#google boyish charm and that'll give you an idea of what boyish means.

[alisaint]

Re: That Byler Poll you reblogged. What’s interesting is that I’d personally call Lucas masculine and not boyish. I’d say he’s the most definite masculine character. Dustin is in the middle as I can see a case for either boyish or masculine. And I’d put Will and Mike both in the boyish category. I think Will is boyish leaning “feminine,” but not in a flamboyant way. And Mike is boyish leaning masculine, but he’s still not “masculine” in the way jocks are or the way Lucas is. His traits are more soft even through his leadership skills, and he also presents himself in more of a boyish way physically/appearance-wise in terms of his gender expression. But maybe I’m just reading the term differently idk

i said dustin and lucas in earlier seasons. as time goes on, they begin to mature and become less boyish, both because of the passage of time as well as significant traumatic life events hardening them. but season one and season two henderclair are very boyish, very endearing, and very cute. season two is also when they start to exit their boyhood. they both court a girl: lucas does so successfully, and dustin gets mentored by steve. i would even say that season three lucas is still very boyish, because he's very green. dustin is more mature than any of them at that point (maybe all points, since he knocks sense into mike in s1, too).

i don't want to assume things, but flagging lucas as "the most definite masculine character" is very… suspicious to me, to put it lightly. is it because he's athletically inclined? what makes him the most definite masculine character to you?

he's softer than mike. kinder. generally sweet, too, so much so that this is visible to other characters (robin, for example, who comments on this). he picks fewer fights. he tries to get his partner to open up to him multiple times. even when mike is gone, he doesn't pick up the leadership mantle, and generally doesn't have as much of a dominant personality as mike--in fact, he's willing to submit to others in a way that mike refuses to. he's humorous and a little mischievous.

how are mike's traits more soft than lucas's? and why does lucas's body somehow overshadow his personality and behaviors, and essentially the entire social aspect of masculinity (which is a social construct, meaning you can't ignore the social aspect)?

this is how "boyish" is defined by various sources:

mentions of humor, mischief, and innocence immediately bring to mind a multitude of different lucas moments. moments many of which are funny precisely because of his boyish innocence. dustin, too, but i'm choosing to focus on lucas here.

mike is not boyish, at least not predominantly which is the question being asked. he's a young boy, yes. but words have meanings and boyish is not a word that i would use to describe someone who has more of a traditionally masculine personality, who is consistently and constantly compared to adult masculine characters, who is written to be more serious than the rest, and who expresses discomfort with being placed outside of that role.

i just... i don't see it!

also, what part of mike's wardrobe is boyish? the only time i've heard the crew describe a character's wardrobe that way is when they're talking about will, and it's to show his socioeconomic class as well as fit with the "wanting to go back / turn back time / cling to lost innocence" motif.