A tomboy is usually a young girl who has tastes and behaviours that are typically associated with boys, the implication being that she’ll grow out of it. Tomboys are seen as way to cater to both male and female audiences. Most of them are portrayed as hating anything ‘girly’ and the idea that a tomboy can also have feminine interests is rarely explored. If the character doesn’t outgrow being a tomboy, it suggests that sexuality and gender might be at play.
Some questions
Do you think this trope is overused?
Do you think this trope encourages negative views on grown women who aren’t ‘girly’?
Have you ever written a tomboy?
If yes, was she young? Did she grow out of it?
If no, would you consider writing one?
I do think that the trope of the tomboy being better than traditionaly more feminine girls is overused (and misogiynistic), but it’s definitely not as overused as the manic pixie dream girl
Not really. I do believe that it encourages the Idea that a women can just grow out of more serious things (like not wanting kids, being a lesbian, not wanting to get married etc)
I don’t write, but I do draw so I do have an oc whos a tomboy. She didn’t grow out of being one, but she did grow out of shaming others if THEIR interests were traditionally girly and she also realized she has a lot in common with those girly girls.
I also have another character who thought they were a tomboy when they were younger, but later on found out what they were expiriencing was not having different interests, it was gender dysphoria and that he was a trans man all along
I think this is overly expressed. I don’t think they entirely hate things girly. I would classify myself as a tomboy because I don’t really like wearing dresses with flowers, tiaras, heels, and all those girly stuff. I wear leggings and sneakers and all those stuff. I think my style is influenced by billie eilish. The characters might grow out of it but even if she doesn’t, I don’t consider it a bad thing. I think it definitely brings negative views on women who aren’t girly but that’s just my opinion!