thanks a lot anita;) i just read an article about how outdated the word “tomboy” is and how it can be offensive to girls. society should be celebrating the strong, independent women who can play sports, withstand injuries as a symbol of feminism. “tomboy” aren’t really throwing away gender norms, but they are expressing who they are and the strength of their personality. in the 1550s, the term “tomboy” was used to mean a rude, boisterous boy but it has now evolved to mean “a bold woman who flouts societal conditions and is a strumpet.” just b/c a girl wears shorts and cuts her hair short doesn’t mean she is trying to be a male, it means she is having her own terms of free expression. tomboy diminishes the power of girls by saying that the girl is acting like a guy so it’s almost saying boys are better. women in our society are not powerless and should be allowed to play sports, dress in shorts and wear their hair short. there’s still a societal convention that designates those things for males and that’s just prejudice. i like katherine hepburn b/c she is outspoken, wore her hair short and wore trousers. she was very independent and athletic. some of her quotes are “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” when she was young, she even acted a play out in which she pretended she was “jimmy” and dressed as a boy. i do that sometimes when i’m with my friends and we have lots of laughs.
borrowed and paraphrased from

http://www.bustle.com/articles/180131-why-we-need-to-stop-calling-girls-tomboys