This article explores the tomboy trope in film and literature and the  taming  that characterizes it, framing both in relation to contemporary debates about gender and sexual identity as well as cultural anxieties around queer, trans, and nonbinary identity. Examining texts from Louisa May Alcott\u27s Little Women to the 1980 film Little Darlings, the article argues that even while the term tomboy may be obsolete, tomboy narratives document processes of rebellion that hold continuing value

Stahl, Lynne

English

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Faculty Scholarship 6-30-2019 'Tomboy' is Anachronistic. But the Concept Still Has Something to Teach Us Lynne Stahl West Virginia University Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications  Part of the American Film Studies Commons, American Literature Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Digital Commons Citation Stahl, Lynne, "'Tomboy' is Anachronistic. But the Concept Still Has Something to Teach Us" (2019). Faculty Scholarship. 1178. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1178 This Editorial is brought to you for free and open access by The Research Repository @ WVU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact ian.harmon@mail.wvu.edu. The Washington PostOutlook Perspective‘Tomboy’ is anachronistic. But the concept still has something toteach us.These characters still give us room to experiment with thecomplexities of gender and sexuality.By Lynne StahlLater this year, the newest film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel “Little Women” will arrive intheaters. This one is an A-list Greta Gerwig production, spangled with the likes of Meryl Streep, Emma Watsonand Timothée Chalamet. Exciting as the prospect of Laura Dern as matriarch Marmee March may be, however,I’m much more intrigued to see how this contemporary version handles the novel’s tomboyish co-heroine —especially after a recent Vanity Fair interview indicating that her gender-bending figured prominently inGerwig’s mind while filming. Jo March is among the most iconic tomboys in American culture, but that cultureis beginning to understand gender in less binary terms than were available to Alcott in the late 1860s. In 2019,children like Jo might be thought of as trans, non-binary and/or gender-nonconforming. Where, then, dotomboys fit in now. The term “tomboy” has long sounded alarms among conservative parenting factions for its perceivedassociation with lesbianism and departure from traditional femininity, but it’s come under scrutiny inprogressive circles, too, some of which argue that it upholds the essentialist notion that anatomy largelydetermines children’s behaviors and inclinations. The author of a 2017 New York Times essay who wrote thather daughter was more a tomboy than a transboy sparked debate around gender-nonconforming children, andthe argument about this trope has also unfolded across Facebook communities and clinical studies .  What defines tomboyism in the first place? It can’t simply be equated to masculinity. Tomboys are femalechildren distinguished by resistance to stereotypically “girly” behaviors; they’re rambunctious, grass-stainedand generally disinclined to passivity, dolls, frills and flirting with boys. Think of spiky-haired, surly drummerWatts in “Some Kind of Wonderful” or feisty survivalist Katniss in “The Hunger Games.” While tomboys varyin their particulars, their one constant is a staunch refusal to conform to female stereotypes.But fictional stories about tomboys, from “Freaky Friday” to “Juno,” also feature plotlines that inevitably pairthese characters off with boys, offering uncomplicatedly happy, tidy conclusions in which the tomboy drops herresistance and acquires a boyfriend. It’s a process that constricts their characteristic independence, and it canfeel torturous for those of us who don’t identify with traditional femininity — and who see something ofourselves in fictional figures who reject it. Empathetic viewers might want to see a character embrace hersingleness, even if an actual lesbian pairing is too much to hope for.The attempt to fix the tomboy by marrying her off invites disturbing associations with real-life medicalpractices that “correct” high levels of hormones associated with masculine characteristics. Though lessphysically invasive, the creative industries have their own ways of imposing corrective measures. Alcott, whonever married, was well aware of the narrative constraints she and Jo faced. These endings weren’t happy forher, either; she wrote in a letter to her uncle that “publishers are very perverse & wont let authors have thier[sic] way so my little women must grow up & be married off in a very stupid style.”  Literary critic Leslie Fiedlerrecognized the same phenomenon and argued that readers, too, understand the literary tomboy’s fate frompage one. “Every genteel reader knows,” he writes , that the tomboy “will be transformed at the moment thatshe steps out of her overalls into her first party dress and is revealed as worthy of love!” Taming via romance isthe defining feature of tomboy stories, the resolution of tension that renders them palatable to the generalpublic. But if the ending is a foregone conclusion, why do these stories remain compelling? Maybe the last thing that happens in a story doesn’t have to cancel out everything that came before. Withintheir narratives, tomboys take liberties, showing us that there are other ways of being in the world. It’s theirdivergences that stick with us, even if the story line ultimately forecloses them. We can discount their endingsthe way viewers might brush off a “Bachelor” season finale: It’s a requisite formality of the genre that’s far lessilluminating than the social dynamics we witness in the show’s beginning and middle. And besides, everygenteel viewer knows that those relationships don’t last. There’s also something queer about the appeal that these unfeminine females hold for ostensibly straight boys.Often, this attraction is expressed in terms of the tomboy’s divergence from conventional femininity (“You’renot like other girls”) and alignment with masculine norms (“It’s just like being with one of the guys”). In the1980 summer-camp comedy “Little Darlings,” for instance, Kristy McNichol’s tomboy character mirrors loveinterest Matt Dillon in both appearance and demeanor. Based as it is in their similarities, their romance is farcry from the traditional Princess/Prince Charming binary. Though the romantic capitulations of tomboys can feel artificial, they have a long history. Even after theystopped insisting on marriage, publishers took other measures to stifle rebellious females. In the 1950s, forexample, some publishing houses barred authors from writing endings that portrayed homosexuality in apositive light. If authors wanted to include queer characters, those characters were doomed to endings thatrestored so-called moral order — meaning any same-sex relationships had to be broken up before the finalpage. Yet something about the queerness of tomboy stories manages to linger, untamed. Tomboys resist the requisiteorder, and in doing so they encourage readers to resist it, too — to read stubbornly between the lines for thestories that are muted, to ignore contrived endings. It’s a way for the audience to take up the tomboyish spirit.Knowing, as Fiedler suggests we do, that the tomboy will be tamed in the end makes her moments of resistanceall the more precious. Instead of letting the conclusion negate the whole story’s impact, we can return in ourminds to the more affirming moments: Jodie Foster playing field hockey in “Freaky Friday” orMcNichol’s charged food fight with “Little Darlings” co-star Tatum O’Neal.In “Little Women,” Jo develops a deep and mutually nourishing friendship with Laurie, a neighbordistinguished by his markedly unmasculine demeanor. “In some ways,” Gerwig suggests , “they are each other’stwins.” On the surface, Jo’s tomboyism and Laurie’s affinity for typically feminine pursuits make them seemmore different than alike. Yet on a deeper level, they are united by their shared refusal to conform withgendered expectations about how they “should” behave.As we work to negotiate happier endings for all, we can also turn our minds to better beginnings. In recentyears, a handful of states have started offering gender-neutral options on birth certificate. While this shiftbarely chips away at the damaging legal and cultural confines of the sex/gender binary, it’s a crucial,encouraging step. I don’t mean to imply that tomboys are perfect models of social justice and resistance — farfrom it. Many tomboy stories rely on regressive notions of race and class, grounding their visions of idealfemininity in wealth and whiteness. But representation is important, and it’s better to represent and studylimited modes of resistance, flaws and all, than none.Norms will always exist; there will always be mores and expectations against which to chafe. If we want greatergender autonomy, we have to understand how traditional ideas about gender linger in the stories we tell andthe endings we envision for ourselves. Beyond resisting gender norms, tomboys give us a way to see thecomplex dynamics that shape our expression and perception of identity. And even if the word “tomboy” isreaching its own ending, the tomboy’s refusal to conform keeps its power still. Read more from Outlook:Follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. Lynne StahlLynne Stahl is the humanities librarian at West Virginia University. Her research and teaching span popular culture, gendertheory, and critical information studies. Follow 

\u27Tomboy\u27 is Anachronistic. But the Concept Still Has Something to Teach Us

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\u27Tomboy\u27 is Anachronistic. But the Concept Still Has Something to Teach Us

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