected origins,<ref name="twank"/> the term has been accused of being ageist and racist.<ref name="susandriver">{{Cite_print |author=Driver, Susan |title=Queer Youth Cultures |publisher=SUNY Press |date=2008 |language=English |isbn=9780791478868 |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220127051123/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=xHEcZEcgFfcC&redir_esc=y}}</ref>

===Perceptions and discrimination===
The twink stereotype has been criticized for its homogenous descriptions, usually bringing to mind thin, white, able-bodied, blond-haired young men. As with many terms, modern usage has broadened the term to include more diverse parts of the community.

Twinks are often common targets of homophobia due to closely meeting gay stereotypes. They also tend to be sexualized in media.<ref name="pink news"/>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Twink 3.jpg|Twink flag by colajimmycola<ref>[https://www.tumblr.com/cocajimmycola/716089697897725952/i-wanted-to-redesign-the-twink-flag-so-here-it?source=share]</ref>
File:Twink alt flag4.jpg|Twink alt flag<ref>[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/584905070392921318/]</ref>
File:Twink VirxSkh0lstun Flagz.jpg|Twink flag by VirxSkh0lstun_Flagz<ref>[https://www.pinterest.com/VirxSkh0lstun_Flagz/]</ref>
File:Sissy twink pride flag by jfifles dgr80a2-fullview.jpg|Sissy twink flag by caeliangel<ref>[https://www.tumblr.com/caeliangel/739159089923375104/image-id-3-rectangular-flags-with-7-stripes-that]</ref>
File:Metwink.jpg|Metwink flag by neopronouns<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250512221154/https://www.tumblr.com/neopronouns/769676837369561088/metwink-someone-who-mostly-fits-the-definition-of]</ref>
File:6F55A196-91EA-46BB-A87E-F674BE9C0AE6.jpg|Twinkby flag by bentonthefoxkin<ref>[https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Twinkby-749623592]</ref>
File:Twink by neopronons.jpg|Twink flag by neopronouns<ref>[https://www.tumblr.com/neopronouns/625807000280891392/an-anon-asked-me-to-redesign-the-twink-pride-flag]</ref>
File:Genderqueer twink.png|Genderqueer twink flag by DanDaManatee<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/QueerVexillology/comments/15keq8q/pretty_simple_combination_of_the_genderqueer_and/]</ref>
File:Non-binary twink.png|Non-binary twink flag by vampsting<ref>[https://vampsting.tumblr.com/post/179497610175/trans-nonbinary-twink-flags-and-no-i-do-not]</ref>
File:Twinkby.jpg|Non-binary twink flag by VirxSkh0lstun_Flagz<ref>[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/584905070392715954/]</ref>
File:Trans twink.jpg|Trans twink flag by VirxSkh0lstun_Flagz<ref>[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/638807528431660797/]</ref>
File:Trans-twink.png|Trans twink flag by soda-pops<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/QueerVexillology/comments/106vh2l/trans_twink_flag_more_in_comments/]</ref>
File:Twink flag.jpg|Alternate twink flag
File:Twink flag by bloodied moonlight on Pinterest.jpg|Twink flag by bloodied moonlight
</gallery>

== See also ==

* [[Bear]]
* [[Twinkette]]
* [[Twinkgender]]
* [[Rosboy]]
* [[Femboy]]

==References==
<references/>

{{FandomImport|wikicode=lgbtqia|wikiName=LGBTQIA+ Wiki}}

{{Wikipedia}}

[[Category:Masculine]]
[[Category:Gender Expression]]
[[Category:Feminine]]
[[Category:Male]]