Gender & Sexuality dictionary
femboy
or femboi [ fem-boi ]
What does femboy mean?
Content warning: The following article contains offensive language to document the real-world use of this term.
A femboy is a slang term that can be associated with a young, usually cisgender male who displays traditionally feminine characteristics. While the term can be used as an insult, some in the LGBTQ+ community use the term positively to as a form of gender expression.
Where does femboy come from?
The word femboy emerged by at least the 1990s. It began as a derogatory term for a man who didn’t adhere to traditional standards of masculinity. Fem is a slang shortening of feminine, often with a pejorative tone, and boy refers to a young man. In some cases, this combined term can carry a belittling tone, similar to sissy or wimp.
Especially in internet culture, femboy emerged as a positive term in circles where femininity was prized, appealing to a range of individuals who might be attracted to a mix of feminine and masculine traits. Online in the 1990s, people began discussing sexual fantasies about femboys. The erotic femboy prompted a genre of internet pornography, with PornHub introducing femboy as a searchable category on its site in 2013.
Around the same time, femboy also came to be adopted as a self-descriptor for guys who present feminine for non-sexual purposes. These people adopt femininity as a form of everyday gender expression, donning a conventionally feminine aesthetic by wearing makeup or feminine clothing, for example. Though effeminate men are sometimes stereotyped as gay, identifying as a femboy isn’t necessarily tied to any sexual orientation.
Femboi emerged as a variant of femboy and potentially draws from the meaning of boi as it exists in the LGBTQ+ community. Here, boi usually refers to younger individuals in the LGBTQ+ community who express masculinity in some shape or form. This term is sometimes used by young transgender men or masculine-presenting lesbians.
Examples of femboy
Who uses femboy?
As noted, femboy is used a slang in a variety of contexts including speech and writing. It can be used as a derogatory way to describe men perceived as overly effeminate. It can label a genre of pornography featuring slender, often cross-dressing men. It can also be a self-identifying form of gender expression in the LGBTQ+ community. As with many terms, it’s important to be mindful of context and audience when using or interpreting femboy.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of femboy like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of femboy that will help our users expand their word mastery.