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"In 1533, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English, "tomboy" was used to mean a "rude, boisterous or forward boy". By the 1570s, however, "tomboy” had taken on the meaning of a "a bold or immodest woman", finally, in the late 1590s and early 1600s, the term morphed into its current meaning: "a girl who behaves like a spirited or boisterous boy; a wild romping girl.""
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@sim I find etymology really interesting. It's weird how often words seem to be at least partially detached (and even inverted) from their roots. I wonder how it went from meaning rude boy to rude girl.
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@thatguyoverthere Yeah, especially at such an early time in history compared to some other words. Maybe they were using it to shame girls into not being rude?
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@sim that actually makes a lot of sense. Interesting how it completely lost it's original meaning.
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@thatguyoverthere Yeah, it is similar to how the word sissy is used to shame boys/men into being less effeminate and more masculine.
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@thatguyoverthere "In China, tomboys are called "假小子" (jiá xiao zi), which literally translates as "pseudo-boy". This term is largely used as a derogatory term to describe those girls with masculine characteristics. Most of the times calling someone a "假小子" is a humiliation which implies that the individual could not find a boyfriend. This largely reduces the value of women to only romance and diminishes girls' confidence in working in what is traditionally defined as the "boy's realm.""
You might find this interesting to learn because it uses a similar shaming technique.
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@sim that is interesting. It doesn't seem to delineate between physical characteristics and social/behavioral. When I think of a tom boy the features that define the type are more behavioral. The ability to get a date seems largely at first to be associated with physical characteristics so it's similar but almost seems to imply ugly or at least unattractive as well.
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@thatguyoverthere Yeah, I do think that we think differently now. Probably because a lot of things have become normalised now. Which helps girls to just be girls, and then women as they age. We just need to normalise being healthy and responsible, so we aren't chasing after short-term pleasures and being irresponsible. I think that some teens and young women will also make themselves seem less appealing so that may play into being ugly or unattractive. They want to hide from that gaze which is uncomfortable for them. Not everyone is after a date. Not sure that shaming them will make them behave more feminine.
sim
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