What does the term "boi" mean to you?

How do we navigate gender and sexuality by creating new terms and how can that be helpful? Harmful?

I've heard lots of studs regard to themselves as "boi".
Example "This is ya boi, Such and such", "Hollatcha boi" etc
and i've recently come upon a really interesting article about what the term "boi" means to different people.




The term "boi" to me means
♥having a boyish charm
♥a masculine swagg
♥dressing like a boy.
All of the above or 2 of the above or just one. I don't believe this term is strict on the sex of a person. I believe that using this term could potentially be very empowering to a female bodied person and also better represent other sexes (i.e. FTM)"Boi" in regards of male bodied people could recruit femme gay men, and bisexual men as well. I believe a "boi" can also be femme as well as long as you have 1 of the 3 (the charm OR the swagg OR the dress)

A "boi" can come to mean various different people. To claim "boi" as your identity I feel like there also comes a responsibility to deconstruct any preconceived ideas about the term and educate others to it's meaning to YOU as an individual. Because the term "boi" is so new, there is still no box to surround it and set rules upon it. It can promote a more accepting fluidity of gender between sexes. It can also come to promote a more fluid view of sexuality. Since a "boi" is a very fluid term, it could possibly lead to an acceptance of "boi meets boi" which essentially could mean anything in regards to their genitalia. FTM meets Gay dude. or lesbian stud meets femme tomboi. Gay dude meets gay dude. FTM meets lesbian stud. femme tomboi meets tomboi femme. etc. etc. etc.

I'm sure this sounds so confusing. How can ONE term group together so many different people? How does any term group together so many different people? We all claim and define terms differently. And no definition is wrong. Put simply we are all just humans looking for connections and our connections with each other are often messy in regards to labels. Our sexuality is often put into question if it doesn't fit in with the norm (masculine and feminine). We've ALL got a little "boi" in us just as much as we all have a little "femme" to us as well. All humans fit somewhere in the spectrum of masculine and feminine. We are all multi dimensional and I believe that every person fits under more than one term that may or may not contradict its self.

for example;
I am female bodied queer lesbian femme tomboi womyn.
Let me deconstruct this for you;

→I have a vagina so that makes me female bodied.
→I claim as my sexuality to be a lesbian as well as queer
due to how I have sex and how I see gender.
→I am feminine in body language, mannerisms and dress
→I have a boyish charm, dominance and dress
→I claim womyn as my gender.


The harm in all of this is the confusion of this theory, the extremists that could take offense, and also internalized homophobia and sexism. the article I linked above in grey states a lot of the negativity that can come with a term and how it can be harmful. We are so brainwashed to believe in gender roles that the transition from boy to "boi" can be difficult to separate. Separating "boi" from male could be difficult for some. Separating "boi" from stud could be difficult from others. How can one "boi" be attracted to another "boi"? Well if a "boi" can be part of ANYONE's list of terms then it makes sense. You can be a "boi" and a girl at the same time.

We are making things a lot more difficult than they have to be. Grab whatever terms you want and redefine them however you want. It can change and grow as much as you'd like it due to your knowledge of its place in herstory/history and based on your own experiences.

It's YOUR identity.