Tomboy,a girl who behaves in a way that is perceived to be stereotypically boyish or masculine. Then there is the girly-girl, a very feminine girl. Very feminine in her movements. Very feminine looking. Women
are usually perceived as either of the two images, a tomboy or girly-girl.
Women have always been judged for the way they look, behave and dress. But that
is not accurate enough to describe a woman. What if a woman wanted to enjoy the
Sunday football game, wear a jersey, scream at the television scream but really
did not describe her own self as neither “tomboy” nor “girly-girl”. What if she
also enjoyed wearing make-up, getting manicures and pedicures and hated dirt?
How will you then describe her? How about she just is herself?
Call her for what she is; call her by her name or a
different description that may describe her personality. There are so many
names that are directed to describe women and they are so stereotypical, those names
wrongly describe a woman’s character. Women would appreciate the respect given
to them if they were called by their actual names. And although some woman may
identify as girly-girls or tomboys, not all do. Those names, as said in the definitions
are just stereotypical.
Next time you see a very feminine lady or a loosely
dressed girl, there is no need for the tomboy or girly-girl comments. Perhaps you
can describe her as easy-going, chill, strong-minded or unique. Just don’t say
tomboy or girly-girl. Describe HER!
"Women are usually perceived as either of the two images"
ReplyDeleteCitation, please. This is a false dichotomy.
"Just don’t say tomboy or girly-girl. Describe HER!"
I'm not sure why you're jonsing on the stereotypes of "tomboy" and "girly-girl." They exist for the same reasons all stereotypes exist -- as useful form of mental and verbal shorthand. Labeling someone a tomboy or a girl-girl *is* a description of her.
" stereotypical... names wrongly describe a woman’s character"
Um, no. They accurately describe a woman's character AT THAT TIME. If a woman wears a jersey and screams at the tv while watching a football game -- she is acting in accordance with the tomboy stereotype. If the same women later wears makeup, gets a manicure, and hates dirt -- she is acting in accordance with the girly-girl stereotype.
"loosely dressed girl"
What does this mean? A google search doesn't turn up any results that match the context of your blog post.