Tomboys: meanings, marginalization, and misunderstandings.
Girls who act like boys are called "tomboys." This is an exploration using feminist guiding principles, about what "tomboyism" means to children and how adults around them construct it. The purpose is to examine tomboyism from literary, linguistic, historical and cultural perspectives. The exploration includes a review of selected scientific sources, children's and some adult literature, and conversations with adult women who recall their tomboyism from youth and how it now affects them as adults.
University of Tennessee, College of Nursing, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA. joanne hall@comcast.net
Joanne M
JM
Hall
D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003020:Clothing; D003144:Communication Barriers; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D005783:Gender Identity; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D024802:Nurse's Role; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012929:Psychological Distance; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012660:Semantics; D012938:Social Perception