In 2018, The
New York Times announced that we are in the “Age of the Twink,” referring
mainly to hot young gay celebs, like Olly Alexander and Troye Sivan, as well as
straight actor Timothée Chalamet. Four years later, the young, skinny, hairless
gay male is still on the rise. But exactly when and under what circumstances
was the cult of the twink born? And what the hell makes him so sexually
attractive? To find the answers to these questions we first need to go many
centuries back in time, to Ancient Greece, where the love of boys was normative
behavior.
THE TWINK WAS
EROMENOS FIRST
What The Times
missed to mention in their article was that it’s been “the age of the twink”
since the 7th century BC. In Ancient Greece, the spiritual and sexual bond
between beautiful teenage boys called eromenoi, and older men, erastai, was
highly romanticized. The term pederasty, which refers to this type of
relationship, is a combination of the Greek words for boy or child, and lover.
Consent and age (no less than 16 years!) were strictly observed by the Athenian
law in terms of this partnership. The role of the young effeminate man,
however, was not negotiable - he was always the submissive partner. Homosexual
behaviors in Ancient Greece and subsequently in the Roman Empire were a
question of social hierarchy, and a man could retain his masculinity and
dignity only if he took the penetrating role in an intercourse with someone
from a lower social class.
Not many
eromenoi were happy to be involved in a pederastic relationship, but they had
not much of a choice, really. They knew that by refusing to be anally
penetrated by their elders they would be violating social customs, and that was
considered a huge faux pas in this society.
THE DORIAN
GREY SYNDROME
And we are back to the present where the pursuit of twink aesthetics
deeply afflicts quite many gay men. Instead of reproving the objectification of
the twink body in the dating apps and pop culture, we are doing exactly the
opposite - fetishize it. Being identified as a member of the “twink tribe” has
become so fashionable that people actually desire to be objectified. And those
who’re running out of time to check that box in their dating profile, are
desperate to preserve their youth and beauty. Pretty much like Oscar Wilde’s
never-aging character! The statistics are quite shocking: 42% of gay men admit
to suffering from eating disorders. Even the above-mentioned frontman of the
British synthpop band Years and Years, Alexander, has spoken openly about his
struggle with bulimia in his younger years.
THE FAST-TWINK
PORN INDUSTRY
Тhe exact etymology of the term “twink” is not known. One possible
origin is a derivation from the snack Twinkie - the American quintessential
junk food. Just like a Twinkie, the classic skinny young gay guy is “sweet to
taste and creme-filled”. But no nutritional value whatsoever. The American porn
industry heavily relies on this exact “ingredients label” to sell one of its
most in-demand products: sex with boys who look barely out of puberty, although
they all are 18+. If the actors are growing hair, they are asked to wax it off,
and when it comes to body type, the industry can be like Cinderella’s evil
stepmother - just as critical and harsh as she is. The American factories for
“fast twink food” are fixated on skinny and fresh. But not fresh as in “long
expiration date”, but fresh as in “new faces every month”. The assembly line is
constantly providing hot new emaciated bodies and bread-and-butter boyish faces
for the needs of the porn-wired brains hungry for the next dopamine fix.
WHAT ACTUALLY
MAKES TWINKS SO ATTRACTIVE?
For this research, I browsed through gay chat rooms and forums, and came
to the realization that there are three fundamental reasons why some gay men
are attracted to twinks:
PORN-WISE, IT
IS AROUSING TO WATCH EFFEMINATE, SMALLER GUYS BEING DOMINATED.
“I’ve liked my boyfriends to be slim, blond, and babyfaced since I was
14. Now, I am 44, and I still dig the type.” In other words, once a twink
aficionado, always a twink aficionado!
Big dicks attached to skinny bodies! As simple as that.
SOURCE: ANDREW CHRISTIAN
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