Justin in Queer As Folk. Kurt Hummel in Glee. Timothée Chalamet, Troye Sivan, Joe Locke. These are but a few examples in recent history of the archetypal “twink.”

But what is a twink? Are people born twinks, or do they have twinkedness thrust upon them? Can people of color be twinks? Can non-men be twinks? Is this the “age of the twink” or is this an era of “twink death?” And why would one want a twink “obliterated?” Questions like these have permeated the culture with varying degrees of answerability, but we shall try.

At its most basic level, “twink” is a colloquial term used in LGBTQ+ spaces to refer to young, or young-looking, skinny effeminate gay men. But our community is anything but basic, and so the sprawling history and definition of twinkdom has evolved over time.

While the word first came about in the 1950s, if not earlier, it wasn’t until the 1990s and 2000s that twinks became a hypervisible symbol of queer life, thanks in part to shows like Queer As Folk, and other twink-forward media like it. As one can imagine, the term’s eurocentric and fatphobic connotations have also prompted much discourse on beauty standards, privilege, and ageism within queer spaces, particularly among gay men.

More recently, twinks entered the public discourse again after Chalamet’s breakout role in 2018’s Call Me By Your Name. Chalamet’s rise to prominence was part of what led a T magazine writer to forecast the “Age of the Twink,” which was vigorously contested and balked at online in counter-sentiment for its glorification of white, skinny bodies. This came in the wake of 2017’s #GayMediaSoWhite campaign, a social media movement in which gay media outlets were criticized by readers and culture workers for platforming white gay and straight celebrities over a more diverse range of LGBTQ+ people. In contrast, earlier this year, Troye Sivan called out straight people for using the term “twink” to refer to gay people in a derogatory way, saying the word was basically a stand-in for a homophobic slur.

Over its conflicted history, we break down the origin of the term “twink,” who gets to be one, who’s allowed to say it, and the surrounding memes. Read on to understand the twink-de-résistance.

What is a twink, and who gets to be one?

The characteristics of twinks, which are typically gay men, often include low body fat or a petite and dainty frame. They are usually in their late teens and early 20s, or at least look like it (elder twinks do exist). The archetypal twink has no facial hair, and pretty or feminine features like wispy eyelashes or cherubin complexion. In the public imagination, they are often white and blonde, but over the years that notion has been challenged and discussed, particularly as the definition of twink has expanded to include other queer folks beyond cis gay men.

Like other gay subcultures, such as bears, otters, and daddies, “twink” is a queer colloquialism that was popularized largely by gay men, often showing up on hookup apps as well as in comedic contexts.

Though straight men that fit the physical description of the term have been called twinks in the past — sometimes jokingly, sometimes not — the term primarily refers to queer people. Over the years, the colloquial definition of a twink has broadened as non-gay trans men, nonbinary people, and lesbians have all been referred to as twinks, when the aesthetic fits (think Shane McCutcheon from The L Word).

But historically, cis, gay, white twinks are often positioned as a pinnacle standard of beauty among gay men, holding a position of privilege and power within LGBTQ+ spaces that’s often problematized; twink worship comes in tandem with an intracommunal bias among gay men against people of color and fat bodies. When Troye Sivan released the music video for his song “Rush,” which featured a slew of skinny dancers in a smokey warehouse party, the video was criticized for a lack of body diversity, with people taking to X to voice their concerns. “There’s not a single fat person in the entire video. Just white twinks and chiseled bodies,” one user wrote.

The “Rush” music video is only the latest example of svelte bodies being overrepresented in queer media. A 2008 research study surveying gay men’s magazines from the late ‘90s through the early aughts cataloguing the images of men’s bodies within found that 94% of those bodies held a “youthful appearance,” 98% of them had no body hair, 73% of them with little-to-no body fat, and 97% were, of course, white. Which is to say, at least in gay media, twinks were a prevailing image of gay male life.

What is the origin of the term twink?

The earliest known use of the term twink to refer to skinny, young gay men occurred in the 1950s, according to the Oxford Dictionary. Though there are several theories as to how the term came to be, there is no confirmed etymological origin.

Some theorize that the phrase sprang from the British slang word “twank,” which was used in the late 1800s and early 1900s to refer to gay men who engaged in sex work. Others have cited twinkletoes — a term first used in the 1910s to disparage gay men — as the term’s root. A more widely speculated origin is that it derived from Twinkies, the cream-filled sweet treat that was created in 1930, but linguists say evidence for that is thin.

After first appearing in print in the 1950s according to Oxford English Dictionary, gay twinks became an established part of the LGBTQ+ lexicon, with the term making its way into queer guide books like Homolexis: A historical and cultural lexicon of homosexuality in the 1980s. By the 1990s and 2000s, twink had become a slang term used to refer to skinny, young, usually white gay men, used in mainstream films like But I’m a Cheerleader and TV shows like Queer As Folk or Will & Grace.

Is twink an anti-gay slur?

Simply put, no — but that doesn’t mean the term can’t be misused.

Though “twink” isn’t considered a slur by most people, especially when used within the community, there are some negative stereotypes attached to it. Gay twinks are often hypersexualized, seen as inexperienced, or childish. Just as Sivan pointed out in his September video, straight people using the term “twink” can feel like an extension of homophobia that targets gay guys that are seen as more effeminate and who break away from cishet standards of masculinity.

“This is a general note: if you say twink when you meant to say faggot, that’s still a slur,” the Rush singer said. “That’s like our word. I don’t think straight people should be using that,” he added.

Some argue that when you call someone a “twink,” you’re debasing them, given the word’s connotations of stereotype. And while it’s definitely an unfair comparison to equate “twink” with actual slurs, some do consider the term controversial, especially when used in a pejorative way.

What is “twink death?”

In 2023, two pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio side by side broke the internet and sent seemingly hundreds of twinks into a panic: one showcased the actor in his twink hey day in the 1997 and the other was a current picture of DiCaprio. “Twink death is a terrifying thing,” the caption of the since-deleted tweet read. Soon after, gay people across the internet started posting before and after “twink death” comparisons all set to the same caption. To some, this meme speaks to a cultural moment where twinks might no longer be the pinnacle of beauty, if not fully off trend.

People used the trend to glorify non-twink bodies, celebrating the spectrum of gay men from dad bods to jacked jocks, and ushering in a new, broader standard of beauty and attractiveness for the community. Rather than mourn the “death” of their twink frames, people on the internet used the trend to celebrate their bodies changing.

What is “I want that twink obliterated?”

In 2019, an X account called @WattPadComments posted a tweet that read, “I want that twink obliterated.” According to Know Your Meme, it is the earliest mention of the since viral phrase. It quickly became a punchline across the queer internet that could mean you wanted to destroy someone who might fulfill the “twink” profile — not usually intended to threaten actual obliteration.

It even became so prolific, it ended up in a Marvel comic strip, Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling #1.

It got so big, brands got in on the twink obliteration, like Nutter Butter quote tweeting a now deleted tweet that said, “STOP ADDING NUTS TO PERFECTLY GOOD DESSERTS,” with the response, “I want this twink obliterated.”

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.