Earlier this year we told you about “g0ys,” men who are attracted to other men but offended by the label “gay” and who refuse to have anal sex because it’s too “violent.”
Now, we’ve uncovered another subculture similar to g0ys, but less rigid when it comes to the whole anal stimulation thing.
Introducing androphiles.
“I think ‘homosexual’ is a bit clinical, and lots of people use it negatively,” Nicolas Chinardet tells the BBC. “‘Gay’ has a certain lifestyle attached to it, which I don’t recognize myself in.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
For instance, he says, “I don’t go clubbing. I don’t like shopping.”
Which is why he identifies as an “androphile”
Urban Dictionary defines androphilia as “the attraction to men or masculinity.”
“It’s a polite, nonspecific way to ask what a certain person is attracted to. An androphilic man is homosexual, while an androphilic woman is heterosexual.”
Related: Is it time to ditch ‘masc’ and ‘femme’ labels once and for all?
Chinardet claims to have coined the term “androphile” in the early 2000s as an alternative way to describe himself as a man who is sexually attracted to other men.
He explains, “I made it up from my vague knowledge of Greek. Putting two bits together–the prefix ‘andro’, meaning man, and ‘phile’, denoting a love for something–to come up with androphile.”
Clever.
Since then, more and more men have adopted the label. Interestingly, a lot of them tend to be conservative alt-righters or what some might describe as “self-hating gays.”
Take, for instance, 37-year-old Henning Diesel. He is a self-described androphile and alt-righter who rejects the label “gay” because he thinks it’s for sissies.
“Gay is part of the LGBT+ world that I never see myself as part of,” he explains, adding that he doesn’t enjoy “gay music, like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Miley Cyrus” or “gay TV and movies, like Queer As Folk.”
He describes himself as having “typically male characteristics like courage or diligence – very traditional aspects” and rejects the “gay moment,” calling it “advocacy for socialism” that’s rooted in left-wing politics.
24-year-old James Milton says he began identifying as an androphile about six years ago when he was struggling to find a place in the disenchanting LGBTQ community.
He tells the BBC that it “affirmed my suspicion that I wasn’t gay–just a man who happens to sleep with other men.”
“I didn’t relate to the pre-determined gay identity,” he says, recounting the many times he was mocked at gay bars for requesting the DJ play country music instead of more traditionally “gay” stuff like Britney Spears, Beyonce, or Madonna.
“Those kinds of experiences directed me to the label ‘androphile’,” he says.
Milton adds that he’s a fan of manly stuff like wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Chinardet says the androphile label is definitely about rejecting certain gay stereotypes, but the fact that alt-righters have begun embracing it is definitely cause for concern.
“I think I’m going to have to review my description,” he says. “I want absolutely nothing to do with those people.”
Related: Let’s talk about ‘g0ys,’ gay men who are so opposed to anal sex that they’ve created a little club
marinetti
Why Trump won
Rex Huskey
amen brother!
Stache
Finally a label that the closeted do nothings who only complain can feel important and worthy though. I can see some queerty trolls like Danny595 totally embracing this.
Stache
Jaxton too!
dmanhart
Yup!
dmanhart
Forms with the “sex” question will require a separate form just to accommodate all the labels. Driver’s licenses will have to have a separate card listing all the options.
1EqualityUSA
NOM-skulls chipping away at I.D. protections.
Rex Huskey
What’s wrong with these folks? Do any of them actually work and have successful careers?
for God’s sake…I’m so wanting to return to the time when we had just queers and straights with the only “subculture” being straights who liked to play. Those were “heady” days….if you know what I mean.
kevininbuffalo
This isn’t new. There was a book published in 2006 named “Androphlia, a manifesto.” The author used the pen name “Jack Malebranche” though in later additions he used his real name, Jack Donovan. Chinardet didn’t coin the word androphile,it was around before 2000 before he claimed he made it up.
Kangol
Exactly. According to Google Ngram the term appears as far back as the late 1800s, and was used a number of times in relation to gay men in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Donston
No, it’s not new. In fact, I had a conversation in the comment section about “androphilia” not too long ago. Most of these “new” identities have been around for quite a while. I identify as “homo-dominant” because I feel like it’s the most specific representation of my orientation. And I’m all about the promotion of more modern and specific “identities” so individuals can gain self-understanding, self-comfort and be truly honest about exactly who they are and what they want. However, gay and gay-leaning people are always running from the words “gay” or “homo”, often for sociological or ego or gay-shame/internalized homophobia reasons. But sometimes it’s not based on that. I’ve just learned to accept it.
Donston
However, the way this particular person is using this term- they’re pretty much saying, “I’m a gay/homo, but I’m not a queen or a slut and I don’t like shopping”. And that’s purely based on sociology and/or gay-shame.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
True Its been around for years. Jack Donavon (the gay..oops..I mean “androphilic” neo Nazi adjacent) popularised it, unfortunately, otherwise I would wholeheartedly adopt it.
I just seems I have zero interest in what seems to obsess 99% (slight exaggeration) of my more fabulous sistren. Personally I like homosexual *precisely* because it’s scientific and non-frivolous sounding, on an equal footing with “heterosexuality” and “bisexuality”. But seeing as my own circumstances would render that a less than an a totally accurate appellation, I go with “non-heterosexual”
Donston
I do think we need to start embracing the “spectrum” of sexual attractions and also start to understand and embrace that attraction is not the same thing as passion, interest , behavior or romantic instincts/interests. And orientations need to start reflecting that as well. But the majority of these newer identities (and, yes, often times “bisexual”) don’t really reflect these things. They often don’t feel like identities so much as people trying to avoid other identities or avoid being “limited” or “found out”.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
>attraction is not the same thing as passion, interest , behavior or romantic instincts/interests.
You see this is where I have a problem with your argument. I think we need to define terms..ideally over brunch sipping cosmopolitans after getting pedis
Donston
So long as we go to a low-carb, low-fat restaurant, boo-boo. Tryin’ to keep this body tight and right. But before we go let me get out one of my patented long posts….
Some people have some instinctual arousal for a gender sometimes but no real passion or desire for that gender. Some people develop passion or desire for a gender they have no or very little attraction to or arousal for (this is often the case with sexual megalomaniacs and/or deeply in denial gay and very gay-leaning people). Some people develop romantic interest in a gender they have no attraction to or passion or desire for. Some people have attraction to, arousal or passion for an individual body part a gender has to offer but not the rest of the gender. Some people are simply turned on by femininity no matter the gender, or masculinity no matter the gender. All these things represent different dimensions and degrees of orientation. Yet, most orientations, even the “new” ones, aren’t about reflecting these dimensions and degrees but about evasiveness and separating yourself.
Knowing that you are a gay or very gay leaning person like Chinardet but refusing to embrace “gay” or “homo” usually hints towards fem-phobia, internalized homophobia/gay-shame, desperation to retain some sense of hetero-normalcy, sexual megalomania or- in this particular case- “I want to separate myself from the basic faags”. And we’ve seen all of that represented by some of the buffoons who posts here. It doesn’t equate to progress.
If more non stereotypical people were more willing to be open and honest and to embrace “gay” or “homo” much of the issues with those words and assumptions based on those words would die down. Besides, the “straight, cis gendered world” will still see you as a faag no matter what you call yourself.
KaiserVonScheiss
A new label no one asked for or needed. This basically means heterosexual women and gay men. Really? We have terms for that which are less broad and more specific. The current terms are more than adequate for the purposes of communication.
Donston
That’s pretty much the problem. We’re not actually getting more specific identities. But rather people using vague things (or anything that’s not “gay” or “homo”) to shield internalized/gay shame, obsession with retaining some sense of hetero-normalcy, megalomania, sexual narcissism, attractions to very young people, etc. It’s not really leading to more honesty, self-acceptance or understanding.
dean089
That’s how I feel about most of these labels and similar bullshit, totally unnecessary, solutions looking for problems that will never arise. They come from either someone who was told to ‘get a life’ and this is the best they could come up with OR bloggers paid for filling space, even if it means filling space with total nonsense.
Chris
What bovine excrement!
Heywood Jablowme
How about “butch douchebag”?
And I suspect they’re not as butch as they think they are.
Stache
They’re butch till you get some drinks in them and then it’s Mary all the way.
SarcasaticMisanthrope
These labels crack me up. Butch douchebag with helium heels.
Kieran
Androphile? No problem. Just add an A to the alphabet soup GLBTQIA. Diversity is our strength.
Kangol
A is already there, girl. It stands for Asexual. Where you been?
NateOcean
That’s right, “A” is taken. Damn it.
We’re going to have to resort to Greek Letter soon.
Or alternate fonts, like “Dingbats” (which might oddly appropriate).
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
And don’t forget there are a lot of Pro Black types like Cleo Manago (leaving aside he’s a puppet of Farrakhan) who eschew “gay” in favour of SGL. “Gay” undoubtedly has cultural implications. One size doesn’t not fit all. “Homosexual” is far more neutrally universally applicable
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Does not fit all*
Wolfie
Gremore once again proves he is the worst writer at Queerty and did no reasearch.
The term created by Magnus Hirschfeld and is used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation its older than “cis-gender” and like cis-gender it should not be used outside the realm of science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androphilia_and_gynephilia
Danny595
The term is also widely used in medical literature discussing transsexuals and transgenders, since it gets confusing to refer to them as heterosexual or homosexual. They use androphilic and gynephilic instead. Gremore is a fool whose only purpose on this site is to promote gender deviancy and promiscuity.
Creamsicle
The hilarious thing about this is that alt-righters are the ones who constantly complain about people coining new terms in order to fit identity politics, and they’ve gone ahead and created a gay subheading for their particular brand of masc4masc gays.
It was admittedly made up by a pseudo intellectual who half-assed his limited Greek vocabulary to make up a new category for himself because he didn’t want the baggage associated with being a gay man.
Sorry boys, but calling yourselves androphiles won’t make the fascists like you. It won’t stop the KKK from gay bashing you the second they think they can get away with it again, and it won’t get a federal ENDA passed by Congress.
Kangol
Androphile sounds right up the as..er, alley of Queerty’s regular poster Jaxton/Jason Smeds/whatever other identity he’s coined. Alt-reich and all kinds of wrong.
Donston
“Brian” and I believe “Billy Budd” as well. Many have multiple handles. He’s the most notorious and obvious.
Paco
The Alt-right masc4masc queers like the identity label of androphile because they want to be the heterosexual women in the bedrooms of the homophobic straight guys they worship. It fits with their need to be seen as straight instead of embracing their sexuality. They treat their sexuality as something shameful and dirty to be kept in the shadows and want to be considered “straight” even during gay sex.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they even consider themselves to be having heterosexual sex when they hookup with another man. I have experienced some extreme mental gymnastics with these types of gay men.
Stache
Defined by terms like “straight acting”.
Danny595
I read this comment 3 times and I can’t make sense of it. People who use “masc4masc” don’t call themselves “queer.” And if they are “masc4masc” why would they want to be seen as straight women? Are you saying that they are transsexuals? And if they worship straight men in the bedroom, how is it that you know what they do and what they think in the bedroom?
Seriously, WTF are you talking about and where are you getting any of this?
Miss Understood
This was promoted by an alt right guy names Jack Malebranche /Jack Donovan. In the 90s he was a young, pleasantly queeny club kid at Limelight who (before Marilyn Manson) used to tape his dick back and dance with a Barbie crotch. Somewhere later in life he got it into his head that gays stole his masculinity and he started writing insane misogynist drivel about “Androphilia”. I read some of his essays and they were pure alt-right nonsense. I think he was shooting to be a media figure but that turd Milo got his spot
I really don’t get this obsession about words. Words define things that exist, what you’re describing does not change because you change the word. If I call a maple tree a flower pot it’s still a maple tree. I understand the change when a word is by nature disrespectful, like “colored”, but gay just means you like guys, the only other meaning is happy.
Donston
I would so love for “gay” and “homo” to go back to pretty much meaning, “I’m only really and authentically into my own gender” and for people to not have to be so concerned with defying stereotypes, homophobia, feeling ostracized from family and friends and society at large, ego-dystonia/gay-shame/internalized homophobia and everything else connected to “gay” and the “gay lifestyle”. Oh well.
Paco
@Donston – That is all gay means. It is fragile, toxic masculinity that has turned the word gay into more than it is.
Donston
Not only has “toxic”, “fragile” masculinity/internalized homophobia and gay-shame hurt “gay” and “homo” but also sexual megalomania, people who used to live a straight life not wanting to be seen as liars or deceivers and people who feel they are like 15% straight so they are gonna hold on to some sense of hetero-normalcy for dear life. It is what it is.
Xzamilloh
God, at this point, I’d take “Queer”
Danny595
Take it and jump off a cliff with it.
NateOcean
phallophile?
mujerado
This is all very interesting, but as early as 1953 the writer Samuel Steward was using the pen name Phil Andros on his gay porn novels and stories. I, myself, have used an online moniker, “Androphiles”–pronounced An-DROF-fil-eez–since the early 2000’s. Mr. Chinardet may have invented it independently for himself, but he’s not the word’s creator.
Danny595
I would gladly call myself a sack of potatoes if it would mean no longer having to link my identity to “transgender” and “queer.” “LGBT” and “LGBTQ” are an affront to LGB people and an attack on LGB identity. Anything is better.
Heywood Jablowme
Danny, you are certainly a sack of… something.
Potatoes wouldn’t have been my first guess!
Jaxton
Male qualities have been demeaned by Left Wing feminists. I’m all for encouraging strong masculine values.
Strong masculine values will set you free. They allow strong physical interactions between men in the form of male bonding.
Think of how beautiful male bonding can be without the need for sexual penetration??
scotshot
Does that include oral?
Idiot post of the day.
windreader
I prefer to think about the beauty of sexual penetration without the need of male bonding but to each their own.
scotshot
I know many women, gay and str8 and many “gay” guys who are into wrestling and mixed martial arts.
To state that a sport, or hobby, profession, music, etc is gay or str* – as masc or fem today is pretty ignorant.
OzJosh
The biggest “sissies” are guys who won’t admit to being gay.
PJBFan
Gay conservative man here who doesn’t really enjoy clubbing or music of the type associated with gay culture. I think this “androphile” nonsense is just that. Nonsense. This is another idiotic label that does not need to exist, and is just another label for millennial and later snowflakes/unicorns. Just happens to be the right-wing unicorns this time.
Signed, an X-Ennial Gay
PinkoOfTheGange
Oh someones mommy didn’t hug them enough.
metta
“‘Gay’ has a certain lifestyle attached to it”
What? What lifestyle is that?
Young Timer
Oh geez… another label
DCguy
Just another self hating queen with baggage.
Let me ask, do heterosexual women say things like “Well yeah, I sleep with men, but I’m not really heterosexual because I don’t like going to happy hour, drinking wine, or going to book club.
No of course not, because they aren’t so self hating and desperate that they have to look for some word that they can use to basically tell people “I’m gay, but it’s ok, I only sleep with butch guys”.
This isn’t just sad, it’s so pathetic I’m actually embarrassed for the guy.
jm1201
Why are people who don’t fit in with specific gender stereotypes or expectations accepted for their choice to be called something different but these people are being judged? Seems like double standards. I thought the gay community was accepting, I actually prefer this term than gay.