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Young twinks are encouraged to either masculinize their gender expression or become submissive for the consumption of more masculine gay men. and are fetishized or objectified as play-things that simultaneously affirms the masculinity of other men. They deal with perceptions of frivolity, passivity and superficiality. Tim Schapker, CC BYĪlthough twinks are highly valorized by certain segments of the gay community for their youthfulness, they are also often negatively stereotyped. Naked Boy News host J.Son Dinant (centre) was at the time generally considered a twink. An especially influential example of this in the gay subculture is “twinks,” a common term to describe young, effeminate, typically white and slender gay men. Some researchers suggest that gay men commonly express femininity during adolescence, yet this is diminished to conform to masculine ideologies as adults. They tend to avoid emotional expressions and committed relationships. Gay men interact with one another online in heavily masculinized ways, with a focus on short sentences, quick phrases and highly sexualized text. In this pursuit, researchers have shown gay men to have high levels of body dysmorphia, which can result in a preoccupation with gym culture, or taking silicon implements and testosterone enhancers to grow muscle mass. Likewise, Grindr, the most popular gay hook-up app, is well-known for its focus on fit bodies, muscular physiques and gym selfies. Scruffy or rugged men who have hair on their bodies and large amounts of facial hair can congregate online, commonly leaving those considered more feminine ostracized from such spaces. Scruff is marketed and catered to a “scruffy” demographic. Scruff, a gay hook-up app is a prime example of the privilege masculinity receives in gay men’s communities. This saying is reflective of the systemic denigration and discrimination against feminine gay men - both fat and thin male bodies - as well as Asian men.Īsian men have historically been stereotyped as passive, submissive and failing expectations for masculinity, with gay Asian men experiencing high amounts of femmephobia and gender-based stereotyping within gay men’s communities. On dating apps like Grindr, there is the ubiquitous hateful saying: “No fats, no fems, no Asians”. Gay men’s skinny and thin bodies are viewed with disgust by other men seeking more “masculine” presenting partners.
Research suggests that this phenomenon is linked to gay men’s tendency to openly discriminate against other gay men who express a gender outside of traditional masculinity.
For many gay men, Facebook and Instagram and gay-specific dating apps are hotbeds of body image struggles and online gender-based discrimination.
Within our research, we seek to understand and illuminate femmephobic attitudes. Dating apps: hotbeds of body image struggles The posts raise alarms for us because we believe they are part of a growing culture of gay men glorifying femmephobia and elements of toxic masculinity. They also echo widespread issues of body dysmorphia (the obsessive feeling that a part of your body is flawed) and include fat-shaming or inadvertently praise disordered eating. As we scroll through these posts, especially by gay men, we believe many sentiments expressed reveal a deep femmephobia within LGBTQ+ communities.