Tomboy - WikiHQ

thumb|Tomboy

A tomboy is a girl or young woman who exhibits behaviors and traits typically associated with boys or men in a given culture, such as wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities traditionally considered masculine.

Origins

thumb|The Tomboy, 1873 painting by [[John George Brown]]

The word "tomboy" is a compound word which combines "tom" with "boy". Though this word is now used to refer to "boy-like girls", the etymology suggests the meaning of tomboy has changed drastically over time.

History

In the United States

19th century

Before the mid-19th century, femininity was equated with emotional fragility, physical vulnerability, hesitation, and domestic submissiveness, commonly known as the "Cult of True Womanhood". Under the influence of this ideal of femininity, women did not engage in strenuous sports or any physical activity. This paradigm remained stagnant until the mid-nineteenth century. During the Long Depression (1873-1899) of the late 19th century the US's increasing economic instability made fragile femininity no longer desirable. Young women joined the workforce to support their families and learn practical job skills, and thus a more robust physique was needed to support the physical demands of job practices. This led to the paradigm shift in people's expectations of young women from languishing, decorative beauty to vigorously healthy, thus laying the groundwork for tomboyism.

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1898 book, Women and Economics, the author lauds the health benefits of being a tomboy, that girls should be "not feminine till it is time to be". Joseph Lee, a playground advocate, wrote in 1915 that a "tomboy phase" was crucial to physical development of young girls between the ages of 8 and 13. Coupled with the birth of first wave feminism and the US's depressed economy, tomboyism amongst young girls emerged because the young girls' parents permitted or even promoted the tomboy upbringing due to the decaying economy and the American turbulent political climate.

20th century: second wave feminism

thumb|Feminist Suffrage Parade in New York City, 1912

While first wave feminism mainly focused on women's suffrage, second wave feminism expanded the discussion of gender inequality in areas such as sexuality, family dynamics, workspace, and laws in relation to patriarchy and culture. With the main purpose of critiquing the patriarchal system, this movement opened avenues for women in education, employment, and legal protection against domestic violence.

Late 20th century

In the late 20th century, the term tomboy describes girls who wear unfeminine clothing, actively engage in physical sports, and embrace what are often known as "boy toys" such as cars, or other activities usually associated with boys.

Beginning 21st century

Sebastian Zulch of Bustle argued that since the term tomboy implicitly associates a behavior to masculine gender and reminds the societal expectation for girls, its use could be considered condescending and sexist.

Psychobehavioral aspects

Child development

thumb|Tomboy is often a phase of gender presentation in childhood. It is not an indicator of sexual orientation or future gender display.

Tomboy can be seen as a phase of gender presentation in adolescence. Some girls start to embrace femininity as age increases while some persist to be tomboys in adulthood. The preference of athletics and masculine clothing can be explained by adolescent tomboys' curiosity about outdoors and physical games, by which comfortable clothing such as pants and t-shirts help to facilitate their physical engagement. A 2002 study suggests that some girls may be "born tomboys" because of the higher testosterone levels of the mother during pregnancy. Being a childhood tomboy does not influence or indicate a girl's eventual sexual orientation or life-long gender presentation.

Gender roles

thumb|Girl riding a [[skateboard]]

The idea that there are girl activities and clothing, and that there are boy activities and clothing, is a concept known as gender roles. Tomboyism can be seen as refusing gender roles and traditional gender conventions, while also conforming to other gender stereotypes. The concept may be considered outdated or looked at from a positive viewpoint.

Feminine traits are often devalued and unwanted in society, and tomboys often respond to this viewpoint. This can be due in part to an environment that desires and only values masculinity, depending on the current culture in a particular geographical region. Tomboys may view femininity as having been pushed on them, which results in negative feelings toward femininity and those who embrace it. In this case, masculinity may be seen as a defense mechanism against the harsh push toward femininity, and a reclaiming of agency that is often lost due to sexist ideas of what girls are and are not able to do.

In western culture, tomboys are often expected to one day cease their masculine behavior, usually during or right before puberty, return to feminine behavior, and embrace and embody heteronormativity. Barbara Creed argues that the tomboy's "image undermines patriarchal gender boundaries that separate the sexes", and thus is a "threatening figure". This "threat" affects and challenges the idea of what a family must look like, generally nuclear independent heterosexual couplings with two children.

Gender scholar Jack Halberstam argues that while the defying of gender roles is often tolerated in young girls, adolescent girls who show masculine traits are often repressed or punished.

<!--NOTE: this section has been removed because it relies entirely on one author's assertion, including the assertion that the terms used in the Phillippines are analogous to the English term tomboy. ... In the Philippines, tomboys are masculine-presenting women who have relations with other women, with the other women tending to be more feminine, although not exclusively, or transmasculine people who have relationships with women; the former appears more common than the latter. Women who engage in romantic relationships with other women, but who are not masculine, are often still deemed heterosexual. This leads to more invisibility for those that are lesbian and feminine. Scholar Kale Bantigue Fajardo argues for the similarity between "tomboy" in the Philippines and "tombois in Indonesia", and "toms in Thailand" all as various forms of female masculinity. and can be an insult which implies that the girl in question could not get a boyfriend. Throughout history, there has been a perceived correlation between tomboyishness and lesbianism. Many contributors to Tomboys! linked their self-identification as tomboys and lesbians to both labels positioning them outside "cultural and gender boundaries".

Misconception

While some tomboys later reveal a lesbian identity in their adolescent or adult years, behavior typical of boys but displayed by girls is not an indicator of one's sexual orientation. With rising female liberation and gender-neutral playgrounds (at least in the US) in the 20th century, an increasing number of girls could technically be considered "tomboys" without being referred to as "tomboys" because it is now considered normal for girls to engage in physical activities, play equally with boys, and wear pants, masculine or gender-neutral clothing. This trend continued unabated into the 21st century. Any association between lesbianism and tomboyism is argued therefore to not only be outdated but also disrespectful to women.

Representations in media

Tomboys in fictional stories are often used to contrast a more girly and traditionally feminine character. These characters are also often the ones that undergo a makeover scene in which they learn to be feminine, often under the goal of getting a male partner. Usually with the help of the more girly character, they transform from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, ignoring past objectives and often framed in a way that they have become their best self.