femboy

What does femboy mean?

A femboy is a man, often young and cisgender, who expresses himself in a conventionally feminine manner, especially through his style of dress and mannerisms. The word is sometimes spelled femboi.

Examples of femboy

I'm 40. I dress fully fem about 1/10th of my time, I still consider myself a femboy when I do. I wear knee high socks 100% of the time, because I love them. … When I dress fem now, compared to when I was 20, all that's really changed is I have to shave more, and use foundation.
—Xoast, r/feminineboys (Reddit group), 7 Oct. 2023

Ms. Carstens said she was inspired by the “femboy aesthetic” — using makeup to accentuate one’s cheekbones, nose bridges and under-eye hollows to an angular, androgynous effect (think Timothée Chalamet).
—Danya Issawi, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2021

Seventeen-year-old femboy Seth went viral on TikTok overnight after posting a video of himself wearing a tennis skirt and nail polish, with the hashtag #femboyfriday. The video now has over a million views and has arguably paved the way for other non-conforming boys to follow suit.
—Dani Ran, Vice, 13 Aug. 2020

Where does femboy come from?

Femboy combines fem, short for feminine, and boy. The variant femboi is based on boi, an alternative spelling of boy used in the LGBTQ+ community. It has been in use since at least the 2000s and is likely older.

The word spread online in the 2010s as a term for young men who adopt a traditionally feminine appearance (including clothing and cosmetics) and demeanor. An aesthetic popularly associated with femboys draws from so-called e-kid subculture, influenced by emo and anime fashion. The word was likely boosted by the popularity of young, gender-nonconforming, feminine-presenting male celebrities in mainstream culture, such as English pop singer Harry Styles, femboy further spread in the early 2020s as self-identified femboys posted pictures and videos of themselves presented as such, often using related hashtags, including #femboyfriday.

How is femboy used?

Femboy is a particular form of gender expression and self-identification commonly used in the LGBTQ+ community. It does not specify a gender identity or sexual orientation. Femboys may identify, for example, as cisender or nonbinary or straight or gay. Outside the LGBTQ+ community, femboy is sometimes used to insult young men perceived to be effeminate and, in that context, is offensive. The term also appears in adult content and contexts.