Effeminacy or male femininity is the embodiment of
feminine
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
traits in
boys or
men
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
, particularly those considered untypical of men or
masculinity
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...
. These traits include
roles
A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an
expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given indi ...
,
stereotypes
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
, behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated with
girls and
women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
. Throughout
Western civilization, men considered effeminate have faced
prejudice
Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...
and
discrimination
Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
.
Gay men
Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...
are often
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
d as being effeminate, and vice versa. However, femininity, masculinity, and other forms of
gender expression
Gender expression (or gender presentation) is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender in a particular cultural context, typically understood in terms of masculinity and femininity. Gender expr ...
are independent of
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...
.
Terminology
''Effeminate'' comes from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''
effeminātus'', from the
factitive prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed.
Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...
''ex-'' (from ''ex'' 'out') and ''femina'' 'woman'; it means 'made feminine, emasculated, weakened'.
Other vernacular words for effeminacy include: ''pansy'', ''nelly'', ''pretty boy'', ''nancy boy'', ''girly boy'', ''molly'', ''
sissy'', ''
pussy'', ''tomgirl'', ''
femboy'',
''roseboy'', ''baby'', and ''
girl
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...
'' (when applied to a boy or, especially, adult man). The word ''effete'' similarly implies effeminacy or over-refinement, but comes from the Latin term ''effetus'' meaning 'having given birth; exhausted', from ''ex-'' and ''fetus'' 'offspring'. The term ''tomgirl'', meaning a girlish boy, comes from an inversion of ''
tomboy'', meaning a boyish girl. The term ''girly boy'' comes from a gender-inversion of ''
girly girl''.
History
Ancient Greece and Rome
Greece

Greek historian
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
recounts that Periander, the tyrant of
Ambracia
Ambracia (; , occasionally , ''Ampracia'') was a city of ancient Greece on the site of modern Arta. It was founded by the Corinthians in 625 BC and was situated about from the Ambracian Gulf, on a bend of the navigable river Arachthos (or ...
, asked his "boy", "Aren't you pregnant yet?" in the presence of other people, causing the boy to kill him in revenge for being treated as if effeminate or a woman (''Amatorius'' 768F).
When
Aeschines
Aeschines (; Greek: ; 389314 BC) was a Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators.
Biography
Although it is known he was born in Athens, the records regarding his parentage and early life are conflicting; but it seems probable that h ...
was accused of treason by Athenians Timarchus and
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...
in 346 BC, he brought a counter suit claiming Timarchus had prostituted himself to (or been "kept" by) other men (''
Against Timarchus
"Against Timarchus" () was a speech by Aeschines accusing Timarchus of being unfit to involve himself in public life. The case was brought about in 346–345 BC, in response to Timarchus, along with Demosthenes, bringing a suit against Aeschines, a ...
''). He also attributed
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...
' nickname Batalos ("arse") to his "unmanliness and ''kinaidiā''" and frequently commented on his "unmanly and womanish temper", even criticising his clothing: "If anyone took those dainty little coats and soft shirts off you... and took them round for the jurors to handle, I think they'd be quite unable to say, if they hadn't been told in advance, whether they had hold of a man's clothing or a woman's."
[Dover, 1989]
In ancient Koine Greek, the word for effeminate is κίναιδος ''kinaidos'' (''
cinaedus
Homosexuality in ancient Rome Societal attitudes toward homosexuality, differed markedly from the contemporary Western culture, West. Latin lacks words that would precisely Translation, translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual". The primary dich ...
'' in its Latinized form), or μαλακός ''
malakoi'': a man "whose most salient feature was a supposedly 'feminine' love of being sexually penetrated by other men":
The late Greek ''
Erôtes'' ("Loves", "Forms of Desire", "Affairs of the Heart"), preserved with manuscripts by
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...
, contains a debate "between two men, Charicles and Callicratidas, over the relative merits of women and boys as vehicles of male sexual pleasure." Callicratidas, "far from being effeminised by his sexual predilection for boys... Callicratidas's inclination renders him hypervirile... Callicratidas's sexual desire for boys, then, makes him more of a man; it does not weaken or subvert his male
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...
but rather consolidates it." In contrast, "Charicles' erotic preference for women seems to have had the corresponding effect of effeminising him: when the reader first encounters him, for example, Charicles is described as exhibiting 'a skillful use of cosmetics, so as to be attractive to women.
Rome

Over-refinement, fine clothes and other possessions, the company of women, certain trades, and too much fondness with women were all deemed effeminate traits in Roman society. Taking an inappropriate sexual position, passive or "
bottom", in same-gender sex was considered effeminate and unnatural. Touching the head with a finger and wearing a
goatee
A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on the chin entirely. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture.
Description
Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer solely to a bear ...
were also considered effeminate.
Roman consul
Scipio Aemilianus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185 BC – 129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and durin ...
questioned one of his opponents, P. Sulpicius Galus: "For the kind of man who adorns himself daily in front of a mirror, wearing perfume; whose eyebrows are shaved off; who walks around with plucked beard and thighs; who when he was a young man reclined at banquets next to his lover, wearing a long-sleeved tunic; who is fond of men as he is of wine: can anyone doubt that he has done what ''cinaedi'' are in the habit of doing?"
Roman orator
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...
described, "The plucked body, the broken walk, the female attire," as "signs of one who is soft
ollisand not a real man."
For Roman men masculinity also meant self-control, even in the face of painful emotions, illnesses, or death.
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
says, "There exist certain precepts, even laws, that prohibit a man from being effeminate in pain," and
Seneca adds, "If I must suffer illness, it will be my wish to do nothing out of control, nothing effeminately."
Emperor/philosopher
Julian the Apostate
Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism ...
, in his
''Against the Galileans'', wrote:
''Why are the Egyptians more intelligent and more given to crafts, and the Syrians unwarlike and effeminate, but at the same time intelligent, hot-tempered, vain and quick to learn?
''
In his ''
Commentaries on the
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland). Gauls, Gallic, Germanic peoples, Germanic, and Celtic Britons, Brittonic trib ...
'',
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
wrote that the
Belgians
Belgians ( ; ; ) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority ...
were the bravest of all
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
s because "merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind".
Emperor
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...
evidently considered effeminacy an undesirable trait, but it is unclear what or who was being referred to.
Gay men
China
The Chinese term for 'girlie men' is ''
niang pao''.
In September 2021, the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reported that the mainland Chinese government has banned effeminate men from appearing in television commercials. The Chinese government instructed broadcasters to stop showing "sissy men".
United States
In the United States, boys are often
homosocial, and gender role performance determines social rank. While
gay boys receive the same
enculturation
Enculturation is the process by which people learn the dynamics of their surrounding culture and acquire values and norms appropriate or necessary to that culture and its worldviews.
Definition and history of research
The term enculturation ...
, they are less compliant. Martin Levine summarizes: "Harry (1982, 51–52), for example, found that 42 percent of his gay respondents were '
sissies' during childhood. Only 11 percent of his heterosexual samples were gender-role nonconformists. Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981, 188) reported that half of their male homosexual subjects practised gender-inappropriate behaviour in childhood. Among their heterosexual men, the rate of noncompliance was 25 percent. Saghir and Robins (1973, 18) found that one-third of their gay man respondents conformed to gender role dictates. Only 3 percent of their heterosexual men deviated from the norm." Thus effeminate boys, or sissies, are physically and verbally harassed (Saghir and Robins, 1973, 17–18; Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith 1981, 74–84), causing them to feel worthless
[Harry 1982, 20] and "de-feminise".
Before the
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...
, inconsistent gender role performance had been noticed among
gay men
Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...
:
[Cory and LeRoy, 1963] "They have a different face for different occasions. In conversations with each other, they often undergo a subtle change. I have seen men who appeared to be normal suddenly smile roguishly, soften their voices, and simper as they greeted homosexual friends
..Many times I saw these changes occur after I had gained a homosexual's confidence and he could safely risk my disapproval. Once as I watched a luncheon companion become an effeminate caricature of himself, he apologized, 'It is hard to always remember that one is a man.'" Before Stonewall, "
closet
A closet (especially in North American English usage) is an enclosed space, with a door, used for storage, particularly that of clothes. ''Fitted closets'' are built into the walls of the house so that they take up no apparent space in the roo ...
" culture accepted homosexuality as effeminate behaviour, and thus emphasized
camp,
drag, and
swish, including an interest in fashion
[Henry, 1955][West, 1977] and decorating. Masculine gay men were marginalised and formed their own communities, such as the
leather subculture
Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around Human sexual activity, sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, Bondage harness, harnesses, or other items. Wearing le ...
,
and/or wore clothes that were commonly associated with
working-class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
individuals, such as
sailor uniforms.
After Stonewall, "
clone culture" became dominant and effeminacy is now marginalised. One indicator of this is a definite preference shown in personal ads for masculine-behaving men. The avoidance of effeminacy by men, including gay ones, has been linked to possible impedance of personal and public health. Regarding
HIV/AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
, masculine behaviour was stereotyped as being unconcerned about safe sex practices while engaging in promiscuous sexual behaviour. Early reports from New York City indicated that more women had themselves tested for HIV/AIDS than men.
David Halperin
David M. Halperin (born April 2, 1952) is an American theorist in the fields of gender studies, queer theory, critical theory, material culture and visual culture. He is the cofounder of '' GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies'', and author ...
compares "universalising" and "minoritising" notions of gender deviance: "'Softness' either may represent the specter of potential gender failure that haunts all normative masculinity, an ever-present threat to the masculinity of every man, or it may represent the disfiguring peculiarity of a small class of deviant individuals."
The term ''effeminiphobia'' (sometimes ''effemiphobic'', as used by Randy P. Conner) was coined by Will Fellows to describe strong anti-effeminacy. Michael Bailey coined the similar term ''femiphobia'' to describe the ambivalence gay men and culture have about effeminate behaviour in 1995. Gay author Tim Bergling popularized the term ''
sissyphobia'' in ''
Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior'', although it was used before.
Transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
writer and
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
Julia Serano has coined the similar term ''effemimania''. Feminist sociologist Rhea Ashley Hoskin suggests that these terms can be understood as relating to a larger construct of ''
femmephobia'', or "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone who is ''perceived'' to identify, embody, or express femininely and toward people and objects gendered femininely." Since the 2000s,
Peter Hennen's cultural analysis of gay masculinities has found effeminacy to be a "historically varying concept deployed primarily as a means of stabilising a given society's concept of masculinity and controlling the conduct of its men based upon the repudiation of the feminine".
Modern context
''Femboy'' (alternatively spelled ''femboi''
) is a modern slang term used to refer to a male who displays traditionally feminine characteristics, such as wearing dresses, skirts, and/or thigh-highs.
It is a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of ''feminine'' and ''boy''.
The term ''femboy'' emerged by at least the 1990s and gained traction online, used in both sexual and non-sexual contexts.
Recently, femboys have become increasingly visible due to their inclusion in popular media, and trends such as "Femboy Friday"
and "Femboy Hooters".
These trends involve self-identifying femboys posting images of themselves in online groups and forums, dressed in feminine clothing or a form of
cosplay
Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
. Cosplay has become exceedingly popular among online femboys, usually cosplaying female,
non-binary
Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...
, or effeminate male characters.
While the term can be used as a slur towards
trans women
A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
, it is also used as a positive/self-describing term within the
LGBT community
The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...
.
See also
*
Androgyny
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to Sex, biological sex or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it oft ...
*
Bakla
*
*
En femme
*
Ergi
*
Femininity
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
*
Gender bender
*
Gender variance
Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identity ...
*
Genderqueer
Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...
*
Gynomorph
*
Herbivore men
*
Kkonminam
*
Metrosexual
Metrosexual (a portmanteau of '' metropolitan'' and '' heterosexual'') is a term for a man who is especially meticulous about his personal style, grooming and appearance. It is often used to refer to heterosexual men who are perceived to be 'ef ...
*
Non-binary gender
Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...
*
Otokonoko
*
Queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...
*
Queer heterosexuality
Queer heterosexuality is the heterosexual practice or identity that is also controversially called queer. "Queer heterosexuality" is argued to consist of heterosexual, cisgender, and allosexual persons who show nontraditional gender expression ...
*
Sex and gender distinction
Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...
*
Social construction of gender
The social construction of gender is a theory in the humanities and social sciences about the manifestation of cultural origins, mechanisms, and corollaries of gender perception and expression in the context of interpersonal and group social inter ...
*
Third gender
Third gender or third sex is an identity recognizing individuals categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man nor a woman. Many gender systems around the world include three or more genders, deriving the concept either from ...
*
Transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
*
Two-spirit
''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* ''On Virtues and Vices'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992. Vol. #285
* ''The Eudemian Ethics'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library. Vol. #285
*
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
, 20 vol. It has 75 references in English literature of over 500 years of usage of the word 'effeminate'.
* Davis, Madeline and Lapovsky Kennedy, Elizabeth (1989). "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community", ''Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past'' (1990), Duberman, etc., eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. .
* Winkler, John J. (1990). ''The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece''. New York: Routledge.
* Williams, Craig A. (1999)
''Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity'' New York: Oxford University Press.
* Martin, Dale B. (1996). "Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences", ''Biblical Ethics & Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture'', Robert L. Brawley, ed. Westminster John Knox Press
* Holland, Tom (2004). ''Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic''. Doubleday. .
* Halperin, David M. (2002). ''How To Do The History of Homosexuality'', p. 125. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. .
* K.J. Dover, (1989). ''Greek Homosexuality''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. .
* Levine, Martin P. (1998). Gay Macho. New York: New York University Press. .
* Darryl B. Hill, ''"Feminine" Heterosexual Men: Subverting Heteropatriarchal Sexual Scripts?'' (The Journal of Men's Studies, Spring 2006, Men's Studies Press; ISSN 1060-8265)
** Gagnon, John H. (1977). ''Human Sexualities''. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman.
** David, Deborah S. and Brannon, Robert (1976). ''The Forty-Nine Percent Majority: The Male Sex Role''. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
** Harry (1982). ''Gay Children Grown Up: Gender, Culture and Gender Deviance''. New York: Praeger.
** Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981). ''Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
** Saghir and Robins (1973).
**
Karlen, Arno (1978). "Homosexuality: The Scene and Its Student", ''The Sociology of Sex: An Introductory Reader'', James M. Henslin and
Edward Sagarin
Edward Sagarin (September 18, 1913 – June 10, 1986), also known by his pen name Donald Webster Cory, was an American professor of sociology and criminology at the City University of New York, and a writer. His book ''The Homosexual in America: ...
eds. New York: Schocken.
** Cory, Donald W. and LeRoy, John P. (1963). ''The Homosexual and His Society: A View from Within''. New York: Citadel Press.
** Newton, Esther (1972). ''Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America''. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
** Stearn, Jess (1962). ''The Sixth Man''. New York: MacFadden.
* Bergling, Tim (2001). ''Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior''. New York: Harrington Park Press. .
** Bailey, Michael; Kim, Peggy; Hills, Alex; and Linsenmeier, Joan (1997). "Butch, Femme, or Straight Acting? Partner Preferences of Gay Men and Lesbians.", ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 73(5), pp. 960–973.
** Bergling, Tim (1997). "Sissyphobia", ''Genre'', p. 53. September.
** Bailey, Michael (1995). "Gender Identity", ''The Lives of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals'', p. 71-93. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Further reading
* Padva, Gilad. "Claiming Lost Gay Youth, Embracing Femininostalgia: Todd Haynes's ''Dottie Gets Spanked'' and ''Velvet Goldmine''". In: Padva, Gilad, ''Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture'', pp. 72–97 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, ).
External links
Strength of Being an Effeminate Gay Man
{{Authority control
Boys
Gay effeminacy
Gender identity
Gender roles