Abstract
Tomboyism is age old phenomena dating back to the 16th Century. It has shifted in meaning throughout the early years of its use—from being used on boys, to sex workers, and finally to unruly girls, where contemporary (dictionary) definition has remained to this day. The term, once so fluid, has remained quite static in meaning in the last few centuries—or has it? My thesis is an exploration into contemporary embodiments of tomboyism. It includes the investigation of tomboyism in LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities from different contexts around the world.
In order to address this aim, I conducted 11 interviews with international tomboys (past and present) living in Aotearoa New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Canada and the United States. I came up with a theoretical framework—the Non-binary Feminist Framework (NBFF) using a constructionist grounded theory approach. The NBFF draws primarily upon the work of Gloria Anzaldúa, José Esteban Muñoz, Emi Koyama, Robin Dembroff and Elizabeth Grosz. A wide range of themes have been drawn from my interview material, which helped inform the chapters of this thesis. These themes include a discussion of what it means to be a contemporary tomboy, the concept of gender rebellion in tomboyism, as well as tomboy sexualities. I placed a special emphasis on discussing BIPOC tomboy experiences and embodiments and included an exploration into tomboy trauma and safe spaces.
I hope to add to the scholarship available on the advent of tomboyism in a way that expands and exposes the binary constructs of femininity and masculinity, and dismantles the assumption of white privilege historically tied to the term. Tomboyism is a topic often overlooked as a “phase” in developing femininity, and I intend to give the concept more coherence in broadening the parameters of what it means to be a tomboy in adulthood. My research incorporates the use of differing cultural contexts, and relies heavily on my 11 international participants’ varying experiences of being or having been a tomboy.
This thesis hopes to dismantle the constructs of binary gender embodiment by exploring tomboyism and all its many facets and intersections. I hope to unravel what it means to be a tomboy and/or gender-nonconforming in contemporary (multi-cultural) society, ultimately exposing a view of gender that transcends the confines of the dualistic gender binary.