Femboy
Femboy, also known as Tomgirl, Rosboy, or Janegirl is a term for gender non-conforming mingender and miaspec individuals who present femininely in some way.[1][2][3][4][5] This often refers to clothing and external appearance, but can also sometimes refer to one's behaviors and interests. The term femboy is a portmanteau of the words 'feminine' and 'boy'.
Rosboy is almost identical to femboy but specifies that the feminine aspect is not exclusively in one's presentation, and can be part of one's internal gender identity.[4] Rosboy tends to also be used as an alternative to femboy in order to avoid the sexualized history of femboys, but is in turn criticised as being a term of censorship.[6] Rosboy genders are attributed by the suffix -rose and the colour blue, not to be confused with the romantic-sexual prefix -rose.[4]
History
Femboy originated in the 1990s as a derogatory term for male-identified individuals who were perceived as or presented feminine, though it has taken on a more positive meaning for men with feminine gender expression among the LGBT+ community.[7]
The term and identity of femboy became more popular throughout the 2010s, with flags being created for it as early as 2017, as well as many internet users identifying as such. However due to many communities fetishizing femboys the identity also started to take on the stereotype of being purely sexual and thus deemed inappropriate to identify as.[8]
There are popular femboy communities on Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, Discord, and Reddit, both NSFW and SFW in nature. The subreddit r/feminineboys is an example of one such community that opposes the stereotype of femboys being exclusively fetishistic in nature, and aims to reclaim it as a non-sexualized identity.[9] There is also the Tiktok hashtag of #femboyfriday which has even received media attention via a Vice article. The article paints femboys in a positive light but somewhat mischaracterizes the identity as just a trend.[10]
Popular internet personalities who identify as femboys include F1nn5ter, Femboy Fishing and Mako Rays.
Related Terms
| Label | Relationship | Description | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melle | Similar | Miaspec individuals that are also fingender, and not mingender. | Melle have feminine gender alignments, whereas femboys have feminine gender expressions. |
| Tomboy | Counterpart | Gender non-conforming fingender and fiaspec individuals who present masculinely in some way. | Tomboy is the masculine presenting girl/woman counterpart to femboy. |
| Twink | Similar | Gay men who do not have a masculine expression. | Femboys are not inherently gay, and can be any orientation. |
Subterms
| Label | Prefix/Suffix | Flag | Description | Creator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agenirose | ageni- / -rose |  [11]
|
A term for agender rosboys.[11] | mogai-sunflowers |
| Enboyrose | enboy- / -rose |  [11]
|
A term for non-binary rosboys.[11] | mogai-sunflowers |
| Xenirose | xeni- / -rose |  [11]
|
A term for xenic rosboys.[11] | mogai-sunflowers |
Prefixes and Suffixes
| Label | Prefix/Suffix | Flag | Description | Creator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transrose | trans- |  [11]
|
A term for transgender rosboys.[11] | mogai-sunflowers |
Flag
It is unknown who created the original femboy flag. The single light-blue stripe signifies the masculine-aligned or man-aligned gender, pink represents femininity and gender non-conformity, and the white stripes represent transgender and non-binary femboys. The pink is designed to be on the flag's horizontal edges because it is one of the first things individuals will notice about a femboy, and it is the most obvious and distinct part of the identity.citation needed
The purple and green femboy flag was designed by Mod Hermy as late as January 19, 2018. The green gradient represents fluctuations in masculinity and neutrality, and the purple gradient represents different intensities of femininity.[12]
The term rosboy and its flag was created by neopronouns on the 17th of July, 2020.[4]
Femboy (Mod Hermy)
Rosboy (neopronouns)
Resources
- ↑ Zach, Owen. "Femboy". Know Your Meme, 2022, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/femboy.
- ↑ "femboy". Dictionary.com, 26 Jan, 2021, https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-sexuality/femboy/.
- ↑ "tomgirl". Wiktionary, 1 Jun, 2023, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tomgirl.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 neopronouns. "rosboy:". Tumblr, 17 Jul, 2020, https://neopronouns.tumblr.com/post/623904506524139520/rosboy-a-feminine-boy-someone-who-both-considers.
- ↑ "janegirl". Wiktionary, 16 Aug, 2022, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/janegirl.
- ↑ SilentFoxProductions. "how is rosboy offensive?". Reddit, 21 May, 2022, https://www.reddit.com/r/XenogendersAndMore/comments/uu7m9s/how_is_rosboy_offensive/.
- ↑ "‘Femboy’ Internet Slang Meaning with Conversations". 7ESL, 14 Apr, 2023, https://7esl.com/femboy/.
- ↑ Sherley_temple1101. "Are femboys fetishised?". Reddit, 2021, https://web.archive.org/web/20210322100912/https://www.reddit.com/r/feminineboys/comments/ma9cpl/are_femboys_fetishised/. Archived on 22 Mar, 2021.
- ↑ feminineboys. "Femboys are not for objectification or fetishizing >:(". Reddit, 25 Nov, 2012, https://www.reddit.com/r/feminineboys/.
- ↑ Ran, Dani. "Introducing the 'Femboys' Taking TikTok By Storm". Vice, 13 Aug, 2020, https://www.vice.com/en/article/3az4nn/femboys-tiktok-fashion-gen-z.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 mogai-sunflowers. "🌻various rosboy terms!🌻". Tumblr, 17 Sep, 2021, https://mogai-sunflowers.tumblr.com/post/662599186380914688/various-rosboy-terms.
- ↑ Pride-Flags. "Femboy". DeviantArt, 19 Jan, 2018, https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Femboy-726380690.
