These days, when she gets ready for school, the hair will be done. Perhaps it will be a braid of some sort, perhaps it will be curled. Earrings will be selected. A light and subtle application of age-appropriate makeup usually follows. The only constant is that she will always put on a skirt.
It didn’t used to be this way. When younger, she was quite the tomboy. There were the fights over getting her hair cut short, fights she lost not because we’re that controlling, but because short hair has to be cut more frequently and we didn’t want to add monthly visits to the stylist to the calendar. The uniform was shorts or pants and a polo for school, nicer pants and tops for dressier occasions, and athletic gear for casual moments. Jewelry was a no-go, even the pearls and things that grandmothers like to give to be worn at church.
She never suffered from dysphoria. She always knew she was a girl. It bothered her how often she was mistaken for a boy, not connecting the dots between her preferred functional form of attire and how it was virtually indistinguishable from the clothing sported by little boys. She was horrified when a classmate exhorted her to “just get the surgery.” That was reading too much into the truth, which was that she just wanted to play, to roughhouse, and to get outside. Dresses and skirts didn’t lend themselves to such things. more
Very good article and extremely on point. I was a tomboy. Still hate to wear dresses. They annoy me on so many levels.
Yes a very good and important article. My wife was a Tomboy growing up. As was my daughter and now both Granddaughters. That shouldn’t be misinterpreted into today’s swap gender every 15 minutes mentality.
My late wife was a tomboy, she was the 3rd of 9 brothers and sisters. She had an older sister and brother and a younger sister and 5 younger brothers. She was also very athletic, a tremendous women’s softball player, she played a year of women’s college basketball at EWU until she broke her nose. I think I only saw her in a dress a few times at our wedding and a few other occasions. She worked in the lab at Sacred Heart Med. Ctr. for 30 + years and always dressed professionally. I wouldn’t have traded her in for a more girly girl because she was great at what she was and very comfortable with it. And we were total opposites and balanced each other out very well for 35 and a half years.
OK, I was always a tomboy, but then again I am a boy… LOL
Still, A very good article and am the proud great grandfather of my great grand daughter. She doesn’t like to wear a dress but she can deck you with a judo chop. But that is how you raise them to protect themselves.
Remember Ellie Mae Clampett. She wore jeans and shirts for the most part, but also dresses on occasion. One episode she wore a Ball Gown. Went out and played football with the boys in it. Came back all grungy proud she scored 2 touchdowns while wearing it.
There was a tomboy in my class in High School, she turned out to be a raging bull dyke.
I was a tomboy. Loved to fish and whittle. Caught lizards and frogs. Rode my bike up and down the Ca. delta levees. Never wanted to be a boy, yuck. Lol!
I have three grown children.
Love being a woman.
I miss women in dresses.
Always thought it was a classy look.
The best part of a dress was taking it off…slowly….but you can leave your hat on…..
What’s disturbing is that there was ALWAYS a range for both boys and girls and nobody cared and nobody DEMANDED that you pick one over the other. You could be a tomboy and a bit effeminate, and that was OK. Everyone worked it out eventually, and nobody took hormones or demanded genital mutilation. What happened?