Boi (plural: bois) is slang within butch and femme and gay male communities for several sexual or gender identities.[1][2]

The term has also been used, independently of any meaning related to sexuality, as an alternate spelling for boy.[3]

Usage

In the LGBT community

The term boi may be used to denote a number of other sexual orientations and possibilities that are not mutually exclusive:[4]

Boi may also refer to someone assigned female at birth, who generally does not identify as, or only partially identifies as feminine, female, a girl, or a woman. Some bois are trans or intersex people.[7] They may be gay or queer.[8] Many trans bois are also genderqueer/nonbinary (in itself a trans/transgender group), or might identify as cis persons or trans men, and yet practice genderfuck in which they do not fit in either masculine or feminine binary gender presentation. Bois may prefer a range of pronouns, including "he", "she", or nonbinary and gender-neutral pronouns such as "they".[9]

Usage in Suffolk dialect

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in the Suffolk dialect, the term boi is often used as a familiar term (similar to British mate) for male (and more rarely female) friends. It can be used for anyone, with a Suffolk son just as likely to call their father boi as a Suffolk father calling their son. In practice, the pronunciation is not an enunciated "boi" but more like "buh" or "bor."

Usage in popular culture and meme culture

One of the earliest usages of the term boi was with the rapper Big Boi.[10] In the early 2000s the term came into usage within skateboarding culture.[3] The term came into popular culture again with the song "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne.[11] The term came into meme culture with the Dat Boi meme: an animation of a frog on a unicycle usually accompanied by the caption "Here come dat boi. (O shit waddup!)"[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Meredith Maran; Angela Watrous (2005). 50 Ways to Support Lesbian & Gay Equality: The Complete Guide to Supporting Family, Friends, Neighbors — or Yourself . New World Library. ISBN 1-930722-50-8.
  2. ^ Levy, Ariel (2006). Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-8428-3.
  3. ^ a b "boi". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  4. ^ Curzan, Anne (2003). Gender Shifts in the History of English. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82007-3.
  5. ^ "Definition of 'boi'". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 22 April 2019. in British ... a lesbian who adopts a boyish appearance or manner
  6. ^ a b c Crain, Chris (November 22, 2007). "Who's The Fairest Twink Of Them All?". San Francisco Bay Times. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  7. ^ Faderman, Lillian; Stuart Timmons (2006). Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. Basic Books. p. 355. ISBN 0-465-02288-X.
  8. ^ "boi". www.dictionary.com. October 25, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  9. ^ "Boi or grrl? Pop culture redefining gender". NBC News. October 1, 2005. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Big Boi: Boy O Boi!". Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  11. ^ "Lavigne's 'Sk8ter Boi' Is Big Screen Bound". Billboard. May 28, 2003. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  12. ^ Lopez, German (2016-05-27). "Dat boi, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2020-09-09.

External links

Look up boi in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Gender and sexual identities
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) slang
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) topics
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