And that's something twinks complain of at times, that older guys just see them as hot young sex-toys, and then you hear twinks talking about creepy older guys who pester them, and there is some truth in that. It is easier when you come out to hang out with guys around your own age, you feel safer and less like meat on the block. So it makes sense that some twinks are only into other twinks. Think about it - most of our meeting places are bars or clubs, where there's booze and drugs - not the best place for a young guy coming out to meet his first love. It's not always that welcoming when you're young, it can seem a scary and hard place, with pressure on you to have sex and take drugs. So often when you talk to young gay guys who are coming out they say "What I really want is a boyfriend", but the gay world isn't good at giving them that. You can get away with all sorts of shit while you're still a twink, the rest of the gay world doesn't expect too much, you're still finding your feet and stuff. It's sort of like being a teenager in gay years. There's a hint in the term and the look that these guys aren't so into being butch and staunch - not that they're necessarily femme either, but they seem happy in a different form of masculinity, still definitely young men but not so worried about being macho. Maybe it's because they're mainly so young - they haven't started to organise yet, they're just having so much fun! There are no "Twink Weeks" for the young, skinny and smooth to all get together and have fun.
Just the same way you can be forty, carrying a little weight and hairy and gay but not think of yourself as a bear, so you can be young and slim and not think of yourself as a twink. But are all young skinny gay men twinks? Not necessarily. Youth is the main marker of a twink, young and boyish.
Just what is a twink? It's not always easy to say, but one thing is really clear - they're young and slim and without a whole lot of body hair.