Marilyn Roxie presents … Twink Studies *

* (restored)

Since late 2015, I have been compiling references and conducting interviews for my future book Twink Studies. Despite the plethora of writing on bears, leathermen, radical faeries and more, there is not the same level of detail out there when it comes to twinks. Twinks are variously described as “thin, smooth, and buff”, “slim or waiflike”, “unnecessarily bitchy”, or “shallow and air-headed”. With adult film titles like Man on Twink implying an inherent effeminate quality to the twink — while others promote a ‘boy next door’ dynamic — and opinion pieces stating that “being labeled a twink is like getting the scarlet letter of the gay universe”, there is clearly more to unpack than meets the eye.

For this post, I have brought together a sample of my findings so far.

 

.-. What Is a Twink? .-.

Boy Toys by photographer Nathan Rupert.

 

The term “twink” has been used since at least the 1960s to refer to gay men in general, before gaining a more specific definition, possibly related to the effeminate connotations of “twinkle-toes”. The definition of twink often includes young adult men who have a boyish and/or effemininate appearance, are relatively hairless and slender, thought to be lacking in intelligence, fashion-conscious, and members of club culture. The term “twink” is often applied by others rather than used as a self-descriptor by an individual. The term usually is used in reference to gay men though it does extend to pop culture crushes such as male celebrities who get tucked under the twink umbrella as well.

 

 

A common origin story given for the popularization of the word “twink” is from Drummer author Fred Halsted in 1975, who “coined the terms twink and twinkie to define his boyish blond lover Joey Yale who typically represented a certain kind of young, hairless, and cream-filled gay youth.” (Gay San Francisco) T.W.I.N.K. (“Teenage, White, Into No Kink”) is a backronym that emerged long after.

The word twink is applied overwhelmingly to white men, doubtless due to persistent racial stereotypes, such as the hypermasculinization applied to black men.

 

 

Original poster and select comments from an archived /hm/ thread on black twinks.

“because I’m a person of color, I can never really be a twink…like from what I’ve observed. I cannot be both, because the stereotypical twink is white and skinny, and toned, and all these things.” (Critical Articulations of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation)

 

.-. Twink Variations .-.

As with bears versus otters verus polar bears (the list goes on), there are offshoots to the standard-issue twink. Twunks have “the face of a twink, with the physique of a hunk”.

 

 

“Leo finally, finally shed his stubborn adolescence in September of 2005, at the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home. Just look at this red-carpet photo: Can you even tell whether he’s twink or twunk here? You cannot! […] The answer you’ve long been looking for is that on or about September 19, 2005, 30-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio officially went from twink to twunk.” (Vulture)

 

 

Twink Code is one of the most humorous, self-aware articulations of twinkhood, a tech creation from 1993 inspired by other online classification schemes such as Bear Code (1989) and Smurf Code (1990), Smurf is a term not commonly used today that has some overlap with twink, associated with “a “bitchy” demeanor”. Twink Code outlines a nuanced variety of twink types that one could claim in an email or newsgroup signature, each with small descriptions provided, including BeachTwink, The All-American Twink, EuroTwink, and GrungeTwink. Further classification options are many.

 

.-. Adult Film .-.

Porn is where the term “twink” is used most frequently, a content descriptor just as much as “jock” or “muscle”.

 

 

The image of the “barely legal” boy in the process of, but not quite through with, becoming a man is a constant in twink pornography; high school and college fantasy depictions are common; some movie offerings from Helix Studios include Horny Schoolboys and Scandal at Helix Academy. Age play and gender differentials are suggested in titles like Man on Twink (Helix). Though scenes populated by one or more twinks exclusively are common, there is a notable preponderance of daddy/son and teacher/student scenes on paysites and tube search engine sites.

 

 

Kip Noll is frequently cited as “the first major twink porn star”, starring in films such as The Boys of Venice (1978), before the appearance of 1980s and 1990s studios NOVA Studios and First Class Male that cast smooth and slender men in their features. Many studios of the 2000s to the present have utilized the term “twink”, such as Helix Studios, Lollipop Twinks, and BoyCrush.

 

 

A word cloud from FoxType showing the words considered most closely related to ‘twink’, nearly all porn-specific terms.

Despite the industry saturation of (generally white) twink porn, the data on what the majority of people want tells a different story:

“So why is black gay porn one of the most viewed categories on Pornhub, America’s most popular porn emporium (empornium)? And why is it that, across the country, most guys are seeking out anything but your standard twink?” (Vice)

 

.-. Twinks and Danger .-.

 

Headline from PinkNews.

Objectification, exploitation, and harm of twink bodies by older and/or powerful members of bar scenes, dating apps, and the gay community at large remains a major issue and shares some parallels with the problem of straight men’s treatment of women as invariably submissive, sexually available objects.

“Women have feminism and sisterhoods, actively raising awareness of this type of seedy activity in our patriarchal society. This is obviously a great development in terms of individual rights and dignity as they provide a much needed face against the shame and submission that comes with sexual objectification. […] By delving into gay culture, it’s clear there are similarities. While we’re still fighting for equal rights, we should also be uniting against this sort of objectification, rather than splintering within our own minority and promoting inequalities and sexual violation. I’m calling for homoism. Twinks everywhere, join a slut walk.” (Vada Magazine)

 

.-. Twinks in Art .-.

I have thus far encountered two (very different) artistic endeavors showing different sides of the figure of the twink in art, Hugo Blame’s collage art on his website at BLAME201 and zine Harsh Twinks and journalist and photographer Lucian B. Wintrich’s Twinks4Trump.

 

BLAME201.

 

The collage of BLAME201 frequently brings a harsher edge to the squeaky clean image of the twink as porn beauty object.

“Since the beginning, I’ve always been into twinks […] The fact is that I really don’t like the “dynamic executive” stuff like “Ok now I’m 20/21 yo, I’m graduated and need to enter into the business world blablabla I need a suit […] Twinks are a symbol for queer teenagers. You can do what you want, you can be a twink in the Gregg Araki / Dennis Cooper’s style like, but you can also be a twink who’s popular, listen to pop music etc […] Of course you can be a twink in couple, but you’re not supposed to live a certain way. No obligations.

Maybe I’m wrong and it’s only my perception of the “twink” term but in my mind the perfect twink is the cute “straight” boy in highschool. […] Maybe it’s just because I like boys like this so, for me twinks are “men”. “Jocks” are like “super-men” (personal interview with Hugo Blame, July 2017)

 

 

Lucian B. Wintrich, responsible for organizing “the first pro-Trump art show”, and his satirical photo series Twinks4Trump (not to be confused with a no longer extant parody Twitter account of the same name) garnered quite a bit of media attention in August 2016. Wintrich was reportedly fired from his job over the series.

Rabble’s Lucian Wintrich Featured On NBC When Previous Employer Fires Him Over Twinks4Trump

 

.-. Conclusion .-.

Many more twink topics remain to be uncovered; dating apps, dominance and submission, cultural crossovers. I hope you’ve enjoyed this taster of what I’m putting together for Twink Studies. If you would like to be considered for an interview about your own experience in relation to the identity, feel free to fill out my survey here.

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** Charalampos, Hi. I’ve seen ‘Life of Jesus’, yes. My friend I ‘leant’ ‘SL’ to and I are very put of touch, so I’ve written it off. Lend judiciously. I try, but people are very hard to predict. Love from weekend-refreshed Paris. ** James Bennett, I suppose ‘SL’ is still in print in France. He’s been pretty cancelled here, but the French are happily not censorious for the most part. Um, well, yes, I guess I meant the seeming utter simplicity and casualness versus the great care put into its build and detailing, and how rich the effect can be from something seemingly so jotted down. Among other things. Yes, for the sure, the pointed confusing of the guys and towers seems like a very big part of why the end slays so much. I agree. Orange wine? That does sound quite dreadful. I feel like France would outlaw something like that, but probably not. I hope your shift flew by. xo. ** PL, Hi! No, I haven’t seen ‘Last Summer’ yet. I missed its stint in the theaters here. Yes, I know the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ movies and I quite like them, mostly because of the not quite completely repressed pervy decision making in them. No, I don’t believe in the supernatural. I wish I did, I think. Seems fun. Uh, when I was a teenager, a friend and I went into the kitchen of my family home very late at night because we were very stoned and consequently hungry, and we thought we saw a ghost through a doorway, and we were so freaked out that we stayed in the kitchen all night, but now I think/know it was just our stoned eyes/brains and maybe some trick of the light. Other than that, my life has been ghost free. Did you ever personally have any ghost moments? I’m interested and open minded about that stuff. My weekend was pretty uneventful. Yours? Later. ** Max Restaino, Hi, Max. Really nice to see you. Thanks, yeah, I can’t wait until people can see the film. Counting the seconds. Poughkeepsie: I was there once, I can’t reminder why. All I remember is that it seemed reasonably scenic. What are you up to and working on? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi Oh, yes, I remember you expressing your interest in Rocco Siffredi at some previous point. Huh, I’m going to go find what he’s up to du jour. ** Dev, Playing black metal for a hook up, kinky. Good way to get to know someone. Okay, New Orleans then. Makes total sense based on everything you’ve said. Congrats on getting that brain twister out of the way. Will you rent or buy a house/flat now? With AC, presumably? Generally, I’m 1/2 to 2 weeks ahead on the blog posts. Or that’s my comfort zone, and I’m usually at about that rate. Yes, I note down post ideas a lot, from things I find online or things people mention here too. It is a lot of work. I sometimes wonder why I do it, while, at the same time, obviously enjoying doing it. It’s a good way to learn stuff and keep up with things. It’s very educational for me, which is probably a big part of the impetus. Thank you for asking. So, what now? I assume you’re going back home to pick up your belongings and everything? ** Bill, I did do a post about Breillat before, yes, some years ago, but it wasn’t the one I posted yesterday. I went back to think about restoring it and thought it was really inadequate, so I just made a new, different one. I don’t think they do 420 day over, not that I guess I would know. I don’t think I have a single pot smoking friend here. No, wait, I have one. ** Matt N., Hi. I’m good enough, and you? Thank you a lot for the tip about Mostra de São Paulo. Our producers are the deciders on where we submit, but Zac and I can force the issue, so I’ll check with them and see if it’s on the radar. I’d love to show the film there. That would be awesome. Thank you! ** Catachrestic, Hey, J. I’m so glad you came back. I’ll absorb the un-timely Fall song once I’m done here today. It’s been pretty much many ages since we caught up, I think. You’ve done a lot. All really interesting, very cool. And the Marx class, of course. I’m hardly a Marxist either, but you’ve gotta give it up to him. Happy birthday after the fact, and I’m certainly very happy it occasioned you returning to your serious writer dreams. I mean, yes, massive encouragement from me, obvs. Yeah, start how you need to. Whatever forms you choose are ultimately irrelevant. The writing will take you where it needs to go. Great news, J! I’m good, the usual busy bee, mostly having concentrated on making films in recent years though still serious about fiction writing. I’m alight. I love Paris, I love living here. Where are you living right now, btw? If you enter Fall message boards or social media groups, you’ll see there is a bro contingent that thinks the Brix era was The Fall selling out, which is numbskull thinking, obviously. I don’t think I know ‘Bonkers in Phoenix’, so thank you, pal. I’ll hit that shortly. Breillat is also weirdly anti-‘me too” too. She’s a tricky one. ** ellie, Hi, ellie. Complicatedness is ultimately our friend, I think. No problem about the file. Whenever you want to and feel ready, I’m there. My weekend wasn’t much to write home about, but it was okay. Yours? I’ve read some Breillat, but there’s not a lot in English is the problem. I’ve liked what I’ve read. I think her writing is worth seeking out. So nice to see you! ** Steve, Those are the only two books by her in English that I know of, but I haven’t checked in the recent couple of years. I would have been shocked if the show hadn’t included ‘Weedking’. Did they play Ron Nagle’s ‘Marijuana Hell’? I bet not, but they should’ve. I think maybe I think ‘Birth’ is Glazer’s best film, but don’t hold me to that. Didn’t see the Metal show, but it’s up until September. Ah, the podcast! Great, I’ll imbibe that. Everyone, Steve was a guest on the “Music Is Not a Genre” podcast, discussing Tierra Whack’s WORLD WIDE WHACK and Kim Gordon’s THE COLLECTIVE, and you can watch and listen in here. ** Dominik, Hi!!! I was surprised that so many of her films are watchable online for free. Well, at least German gives some things the power of their it-ness. Better than here. I like to make everyone and everything in my writing an ‘it’ at certain points, and French translations always fuck that up. It’s depressing. The Covid mask is still sitting there waiting me to make a decision, and that’s probably its fate. What an interesting discovery love made there, ha ha. Love pointing out that the word power contains the word ow, G. ** Harper, Hi. Ooh, interesting about that ‘Tilt’ edition. Gosh, for a turntable I don’t have. But, christ, those prices. So never mind, I’m glad I don’t have one. Totally agree about the sexist impetus in the Brix denouncing. ‘The Wonderful and Frightening …’ through ‘I Am Kurious Oranj’ is my favorite Fall era, no apologies. ‘Spoilt Victorian Child’, for sure, and how about ‘Oswald Defense Lawyer’. Who else would ever even think to make a song out of that? ** Misanthrope, Four, not bad. Thanks about the shortlist. I have no idea what the Hodler Prize is, and the blog will definitely not win it, but, yeah. wild. Well, you should see Alex long enough to get a look at his temporary chipmunk cheeks at least. ** Caesar, Hi, Caesar! Of course I remember you! It’s great to see you! And I’m so sorry about the president-related shit. Every time I read about that crazy fucker in the news, I think about you and hope you’re not too wrecked by it. You’re engaged! Congrats! Love can be a savior, I think. No, I’m sure. Gosh, I’m going to need a night/day to sleep on your poem request because no ‘goodbye’ poem immediately springs to mind, but I’ll think about it today. Hm. I wish you tremendous luck for Tuesday, yes! Let me know what happens. Take care in every case. See you again soon, I hope. ** Uday, Wow, I was just thinking the other day how nobody younger than me knows who Ethel Merman is, understandably, I guess, and there you go mentioning her. Interesting. I assume it’s Christianity’s doing that Sunday is the day you’re supposed to not work and commune with your god instead or something? I just listened to a Husker Du song last night: ‘Divide and Conquer’. Great song. ** Justin D, I haven’t seen ‘Last Summer’ yet. I missed its theater run, and I haven’t tried to find its stream yet. I will. My weekend was okay mostly. Zoomed with American friends, wrote some, stressed out some, pretty normal. Yours? ** Okay. I thought I’d give the blog a change of pace for the day by restoring the artist Marilyn Roxie’s old guest-post about twinks for you. I don’t know if her book about twinks that occasioned the post is still in-process, but there’s a link at the bottom where you can give her your twink-related thoughts that still seems to be extant if you like. See you all tomorrow.