Who's your favorite tomboy character?

I enjoyed this article reminding me of tomboy characters from books I read growing up: http://bookriot.com/2014/12/09/tomboys-literature-jo-march-scout-finch/

I will always have a soft spot for Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, but Meg Murray from A Wrinkle in Time comes to mind as an early role model for me. I don't know if I'd call her a tomboy, but she definitely was no girly-girl.

My favorite tomboy moment is Elizabeth Bennet's traipsing through muddy fields to visit her sick sister, horrifying the sisters Bingley at her unladylike behavior.

Like your second one, she's not completely a tomboy, but that moment is such a great redefinition of femininity.

What a great question!

Edited cos I got lost in femininity's spelling.

>2 susanbooks: Love that scene!

Katniss Everdeen

Not my intention to be nitpicky here, but I've always felt hinky about extolling the "tomboy," as if being more like a boy/man is a good thing, and I've never much liked tomboys in literature held up as paragons.

All that said, the title character in Gertrude Stein's The Good Anna has always been one of my favorite characters.

>5 nohrt4me2:. I didn't think of it like that. I thought of "tomboy" as a girl who acted outside of the rigid societal limits placed on her because of her gender. I don't think that it disparages little girls who don't like to wear pants or climb trees, it simply celebrates those who do like those things and who do them despite disapprobation.

>5 nohrt4me2: Yes, it's something we always run up against, isn't it? This whole idea of valuing so-called male traits over female traits, embedded right there in the language we use. In my experience, many of the traits defined as "tomboyish" are really admirable human traits: independence, a strong will, a free spirit, passion in your pursuits. The problem is that these traits are so often systematically denied to women, starting when they are girls.

It's not that these girls wear pants and play games with the boys. It's that they get to do what they want, just like boys do. I think this helps underline the ingrained sexism in our society.

>7 sturlington:. Excellent points!

In my experience, many of the traits defined as "tomboyish" are really admirable human traits: independence, a strong will, a free spirit, passion in your pursuits. The problem is that these traits are so often systematically denied to women, starting when they are girls.

I think that's a nice revisionist view of "tomboy."

Check out some definitions; they all mention the connection with masculine activities, dress, or outlook.

I like to think you can be independent, strong-willed, free-spirited, and passionate ... even if you enjoy sitting in a little white chair in a frilly gown eating petite fours with white gloves on. :-)

>9 nohrt4me2: Isn't it possible to have problems with the term "tomboy" and the identification with male traits, as I pointed out, and yet still admire the universal qualities? And in no way did I mean to imply that having an interest in what is seen as traditionally feminine interests means that you do not have those qualities. Since acting more like boys was the only way these female characters could express their true selves, it helped make me more aware of the boxes we are all put in by societal gender roles.

>10 sturlington: Sure, I admire the universal qualities you mention.

I just don't like the word "tomboy" and I never liked the real tomboys at school, who were often bullies or constantly putting down other girls for their lack of strength or prowess in some kind of jock game, or making fun of you for reading books.

My only venture into tomboy-dom was on the fencing team, where I enjoyed skewering (not literally, of course) those wanna-be-boys with my epee.

Perhaps "tomboy" is an outdated concept.

The true tomboys in literature came from eras in which girls were prohibited from doing most of the things that we take for granted today.

I also think that in real life the "tomboy" label sometimes involves or avoids the issue of sexual orientation, which is no longer considered an abomination in most enlightened societies.

>11 nohrt4me2: and >12 vwinsloe: I agree that it's probably outdated, and the word is totally problematic. I would probably be more suspicious of children's books written now with the same kind of tomboy characters as I liked in the books I read while growing up. :-)

I kind of considered myself a tomboy growing up, mostly because I wasn't interested in dolls and I didn't like to wear dresses. But I was really bad at sports. I think I was more of a nerd, really.

I looked up some synonyms for "tomboy," which included, interestingly enough, "meg."

Did anyone actually bother to READ the article linked to in >1 sturlington: ?

>14 LucindaLibri:. Yes. But >1 sturlington: did not ask for responses to the article. If you want to discuss the article rather than sturlington's question, which was the title of the thread, then have at it.

>14 LucindaLibri: Yes. What are we missing, do you think?

Did anyone else read Liz Prince's graphic memoir Tomboy that came out recently? I was a tomboy growing up and it was an amazing reading experience. She addresses how she was able to separate being disinterested in girly activities from thinking women were just less cool, which was a problem I also went through as a child and teenager.

>17 weener: Thanks for that recommendation.

>17 weener: No, Weener, but maybe I can see from what you say that tomboy-ism is necessary for some girls.

Maybe I was lucky. There was nothing my grandmothers (both born ca. 1895) couldn't do as far as I was concerned--shear sheep, slaughter chickens and have them on the table by supper, knit little pink booties, do basic auto maintenance, dress up like the ladies who lunch to shop in Detroit, paint soffits and empty eaves troughs, play golf, make a bed flounce, deliver a baby if necessary, and teach you how to bet on harness races with nickels tied up in an embroidered hankie.

My grandfathers, on the other hand, sat around feeling entitled to "relax and have a snort or two" every night because they'd gone to a job for eight hours. They seemed to me lazy and somewhat limited in their survival skills.

My favorite literary tomboy (as I use the term) has always been Jo March from Little Women followed by Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Just generally to anyone: What is the appeal of Scout Finch, who is beloved of so many readers?

I have to confess I never saw much personality there; she and the other children are the observers through whom the book's plot and themes are filtered. As a child, she is relatively free from the prejudices of her neighbors and culture, which allows Harper Lee to comment more freely on the injustices she sees.

So I see Scout as more of a device than a real character.

Jo March has grown on me over the years, but Amy is still my favorite. (I know, she's not supposed to be anyone's favorite, but she has just as much determination as Jo, which is why they are always at odds.)

I liked George (Georgina) from the Famous Five by Enid Blyton. She wanted to be a boy, she acted like a boy, she passed as a boy (sometimes). Going back and rereading some of these books as an adult, I found myself aghast at the sexism that was sometimes a part of the tales. And yet, George did get to be more gender-fluid at a time when that word wasn't even a thing.

>21 nohrt4me2: Bless you! I hate, hate, hate that book! It's patriarchal, white liberal (as opposed to leftist) propaganda. I can never understand what the fuss is about. At the end the white man is the hero just for doing his job, no structural change comes about or is advocated, black people are back in their place (as housekeeper, or in their side of town), and Scout is learning to sit like a lady. Now we can all go back to brunch.

just joined this group. I loved the Little House books growing up, so I count Laura Ingalls Wilder as a tomboyish / strong girl / questioning character. I remember in the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, she comments how Mary is proper, refined, and likes to sit nicely, quietly, etc. And Laura is more of a girl who wants to be active. Yes I became more aware of the rascist parts about Native Americans when I re-read as an adult. Yet I cannot discount the stories about Laura riding her pony on the prairie, or helping Pa put up hay, becoming a teacher in a remote school at 16 to help her family really spoke to me as a young girl, and were a catalyst for me to read books.

>23 susanbooks: What you say makes sense. And yet, I liked that Scout learned about different types of strength and courage. Not just holding a gun and killing a rabid dog. Maybe there is too little to redeem the book.

Somewhat more contemporary, and it's scifi/fantasy, but what about Lyra Belacqua of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy? (ETA: Much as I love "Anne with an E" Shirley, I'm not sure cracking that slate over Gilbert's thick head is sufficient to qualify as a tomboy.)

>26 CurrerBell: I love Anne Shirley and LM Montgomery's stories! Just remembered how at first Marilla and brother wanted to adopt a boy, and were going to "send her back" (to the agency) for a boy, but Anne grew on them, and they kept her.

I think there are several aspects to what we mean (or meant) by the term tomboy.
a) Some are defining the term as being able to do the things that boys do - such as be independent, strong, agentic, influential.
b) Some are focussing on the value/esteem that males are accorded and girls were denied.
c) Others are focussing on the desire/identification with being a boy/male.

Have I missed any other aspects...?

I tend to think Scout Finch. But in non-fiction Liz Murray takes the crown.

Al in A Girl Called Al