a "girly boy" is a young male, usually adolescent, who looks and/or acts effeminate. He is often assumed to be gay and usually has an interest in things that would interest the average female his age - fashion, pop music, romantic/sexual attraction to other boys, etc. Either due to social isolation from the "
alpha males" his age or by
personal choice, his close circle of friends are usually female. In contrast to a "ladyboy" (
transvestite or transsexual), a girlyboy does not necessarily have a desire to dress as or become a "woman", instead he is naturally feminine in his tastes, appearance and/or behavior. He is often unintentionally mistaken for a girl by those who first meet him and may be secretly considered attractive by straight/masculine males his own age who would ordinarily be attracted only to females.