What is the origin of the term "tomboy"?

Answer 1

Tomboy originally referred to a `boisterous, rude boy,' tom denoting `agressiveness associated with males.' Tom was used from the Middle Ages as a term for `common man,' based on the common name Thomas. Tomboy referring to a boisterous boy dates from before 1553. In 1579 we find it being applied to a `bold or immodest woman,' and in 1592 it refers to `a girl who behaves like a spirited, boisterous boy.'

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=tomboy&searchmode=none

A tomboy is a girl who behaves according to the gender role of a boy. This can include various things:

Wearing non-feminine clothes.
Enjoying boys' games, interests and activities, such as running, jumping, climbing trees, and sports like soccer and baseball.
Preferring school subjects often considered to be the domain of boys, like mathematics and science.
Preferring to befriend boys more than other girls.
There is little discussion of the causality of tomboyness, since it has been considered a youthful phase. In the recent past and near future, due to tomboyishness sometimes being accompanied by lesbianism, there have been and may be more attempts to seek a causality for what is perceived as a deviant behavior. Some folk theories might be that a girl spent her childhood and/or adolescence in an environment where the male presence or action predominates, and having therefore a lack of female role models. For example,

a family with:
more than 2 brothers and 1 sister or fewer, or
a single father
a school mostly of boys, hence the tomboy befriends few girls.
However, this post hoc hypothesis is challenged by some tomboys' personal experiences and by modern research that suggests that tomboyishness is heavily influenced by genetic and prenatal factors. [1]

Historically tomboys were defined by both behaviour and wearing boys' clothing. In recent times, as the use of "traditional" clothing such as dresses, blouses and skirts steadily declines among females, the distinction has become more and more one of behaviour. A general increase in the popularity of woman's sporting events, (see Title IX), and other activities that were traditionally male-dominated is today lessening the impact of "tomboy" as a pejorative.

Childhood genders are handled somewhat differently for tomboys and 'sissy' or girlish boys. Tomboyism generally enjoys much more social approval and support than femininity in young males. However, gender scholar Judith 'Jack' Halberstam has noted that while tomboyism is often tolerated or even encouraged in young girls, older girls and adolescents who display masculine traits are often repressed and punished as well. Thus, youthful gender expressions are increasingly linked to sexuality and evaluated in relation to heterosexual norms.

Famous tomboys in fiction include Jo March from Little Women, Alicia Lambert from Step by Step, Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, and George (Georgina) from The Famous Five (by Enid Blyton). Depictions of tomboys in other media include Peppermint Patty of the Charlie Brown cartoons and Velma of the Scooby-Doo franchise.

Answer 2

Tom Boy was originally dated back in 1876 when Turkeys were shot that developed the name Tom Turkey and because it was a male the boy originated in 1923. Tomboy became a term used not only for Turkeys, but to evaluate a females virginity in association with older males at a young age.

Answer 3

Today we use tomboy to mean a little girl who likes playing the same rough and tumble games as little boys. But originally tomboy meant a boy! According to the OED the word tomboy is first recorded from 1553 to mean a “rude, boisterous or forward boy”. “Tom” had long been used as nickname for a male – because it’s such a common name (hence “Tommy Atkins” for a British soldier, and so on). And a tomboy was a boy who was especially “boyish” – a bundle of restless energy. But once coined the meaning of tomboy quickly developed – first to mean “a bold or immodest woman” and then to mean “a girl who behaves like a spirited or boisterous boy”. That’s the strange history tomboy (which is probably now politically incorrect).

Answer 4

Interestingly, tomboy originally referred to a `boisterous, rude boy,' tom denoting `agressiveness associated with males.' Tom was used from the Middle Ages as a term for `common man,' based on the common name Thomas. Tomboy referring to a boisterous boy dates from before 1553. In 1579 we find it being applied to a `bold or immodest woman,' and in 1592 it refers to `a girl who behaves like a spirited, boisterous boy.'

Answer 5

Interestingly, tomboy originally referred to a `boisterous, rude boy,' tom denoting `agressiveness associated with males.' Tom was used from the Middle Ages as a term for `common man,' based on the common name Thomas. Tomboy referring to a boisterous boy dates from before 1553. In 1579 we find it being applied to a `bold or immodest woman,' and in 1592 it refers to `a girl who behaves like a spirited, boisterous boy.'

Answer 6

TomBoy - Simply States the origin of INDEPENDENT WOMEN back in the days who took no confidence in man but them selves and God.

Answer 7

Tomboy--meaning "bold or immodest woman" is attested from 1579; that of "girl who acts like a spirited boy" is first recorded 1592.

Answer 8

A girl was named tom and she acted like a boy. I guess

Answer 9

just guessing. tom is a name of boy. maybe a girl look like a boy. tom boy was derived.

Answer 10

tennneseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee tom was a girl who wanted to be a boy.