The Social Skin

 "We are born naked and the rest is drag" (Ru Paul)

The Social Skin (Turner)

• Decorating, covering, uncovering or otherwise altering the human form in accordance with social notions of everyday propriety or sacred dress, beauty or solemnity, status or changes in status, or on occasion of the violation and inversion of such notions, seems to have been a concern of every human society of which we have knowledge. 
• This objectively universal fact is associated with another of a more subjective nature — that the surface of the body seems everywhere to be treated, not only as the boundary of the individual as a biological and psychological entity but as the frontier of the social self as well. 
• The surface of the body, as the common frontier of society, the social self, and the psycho-biological individual; becomes the symbolic stage upon which the drama of socialization is enacted, and bodily adornment (in all its culturally multifarious forms, from body-painting to clothing and from feather head-dresses to cosmetics) becomes the language through which it is expressed.
• The adornment and public presentation of the body, however inconsequential or even frivolous a business it may appear to individuals, is for cultures a serious matter
• Dress and bodily adornment constitute one such cultural medium, perhaps the one most specialized in the shaping and communication of personal and social identity.
• Every society (including the Kayapo) has rules and meanings associated with adornment and comportment of the body.
• cleanliness is defined by culture
• head hair versus body hair
• what defines nudity
• what defines grooming
• what clothing is needed
• how is gender symbolized
• how is adulthood symbolized
• kin membership markings
• body mutiltion
• piercing
• tatooing
• truncating
• painting (colors and shapes)
• etc
• Kayapo bodily adornment in its secular and sacred forms constitutes an integral system of differentiated categories of social status, together with the roles, or modes of activity and relationship characteristic of each status. 
• Ritual wear versus everyday wear
• headdress
• feathers
• paint
• tuxedo
• gown
• crown
• etc
• Bodily adornment, considered as a symbolic medium, is not unique in these respects: every society has a number of such media or languages, the most important among which is of course language itself. 
• The distinctive place of the adornment of the body among these is that it is the medium most directly and concretely concerned with the construction of the individual as social actor or cultural ‘subject’. 
• This is a fundamental concern of all societies and social groups, and this is why the imposition of a standardized symbolic form upon the body, as a symbol or ‘objective correlative’ of the social self, invariably becomes a serious business for all societies, regardless of whether their members as individuals consciously take the matter seriously or not.
• The physical surface of the human body is systematically modified in all human societies. 

Basic Hanky Code was used in the 1960s-1970s as a way to signal you were gay and what you were looking for in an era where this could get you arrested.

Called "FLAGGING"in Gay Culture, whether you are a man (common use) or a woman (less common).

The Gay Hanky Code-The Details (LINK)

COLOR	WORN ON LEFT	WORN ON RIGHT
BLACK	heavy SM top	heavy SM bottom
GREY	bondage top	fit to be tied!
BLUE, Light	wants head	cocksucker
BLUE, Robin's Egg	69er	anything but 69ing
BLUE, Medium	cop	copsucker
BLUE, Navy	fucker (top)	fuckee (bottom)
BLUE, Airforce	pilot/flight attendant	likes flyboys
BLUE, Light w/WHITE Stripe	sailor	lookin' for salty seamen
BLUE, Teal	cock & ball torturer	cock & ball torturee
RED	fist fucker	fist fuckee
MAROON	cuts	bleeds
RED, Dark	2-handed fister	2-handed fistee
PINK, Light	dildo fucker	dildo fuckee
PINK, Dark	tit torturer	tit torturee
MAUVE	into navel worshippers	has a navel fetish
MAGENTA	suck my pits	armpit freak
PURPLE	piercer	piercee
LAVENDER	likes drag queens	drag queen
YELLOW	pisser/WS	piss freak
YELLOW, Pale	spits	drool crazy
MUSTARD	hung 8"+	wants 8"+
GOLD	two looking for one	one looking for two
ORANGE	anything anytime	nothing now (just cruising)
APRICOT	two tons o' fun	chubby chaser
CORAL	suck my toes	shrimper (sucks toes)
RUST	a cowboy	a cowboy's horse
FUSCHIA	spanker	spankee
GREEN, Kelly	hustler (for rent)	john (looking to buy)
GREEN, Hunter	daddy	orphan boy looking for daddy
OLIVE DRAB	military top	military bottom
GREEN, Lime	dines off tricks (food)	dinner plate (will buy dinner)
BEIGE	rimmer	rimmee
BROWN	scat top	scat bottom
BROWN LACE	uncut	likes uncut
BROWN SATIN	cut	likes cut
CHARCOAL	latex fetish top	latex fetish bottom
GREY FLANNEL	owns a suit	likes men in suits
WHITE	beat my meat (J/O)	I'll do us both (J/O)
HOLSTEIN	milker	milkee
CREAM	cums in condoms	sucks cum out of condoms
BLACK w/WHITE Check	safe sex top	safe sex bottom
RED w/WHITE Stripe	shaver	shavee
RED w/BLACK Stripe	furry bear	likes bears
WHITE LACE	likes white bottoms	likes white tops
BLACK w/WHITE Stripe	likes black bottoms	likes black tops
BROWN w/WHITE Stripe	likes latino bottoms	likes latino tops
YELLOW w/WHITE Stripe	likes asian bottoms	likes asian tops
BLUE, Light w/WHITE Dots	likes white suckers	likes to suck whites
BLUE, Light w/BLACK Dots	likes black suckers	likes to suck blacks
BLUE, Light w/BROWN Dots	likes latino suckers	likes to suck latinos
BLUE, Light w/YELLOW Dots	likes asian suckers	likes to suck asians
RED/WHITE GINGHAM	park sex top	park sex bottom
BROWN CORDUROY	headmaster	student
PAISLEY	wears boxer shorts	likes boxer shorts
FUR	bestialist top	bestialist bottom
GOLD LAME	likes muscleboy bottoms	likes muscleboy tops
SILVER LAME	starfucker	celebrity
BLACK VELVET	has/takes videos	will perform for the camera
WHITE VELVET	voyeur (likes to watch)	will put on a show
LEOPARD	has tattoos	likes tattoos
TAN	smokes cigars	likes cigars
TEDDY BEAR	cuddler	cuddlee
KEWPIE DOLL	chicken (under-aged)	chicken hawk (likes young adolescents)
DIRTY JOCKSTRAP	wears a dirty jock	sucks dirty jocks clean
DOILY	tearoom top (pours)	tearoom bottom (drinks)
MOSQUITO NETTING	outdoor sex top	outdoor sex bottom
ZIPLOC BAG	has drugs	looking for drugs
COCKTAIL NAPKIN	bartender	bar groupie
KLEENEX	stinks	sniffs
KEYS IN FRONT	has a car	looking for a ride
KEYS IN BACK	has a home	needs a place to stay
HOUNDSTOOTH	likes to nibble	willing to be bitten
UNION JACK	skinhead top	skinhead bottom
CALICO	new in town	tourists welcome
TERRYCLOTH	bathhouse top	bathhouse bottom
WHITE w/MULTICOLOR Dots	hosting an orgy	looking for an orgy

Twink Codes (LINK)

The Twink Code, version 1.12

Some people out here aren't satisfied with BearCode or SmurfCode. It doesn't speak to us. We're twinks, and damn proud of it. While bears live for hair and smurfs for humor, a twink lives for style. As such, style factors are the major way of recognizing a twink. Unlike bears and smurfs, a twink's style can't be rated by degree--to be a twink, one must have a good sense of style. The ideal twink knows what he can't wear, and how to wear what he can. The clothes make the twink.
Clothing is not exclusively the determining factor in a twink, though. The twink's crowning glory is his hair. Long or short, straight or wavy, it must be perfect. Hell is a lifetime of bad hair.
The main Twink identifier is a 4 part code comprised of:

T - Type of twink

C - Color of Hair

L - Length of Hair

and whether it's (s)traight, (w)avy, or (c)urly

T - Type of twink

1 - BeachTwink:

The beach twink is often a sun- bleached blonde, well tanned, and well defined. Sub-genres of beach twink are the VBall Twink and SurferTwink.

2 - NuevoWest Twink:

The old west was never quite like this. Colorful, sharp, and not nearly weathered enough, if cowboys were fashion slaves, they'd look like this.

3 - Rap Twink:

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch have nothing on this twink. Urban fashion is raised to an art form by this delicious one.

4 - The All-American Twink:

Remember that quarterback you could never have in high school? This *is* him. Athletic, active, it's amazing how his hair stays in place.

5 - EuroTwink:

Think of Armani suits. Think of Italian convertibles. The finest European designers would love to have him on the runway.

6 - The Twink Next Door:

The boy next door never looked this good (well, mine never did). A suburban sensibility becomes a showcase for a gorgeous young guy.

7 - RadicalTwink:

This twink marches to the beat of a different drummer. He may be wearing full renaissance garb (Felix, where are you?). He may be more subtle than that. But there's definitely something strange there...

8 - GymTwink:

The GymTwink may attempt any of the above styles (and pull them off successfully) but it's always that drop-dead-gorgeous bod that's overshadowing everything else. Even in sack cloth (we're talking *really* radical 7 here) he'd look incredible. GymTwinks should include what style they're attempting in their code (i.e. T8(5))

9 - AppalachianTwink:

Jethro Bodine (of "Beverly Hilbillies" fame) was no Twink, but his style translates well. Overalls, with or without shoes and shirt (I like w/o shirt myself) are often characteristic.

10 - GrungeTwink:

"Kurt Cobain, is that you?" The ratty jeans are from Perry Ellis, the shirt is from Versace. It's amazing how stylish anti- style can be.

Twinks come in all hair colors, natural and unnatural.
C - Color of Hair

0 - black (raven)

1 - dark brown

2 - brown

3 - light brown

4 - auburn

5 - dark red

6 - bright red

7 - strawberry blonde

8 - Blonde. Most of the hair on his body is blonde.

9 - Totally Blonde. Every strand of hair on his body (by definition must be natural).

X - Other (purple, blue, etc...)

If hair color is assisted, it should list the original color in parentheses (i.e. CX(7)).
Hair length is important too. Some of us like long hair, some of us like short hair, some of us like any hair at all as long as it looks good.
L - Length of Hair

0 - Shaved/bald

1 - verrrrry short, buzzed

2 - short enough for a banker, suitable for business

3 - medium length, barely over collar

4 - shoulder length

5 - part-way down the back

6 - really long, like down to his butt

The last modifier is waviness of hair, and is designated by letter.

(s)traight

(w)avy

(c)urly

If curlyness is assisted, it should list the original state in parentheses (i.e. c(s)).
Having covered the major points of description, it's time to get down to the sordid details. How sordid? You be the judge...
h - the 'hairlessness' factor (opposite of NBCS "f") refers to body hair.

h++

SMOOTH body - virtually no hair

h+

little hair

h

some hair

(none)

average body hair

h-

above average body hair

h--

veritable furball (almost a bear)

(h) can be further refined to cover specific body areas:

hc - chest

hb - butt

hl - legs

hs - shins (part of leg below knee)

These can be used specifically, or to identify an area which differs from the rest of the body. Therefore, if you're smooth, except for your legs, you could list h++(hl-). If your hairlesness is a result of shaving or depilatories, you should list the original state in parentheses, i.e. h(--)++.
d - Dizzy factor. How much of an airhead is he?

d++

Head in the clouds (or at least somebody's shorts)

d+

present mentally only on special occasions

d

not totally dizzy, but noticeably so

(none)

sometimes dizzy, about average

d-

rarely dizzy

d--

never dizzy, even shows common sense sometimes

a - attitude

a++

attitude from hell; has enough for 20

a+

above average

a

has attitude and knows how to use it

(none)

attitude at times

a-

mostly unpretentious

a--

no attitude, what you see is what you get.

w - the WHINE factor

w++

Will scream "I'm BOOOORRRRRRED" while you're still home and just getting dressed

w+

will state "I'm boooorrrrrred" immediately upon arrival at destination

w

Will whine, even when not needed

(none)

Lets his displeasure be known when appropriate

w-

Usually silent, but a peep may be heard every now and then

w--

Strong, silent type

c - color of crust (tan)

c++

dark brown

c+

a nice golden brown

c

the twink has a tan

(none)

doesn't get out much

c-

fair skin

c--

looks like a ghost

y - youthful appearance

y++

looks like teen spirit

y+

still gets carded most every time he buys liquor

y

twentysomething

(none)

looks like he has been out of college for a while

y-

looks like somebody's dad

y--

looks like somebody's grandfather

e - endowment (for the size queens amongst us)

e++

8"+

e+

6.5" - 8"

e

5.5" - 6.5"

(none)

neutral

e-

do you really want to let people know?

e--

you may not have much but you have guts

g - gonads (balls)

g++

huge and bursting with cream

g+

large and cream filled

g

above average

(none)

has two

g-

do you really want to let people know?

g--

you may not have much but you have guts

f - flavor of cream

f++

very sweet, almost sickly, could be interchanged with filling of actual Hostess Twinkie (tm)

f+

sweet

f

pleasant

(none)

unremarkable

f-

slightly bitter

f--

Campari is sweeter

t - twink hawk

t++

searches out twinks when ever possible.

t+

really likes twinkies

t

would like to meet a twinkie

(none)

not a twink hawk

t-

doesn't care for twinkies

t--

is offended by them (why are you even here?)

t++, t+, and t people should list the style types they're attracted to, i.e. t++(4,5,6,7)

k - "the KINKY factor"... for those who dare.

k++

Will try anything once, usually twice...

k+

pretty adventurous, but moderated

k

will consider trying new things

(none)

kinky neutral

k-

has definite ABSOLUTE dislikes

k--

totally vanilla

s - "SEX" (ok, SLUT) factor

s++

strictly polygamous, prefers very open relationships ONLY.

s+

will form relationships which are generally open-ended

s

neutral wrt to relationships/monogamy.

(none)

relationship neutral

s-

relationship oriented. Prefers a formal sort of relationship over playing around, however the scope of the word relationship is not defined here.

s--

strictly monogamous/relationship oriented. No outside affairs, or in some cases, sex ONLY in relationships

m - the Muscle factor, divided into definition and mass

m1 - muscle definition.

m1++

chiseled from marble

m1+

chiseled from oak

m1

chiseled from basswood (but still chiseled)

(none)

neutral

m1-

chiseled from marshmallow

m1--

chiseled from marshmallow creme

m2 - muscle mass

m2++

serious meat on them bones

m2+

more muscular than the average joe

m2

small muscles, but they're definitely there

(none)

neutral

m2-

well, if you *really* look hard...

m2--

wishful thinking will only get you so far

q - "the Q factor" (defined)

q++

more effeminate than Donna Reed, Florence Henderson, and RuPaul combined

q+

swishes so much they sway

q

is a queen

(none)

invisible

q-

"straight-acting"

q--

probably should BE straight

ADDITIONAL PUNCTUATION
The following aren't graded, they are just flags attached to the overall classification:

v

for variable, said trait is not very rigid, may change with time or with individual interaction

?

for traits where there is no HARD information available and the value is completely guessed

:

for traits which are observed but uncertain, e.g. a twink who is wearing a lot of clothes, so you can't be SURE he's an h+, but his forearms REALLY suggest that he is, hence h+

!

for cases where the trait is as close to a prototype as possible, or an exemplary case of a specific trait... e.g. the ultimate h++!

()

for indicating "cross-overs" or ranges. A twink who goes from k to k++ depending on the situation (i.e. mostly "k") could use k(++)

You can make the punctuation as detailed as desired, although the best ones to read are the ones which are the most clear and simple to understand.


Is There A Lesbian Hanky Code? (LINK)
Hankies are usually worn in either the back left or right pockets, however, they can also be worn around the wrist, around the ankle or leg at the thigh above the knee, or around the neck with the knot/tie going either right or left.  Other objects can also be used such as keys and key chains or watch fobs and even a set of handcuffs (Bondage), to let people know if you are ‘top’ or ‘bottom’.

Skin Lightening is fraught with risks, like many beauty demands, but it still thrives, especially in Asian Cultures, and in African American Culture, where "Colorism" is part of "internal stigmatization"

 (LINK)


Books about skin lightening (LINK)

Skin Bleaching and Poisoning in the Phillipines (LINK)

Black Hair