NEW MASCULINITIES: THE RISE OF THE FEMBOY
The term femboy is by far the highest trending keyword in Sensuali’s data analysis. Interest in this word has tripled in the past five years.
Femboys are men or non-binary people who present themselves in feminine ways – be that through the way they look, their general demeanour, or their personality.
So, what’s behind the meteoric rise of the femboy? On TikTok — where the term femboy has 6 billion views — Gen Z creators are actively redefining the traditional qualities we used to associate with masculinity.
Sex educator and writer Bobby Box (@bybobbybox) says the rise of the femboy trend shows that “we’re challenging heteronormativity.” “As queer people have historically done all of our lives, we take our power back by embracing terms that were once used to harm us,” says Box. “We saw this with f*ggot, then queer, and now femboy, evidently.”
Not only are people challenging these ideas, people are embracing these parts of themselves, and their attraction to femboys, says Box. “People have always been attracted to all types; it’s society (media) that’s given us a very narrow view of what is attractive, and we’ve been influenced to pursue that,” he adds. Box adds that social media gives us access to seeing a much more diverse array of hot people, who might not fit what has been considered “traditionally attractive.”
“Our horizons are broadening and I think it’s fantastic,” he says.
So, what’s behind the meteoric rise of the femboy? On TikTok — where the term femboy has 6 billion views — Gen Z creators are actively redefining the traditional qualities we used to associate with masculinity.
Sex educator and writer Bobby Box (@bybobbybox) says the rise of the femboy trend shows that “we’re challenging heteronormativity.” “As queer people have historically done all of our lives, we take our power back by embracing terms that were once used to harm us,” says Box. “We saw this with f*ggot, then queer, and now femboy, evidently.”
Not only are people challenging these ideas, people are embracing these parts of themselves, and their attraction to femboys, says Box. “People have always been attracted to all types; it’s society (media) that’s given us a very narrow view of what is attractive, and we’ve been influenced to pursue that,” he adds. Box adds that social media gives us access to seeing a much more diverse array of hot people, who might not fit what has been considered “traditionally attractive.”
“Our horizons are broadening and I think it’s fantastic,” he says.