Olly Alexander hits out at bottom-shaming and being labelled a ‘twink’
"It’s super-reductive."
By Will Stroude
Words: Will Stroude
Olly Alexander has hit out at the use of sexual labels in the LGBT community, revealing he hates being referred to as a ‘twink’.
The Years & Years frontman, 28, told NME he believes terms associated with sexual positions and body-type are “super-reductive” and “rooted in notions of gender and masculinity and femininity that are really outdated.”
Asked about a controversial New York Times piece from earlier this year declaring that stars including himself, Troye Sivan, and Call Me By Your Name’s Timothée Chalamet had ushered in ‘The Age of the Twink’, Olly admitted he hoped to “manoevre” himself away from the label.
“Personally, I’ve always been ashamed of my body and I’ve hated being so skinny – I had an eating disorder for so long,” the ‘Play’ singer said.
“‘Twink’ feels like an easy way to put someone down and say: ‘You’re dumb, you’re just a bottom that wants to be fucked.’”
He went on: “There’s a lot of bottom-shaming that goes on in the [LGBTQ+] community. I mean, my Twitter is just literally… people are obsessed with placing someone as a bottom or top.
“So when I saw that article, there are just so many things I felt about it. Are we meant to be happy that it’s the age of the twink? Are we meant to be encouraging it – is it a good thing, or is it a bad thing we need to dismantle?
“I just feel like I don’t need to refer to myself or anyone else as a ‘twink’ because it’s just lame.”
Olly, who recently announced a new project, Rendezvous, to “celebrate queer voices”, added that he believes the LGBT community’s “obsession” with labels like ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ was based on “outdated concepts”.
“It’s an obsession with a sexual dynamic that feels pointless,” he said. “Just get over it, get past it.
“Our notion of who’s a bottom and who’s a top is rooted in notions of gender and masculinity and femininity that are really outdated as fuck.
“Say what you want among friends, but I’m a bit bored of the online discourse being, like, ‘bottom energy!’ or ‘top me daddy!’ or ‘that’s not gonna work – two bottoms don’t make a top’.
“It’s super-reductive.”