We’ve had it all over these last few years. Golden Retriever Boyfriend, Doberman Boyfriend, German Shepherd Boyfriend. If men are dogs, there are plenty of species to choose from. Then there’s Black Cat Boyfriend, Deer Boyfriend, Bear Boyfriend and many more. Any animal in God's choir can be a subset of a boyfriend. However, out of the many men in the sea (Fish Boyfriend?), a new type of man is enjoying his time in the spotlight.
The Rodent Boyfriend.
Men with lanky figures, sharp faces, pinched features, and a general mousiness to their faces. In contrast to the domineering cultural idea of the attractive man as a beefcake with blunt strong features, the rodent boyfriend exists outside the confines of conventional Hollywood attractiveness. Popular household examples include Jeremy Allen White and his inescapable Calvin Klein ad, Challengers star Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, the beloved Timothee Chalamet, and my personal favourites, Rory and Keiran Culkin. As well as singers, like Matty Healy of The 1975. Old heavy hitters in the Hot Dudes category like Henry Cavill and Jason Momoa are being quickly replaced by this new caliber of stars. One thing is clear, the people want Rodent Men. After a long Hollywood history of cookie-cutter hot guys whose jawlines are all exactly 90 degrees, the unique features and implicit personalities of these celebrities have quickly garnered their new-found status as the Hollywood heartthrobs.
Maybe this is a result of a change in women’s taste over time, but something is also to be said about this rise in the popularity of unconventionally attractive men going hand in hand with the female audience’s increasingly large influence in film. Hollywood has always been a male-dominated industry, therefore the idea of the attractive man in film has largely come from what men consider attractive features of masculinity. With women having more control over cinema than ever before, both in production and consumption, perhaps the rise of the Rodent Boyfriend has more to do with women’s tastes in men than TikTok trends. Or maybe the man of the season is simply a Rat.
While an odd classification, it’s clear to see that this is yet another turn for internet trend cycles A brand-new way of identifying and categorizing taste in a cultural landscape which loves categories. With so many new celebrities to pick and choose from, it’s easy to see why actors previously considered not conventionally attractive are getting their chance to be seen as the masculine standard of hot. I wonder where this new phenomenon will lead, or if it will just disappear in due time, another trend eaten up by the hungry and ever-changing nature of internet trend cycles
Until then, in the internet's endless classifications and subclassifications of types of men and women, maybe it’s time the vermin had their chances. Why drool over a guy who checks off all the boxes according to conventional standards when you can find out what the weird yet enigmatic guy is about? Dating is an adventure, don’t limit yourself to the forests and household pets. Check out the sewers too.
Inayat Juno Mander is a third-year student studying English and Film (BA). She loves esoteric and odd media. When not writing, you can find her watching YouTube Video essays or falling down yet another internet rabbit hole.
You can find her @uknow_juno26, to talk about anything from rat boyfriends to rat kings.
