"Tomboy"...old-fashioned word?

[Biciclista]

Road Raven, thanks for the wonderful song. I never heard of it, but the words are wonderful.

[Crankin]

I guess I was a tomboy when I was very young (4-8 years old). I had all this play military equipment, a tent, and I used to make all of the boys in the neighborhood march behind me as I barked out orders to them (no wonder my son joined the Marines ). I was always outdoors, playing in the woods, streams, etc. I loved nature. But, I was a klutz and not good at sports. I did ice skating, but it was not that fun for me. I DID ride my bike a lot, though. On the other hand, i played with dolls and never minded wearing dresses.
I have always liked clothes and make up, but ran away from pink even as a kid. When I got into my teens, at the height of the 60's I became somewhat wild and i am glad I did! I also became pragmatic, assertive, etc. Liking girl stuff and being assertive are not necessarily incompatible. I have been told at work many times that I "think like a man." Huh? I guess that's what allowed me to segment my life, never feel guilty about working with young kids, or to be open and honest with everyone. I don't have any daughters, but I do have two of the least sexist young adult sons around. Of course it helped to have a husband who instilled these values, along with me.

[SlowButSteady]

Before this thread, I hadn't heard this term or thought about it in years.

It certainly was applied to me often enough. My mother has always said I had "gender identification issues."

I'm more tomboyish than my husband and my son put together!

[DirtDiva]

Back to the original question...

I teach 10-12 year-olds, and in my class I have three girls who could be considered "tomboys": the girl with short hair and boys clothes, the girl who hates anything "girly" purely and simply because it tends not to be sports, the girl who has friends who are boys. Never once have I heard the word "tomboy" applied to any of them, so I think to kids it is an outdated word at least.

[RoadRaven]

Road Raven, thanks for the wonderful song. I never heard of it, but the words are wonderful.

So glad you like it. I use it with my students when we are discussing gender issues and how "hidden" assumptions are so taken for granted...
Here's Dar's home page. You should be able to find a soundbyte there

http://www.darwilliams.com/

I couldn't get her music in NZ when this came out. We found her by 'chance'.

My partner and I have both been fans of Joan Baez, who (as well as her own songs) has made a point of singing songs by "unknown" artists. So when we hear Joan sing something we like, we research the songwriter.

Thats how we found Richard Shindell... and via him we found Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky... all of whom we have had to import to our CD shelves as local shops do not stock their music.