Chickenhawk (gay slang)

A chickenhawk or chicken hawk is slang used in American and British gay culture to denote older males who prefer younger males for partners, who may less often be called "chickens",[1] i.e., the prey of the chickenhawk.[2] Other variations include chicken queen[3] and chicken plucker.[2]

It is sometimes used as a disparaging vulgarity within the LGBT community, or seen as a slur against people in that community. The label can be applied to a man who seeks partners with the look of someone young, regardless of their target's age.[4][5]

"Chickenhawk" also indicates a man who uses underage boys for his sexual pleasure. The usage was publicized by members of the controversial group NAMBLA in the 1994 documentary film Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys,[6][7] although Time magazine reported it in this sense in 1975.[3]

The use and significance of this term have been the subject of academic discussions [8][9] and popular reports.

See also

References

  1. ↑ This term is more common in the UK; the more common term in the US is twink..
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Donald F. Reuter (2006). Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext, and the Sublime. St. Martin's Griffin.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Crossing Signals". Time magazine. September 8, 1975. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  4. ↑ "Shades of Rainbow; From both the Gay & Lesbian Perspective". Outcomebuffalo. Retrieved 2007-06-21. Chicken: A younger, new-to-the-scene, typically attractive gay male. Chicken Hawk: An older gay male that seeks out Chickens.
  5. ↑ "Culture and Family Issues". Gay Talk: A (Sometimes Outrageous) Dictionary of Gay Slang. Retrieved 2007-06-21. chicken (fr naut [from nautical] chicken = a young recruit // sl [slang] usu [usually] in negative context as “You’re no spring chicken”) 1. any boy under the age of consent, heterosexual, fair of face, and unfamiliar with homosexuality “So many chickens were flapping around that I thought we were touring Colonel Sander’s (sic) plantation” 2. juvenile, youthful, young-looking. Syn: chicken-looking (“You’re chicken-looking enough to pose for Maypo cereal boxes”); tender 3. (rare, kwn LV [known in Las Vegas], mid ’60s) to [sodomize] a pretty boy.
  6. ↑ Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys at the Internet Movie Database
  7. ↑ Holden, Stephen (1994-07-08). "FILM REVIEW; Men Who Love Boys Explain Themselves". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  8. ↑ Adam, Barry D. (2000) "Age Preferences among Gay and Bisexual Men", GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 6(3):413–33
  9. ↑ Queerness, sexuality, technology, and writing: How do queers write ourselves when we write in cyberspace? PDF (885 KiB) by Jonathan Alexander, Barclay Barrios, Samantha Blackmon, Angela Crow, Keith Dorwick, Jacqueline Rhodes, and Randal Woodland

External links

Look up chickenhawk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.