Old men and twinks
In defence of ageing twinks
There is a spectre haunting the gay community: the ‘ageing twink’. He is an dissent of pity and scorn; tragi-comic and embittered, desperately clinging on to something, occasionally drug-ravaged or otherwise scarred by excess. There are countless Reddit threads where people debate his unfortunate fate and how one might escape it: these conversations are staggeringly bleak, with some approaching the idea with vindictive relish and others, clearly anxious twinks themselves, engaging in something approaching digital self-harm; anticipating their own bodily crumble and permanent banishment from the society of desire. The ageing twink is mocked in front-facing comedy TikToks: “one day, you’ll misplace your charm, you’ll be a husk just like me” hisses one year-old character, while another bemoans that “23 is 40 in twink years”.
This plan that there’s something pitiful about entity an ageing queer man has a long legacy. Get Jacques, the middle-aged gay man in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room (): “In some ways I liked him,” reflects the narrator. “He was silly bu
Most of the aging process doesn’t scare me. The idea of having gray hair is exciting, so long as I still have hair when that time comes. I believe my smile lines construct me look dashing in some lights. (In others, like Annabelle.) I contain no reason to handle my toes, so no biggie there. If I end up aging anything like my mother, I’ll have close to zero complaints.
What does scares me though, is the plan of being an vintage twink. Here's a clash course for my beloved straight readers: In the gay community, there are different sub-categories of gays. I’m not exactly sure how they came to be, but surely it has something to undertake with the innate demand to group things together by category. (Think #organizationporn.) Whatever the reason, a multitude of factors compete into how you’re sorted, but by large, they come down to your age and body type.
A twink is a new, skinny, typically hairless juvenile gay man like Justin Beiber.
A bear is an older, heavier set queer man with ample body and facial hair enjoy Ron Offerman.
An otter is like a bear but leaner like Zachary Quinto.
Those are just three
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