96-403: Tomboy is a term referring to girls or young women with masculine traits. It may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men . The word "tomboy" is a compound word which combines "tom" with "boy". Though this word is now used to refer to "boy-like girls", the etymology suggests
192-590: A debutante ball , such as the International Debutante Ball in New York City. Traditionally, debutantes wear couture white gowns and gloves symbolising purity and wealth. Across Latin America, the fiesta de quince años is a celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday. The girl celebrating the birthday is called a Quinceañera . This birthday is celebrated differently from any other birthday, as it marks
288-453: A girl or boy , to recognize their transition to adulthood, or to mark other milestones of their journey to maturity as children. Japan has a coming-of-age ritual called Shichi-Go-San (七五三), which literally means "Seven-Five-Three". This is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girls and three- and five-year-old boys, held annually on November 15. It
384-538: A servant or a bride . Another practice is that of selling girls in exchange for the bride price . The 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery defines "institutions and practices similar to slavery" to include: c) Any institution or practice whereby: (i) A woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or given in marriage on payment of
480-495: A child for sexual stimulation. In Western countries CSA is considered a serious crime, but in many parts of the world there is a tacit tolerance of the practice. CSA can take many forms, one of which is child prostitution . Child prostitution is the commercial sexual exploitation of children in which a child performs the services of prostitution , for financial benefit. It is estimated that each year at least one million children, mostly girls, become prostitutes. Child prostitution
576-624: A consideration in money or in kind to her parents, guardian, family or any other person or group; or (ii) The husband of a woman, his family, or his clan, has the right to transfer her to another person for value received or otherwise; or (iii) A woman on the death of her husband is liable to be inherited by another person. Scholars are unclear and in dispute as to possible causes for variations in human sex ratios at birth. Countries which have sex ratios of 108 and above are usually presumed as engaging in sex selection. However, deviations in sex ratios at birth can occur for natural causes too. Nevertheless,
672-487: A defense mechanism against the harsh push toward femininity, and a reclaiming of agency that is often lost due to sexist ideas of what girls are and are not able to do. In western culture, tomboys are expected to one day cease their masculine behavior, usually during or right before puberty, return to feminine behavior, and are expected to embrace heteronormativity . Tomboys who do not do such are occasionally stigmatized, usually due to homophobia . Barbara Creed argues that
768-422: A leading cause of death among teenage girls in developing countries. Female genital mutilation (FGM) practiced in many parts of the world is another leading cause of ill health for girls. Gender influences the pattern of child labor. Girls tend to be asked by their families to perform more domestic work in their parental home than boys are, and often at younger ages than boys. Employment as a paid domestic worker
864-570: A loss of about 1.5%, or 100,000 female births per year. Abnormal boy to girl ratio at birth is also seen in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, suggesting possible sex-selective abortions against girls. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons." It
960-626: A perceived correlation between tomboyishness and lesbianism. For instance, Hollywood films would stereotype the adult tomboy as a "predatory butch dyke ". Lynne Yamaguchi and Karen Barber, editors of Tomboys! Tales of Dyke Derring-Do , argue that "tomboyhood is much more than a phase for many lesbians"; it "seems to remain a part of the foundation of who we are as adults". Many contributors to Tomboys! linked their self-identification as tomboys and lesbians to both labels positioning them outside "cultural and gender boundaries". Psychoanalyst Dianne Elise's essay in 1995 reported that more lesbians noted being
1056-457: A phase of gender presentation in adolescence. Some parents might be concerned by the lack of femininity in their child but the tomboy phase is, in fact, crucial to physical development between the ages of 8 and 13, according to Joseph Lee , the playground movement advocate in 1915. Some girls start to embrace femininity as age increases while some persist to be tomboys in adulthood. Psychologists speculate that childhood tomboy behavior results from
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#17328559610401152-584: A positive viewpoint. Feminine traits are often devalued and unwanted, and tomboys often respond to this viewpoint. This can be due in part to an environment that desires and only values masculinity , depending on the decade and geographical region. Idealized masculinity is atop the hegemony and sets the traditional standard, and is often upheld and spread by young children playing with one another. Tomboys may view femininity as having been pushed on them, which results in negative feelings toward femininity and those who embrace it. In this case, masculinity may be seen as
1248-657: A proponent of eugenics and a major financial supporter of the Immigration Restriction League , a Boston-based group that promoted race-based eugenics as a basis for restricting immigration from eastern and southern Europe. Joseph Lee was born on March 8, 1862, in Brookline, Massachusetts , to Elizabeth Perkins (Cabot) and Henry Lee, a banker. In 1897, Lee married Margaret Cabot. They had four children. Margaret Cabot Lee died in 1920 and Lee remarried his secretary, Margsion Snow, in 1930. Lee's daughter, Susan Lee,
1344-565: A special ceremony. It is traditional in many countries for Catholic girls to wear white dresses and possibly a small veil or wreath of flowers in their hair to their First Communion. The white dress symbolizes spiritual purity. A traditional coming-of-age ritual for daughters of college age (17 to 21 years old) from high society and well-connected upper-class and White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) families in North America and Europe has historically been their debut, known as "coming out," at
1440-725: A successful monarch. By the eighteenth century, Europeans recognized the value of literacy, and schools were opened to educate the public in growing numbers. Education in the Age of Enlightenment in France led to up to a third of women becoming literate by the time of the French Revolution, contrasting with roughly half of men by that time. However, education was still not considered as important for girls as for boys, who were being trained for professions that remained closed to women, and girls were not admitted to secondary level schools in France until
1536-502: A thousand girls have a 47,XXX karyotype, and one in 2500 have a 45,X one. Girls typically have a female reproductive system . Some intersex children with ambiguous genitals may be classified as girls, while some Transgender youth have a gender identity as girls. Girls' bodies undergo gradual changes during puberty . Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child 's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction to enable fertilization . It
1632-493: A tomboy than straight women. While some tomboys later reveal a lesbian identity in their adolescent or adult years, behavior typical of boys but displayed by girls is not a true indicator of one's sexual orientation . With raising female liberation and gender-neutral playgrounds (at least in the US) in the 21st century, an increasing number of girls could technically be considered "tomboys" without being referred to as "tomboys" because it
1728-637: A total of 65 low, middle income and transition countries fail to offer girls the same secondary school opportunities as boys, and in total, these countries are missing out on annual economic growth of an estimated $ 92 billion. Although the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has asserted "primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all" girls are slightly less likely to be enrolled as students in primary and secondary schools (70%:74% and 59%:65%). Worldwide efforts have been made to end this disparity (such as through
1824-453: A very strong son preference. In China, the one-child policy was largely responsible for an unbalanced sex ratio. Sex-selective abortion, as well as rejection of girl children is common. The Dying Rooms is a 1995 television documentary film about Chinese state orphanages, which documented how parents abandoned their newborn girls into orphanages , where the staff would leave the children in rooms to die of thirst, or starvation. In India,
1920-547: A way of unifying women of all ages on the basis of their once having been girls (American country singer Martina McBride 's " This One's for the Girls "). The status of girls throughout world history is closely related to the status of women in any culture. Where women enjoy a more equal status with men, girls benefit from greater attention to their needs. Girls' formal education has traditionally been considered far less important than that of boys. In Europe, exceptions were rare before
2016-405: A wild romping girl." Before the mid-19th century, femininity was equated with emotional fragility, physical vulnerability, hesitation, and domestic submissiveness, commonly known as the " Cult of True Womanhood ". Under the influence of this ideal of femininity, women did not engage in strenuous sports or any physical activity. This paradigm remained stagnant until the mid-nineteenth century. During
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#17328559610402112-426: A young child's innate curiosity combined with family dynamics and imposed societal gender roles and behavioral customs. The preference of athletics and masculine clothing can be explained by adolescent tomboys' curiosity about outdoors and physical games, by which comfortable clothing such as pants and jersey helps to facilitate their physical engagement. A 2002 study suggests that some girls are "born tomboys" because of
2208-424: Is pregnancy in an adolescent girl. A female can become pregnant from sexual intercourse after she has begun to ovulate . Pregnant teenagers face many of the same pregnancy related issues as other women. There are, however, additional concerns for young adolescents as they are less likely to be physically developed enough to sustain a healthy pregnancy or to give birth. In developed countries, teenage pregnancy
2304-554: Is a sin, I think the proper thing would be to suspend all immigration." Lee's anti-immigration activism was linked with his campaigns for playgrounds. In the view of the Playground Association of America, an organization of which Lee was president from 1910 to 1937, promoting play for children of immigrants was a way to make them more American. However, as an immigration restrictionist, Lee sometimes opposed assimilation of immigrants in favor of excluding them entirely. During
2400-453: Is acceptable is very short and rarely are tomboys allowed to peacefully and happily age out of it without changing and without giving up their tomboyness. Tomboyism in fiction often symbolizes new types of family dynamics, often following a death or another form of disruption to the nuclear family unit, leading families of choice rather than a descent. This provides a further challenge to the family unit, including often critiques of socially who
2496-455: Is allowed to be a family – including critiques of class and often a women's role in a family. Tomboyism can be argued to even begin to normalize and encourage the inclusion of other marginalized groups and types of families in fiction including, LGBT families or racialized groups. This is all due to the challenging of gender roles, and assumptions of maternity and motherhood that tomboys inhabit. Tomboys are also used in patriotic stories, in which
2592-415: Is also often nationalistic, and the tomboy is usually presented as the hero that more female characters should look up to, although they still often shed some of their more extreme ways after the war. Girl A girl is a young female human , usually a child or an adolescent . While the term girl has other meanings, including young woman , daughter or girlfriend regardless of age,
2688-417: Is being outlawed by governments, and challenged by human rights groups and other concerned community members, who are working to end the practice. Girls have been used historically, and are still used in some parts of the world, in settlements of disputes between families, through practices such as baad , swara , or vani . In such situations, a girl from a criminal's family is given to the victim's family as
2784-430: Is called the na'ii'ees (Sunrise Ceremony), and takes place over four days. The girls are painted with clay and pollen , which they must not wash off until the end of the rituals, which involve dancing and rituals that challenge physical strength. Girls are taught aspects of sexuality, confidence, and healing ability. The girls pray in the direction of the east at dawn, and in the four cardinal directions, which represent
2880-458: Is common in many parts of the world, especially in Southeast Asia ( Thailand , Cambodia ), and many adults from wealthy countries travel to these regions to engage in child sex tourism . In many parts of the world, girls who are deemed to have tarnished the 'honor' of their families by refusing arranged marriages, having premarital sex , dressing in ways deemed inappropriate or even becoming
2976-424: Is considered normal for girls to engage in physical activities, play equally with boys, and wear pants, masculine or gender-neutral clothing. The association between lesbianism and tomboyism is not only outdated but can also be disrespectful to both heterosexual women and lesbians. Tomboys in fictional stories are often used to contrast a more girly and traditionally feminine character. These characters are also often
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3072-511: Is controversial. Some critics contend that it is a violation of capabilities and human rights and can create economic inefficiencies and discrimination, while some supporters argue that it is central to certain religious laws and social and cultural histories and traditions. Purdah is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities in South Asia . It takes two forms: physical segregation of
3168-457: Is generally observed on the nearest weekend. On this day, the girl will be dressed in a traditional kimono , and will be taken to a temple by her family for a blessing ceremony. Nowadays, the occasion is also marked with a formal photo portrait. Many coming-of-age ceremonies are to acknowledge the passing of a girl through puberty, when she experiences menarche , or her first menstruation . The traditional Apache coming-of-age ceremony for girls
3264-429: Is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads . In response to the signals, the gonads produce hormones that stimulate libido and the growth, function, and transformation of the brain , bones , muscle , blood , skin , hair , breasts , and sexual organs . Physical growth —height and weight—accelerates in the first half of puberty and is completed when the child has developed an adult body. Until
3360-582: Is often deprecative . It can also be used depreciatively when used to discriminate against children (e.g., " you're just a girl "). However, girl can also be a professional designation for a woman employed as a model or other public feminine representative such as a showgirl , and in such cases is not generally considered derogatory. In a casual context, the word has positive uses, as evidenced by its use in titles of popular music. It has been used playfully for people acting in an energetic fashion (Canadian singer Nelly Furtado 's " Promiscuous Girl ") or as
3456-483: Is practiced mainly in 28 countries in western, eastern, and north-eastern Africa, particularly Egypt and Ethiopia, and in parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. FGM is most often carried out on girls aged between infancy and 15 years. Child marriages, where girls are married at young ages (often forced and often to much older husbands) remain common in many parts of the world. They are fairly widespread in parts of
3552-400: Is the most common form of child labor for girls. In some places, such as East and Southeast Asia , parents often see work as a domestic servant as a good preparation for marriage. Domestic service, however, is among the least regulated of all professions, and exposes workers to serious risks, such as violence, exploitation and abuse by the employers, because the workers are often isolated from
3648-517: Is used less frequently than before in the West mainly because it is now a societal norm for adolescent girls to engage in physical activities, play with peers of the same and opposite gender, and wear comfortable clothing. Sebastian Zulch of Bustle argued that since the term tomboy implicitly associates a behavior to masculine gender and reminds the societal expectation for girls, its use could be considered condescending and sexist. Tomboy can be seen as
3744-553: Is usually associated with social issues , including lower educational levels, poverty , and other negative life outcomes; and often carries a social stigma . By contrast, teenage girls in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, child marriage and early pregnancy often combine with malnutrition and poor health care and create medical problems. Girls' equal access to education has been achieved in some countries, but there are significant disparities in
3840-485: Is viewed with concern for a girl's chastity. In some communities, there is a traditional belief that female genital mutilation is a necessity to prevent a girl from becoming sexually promiscuous. The practice is dangerous, however, and leads to long-term health problems for women who have undergone it. The practice has been a custom in 28 countries of Africa, and persists mainly in rural areas. This coming-of-age custom, sometimes incorrectly described as "female circumcision",
3936-554: The Long Depression of the late 1800s, the US's increasing economic instability made fragile femininity no longer desirable. Young women joined the workforce to support their families and learn practical job skills, and thus a more robust physique was needed to support the physical demands of job practices. This led to the paradigm shift in people's expectations of young women from languishing, decorative beauty to vigorously healthy, thus laying
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4032-492: The Millennium Development Goals ) and the gap has closed since 1990. According to Kim Wallen, expectations will nonetheless play a role in how girls perform academically. For example, if females skilled in math are told a test is "gender neutral" they achieve high scores, but if they are told males outperformed females in the past, the females will do much worse. "What's strange is," Wallen observed, "according to
4128-811: The Population Research Institute in Washington, D.C., has said: "Twenty-five million men in China currently can't find brides because there is a shortage of women [...] young men emigrate overseas to find brides." The gender imbalance in these regions is also blamed for spurring growth in the commercial sex trade; the UN's 2005 report states that up to 800,000 people being trafficked across borders each year, and as many as 80 percent are women and girls. Embryos that inherit two X chromosomes (XX), one from each parent, are generally identified as girls when born. About one in
4224-587: The SAT verbal test was 4 points lower than boys. In math, the average for girls was 492, which was 35 points lower than boys. "When girls take the exact same courses," commented Wayne Camara, a research scientist with the College Board, "that 35-point gap dissipates quite a bit." At the time Leslie R. Wolfe , president of the Center for Women Policy Studies said girls scored differently on the math tests because they tend to work
4320-535: The Southern Tang kingdom in Nanjing (937–975), the custom of foot binding was associated with upper-class women who were worthy of a life of leisure, and husbands who could afford to spare them the necessity of work (which would require the ability to be mobile and spend the day on their feet). Because of this belief, parents hoping to ensure a good marriage for their daughters would begin binding their feet from about
4416-400: The ' nature versus nurture ' question is not meaningful, because it treats them as independent factors, whereas in fact everything is nature and nurture." Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Femininity is socially constructed, but made up of both socially-defined and biologically created factors. This makes it distinct from
4512-415: The 1970s, especially at higher levels. This was often done by teaching different subjects to each sex, especially since tertiary education was considered primarily for males, particularly with regard to technical education. For example, prestigious engineering schools, such as École Polytechnique , did not allow women until the 1970s. Many cultures have traditional customs to mark the " coming of age " of
4608-522: The Child (1988) and Millennium Development Goals (2000) promoted better access to education for all girls and boys and to eliminate gender disparities at both primary and secondary level. Worldwide school enrolment and literacy rates for girls have improved continuously. In 2005, global primary net enrolment rates were 85 percent for girls, up from 78 percent 15 years earlier; at the secondary level, girls' enrolment increased 10 percentage points to 57 percent over
4704-559: The US's depressed economy, tomboyism amongst young girls emerged because the young girls' parents permitted or even promoted the tomboy upbringing due to the decaying economy and the American turbulent political climate. During the American Civil War , American society fully realized the importance of healthy women. When hostilities of the North and South broke out and thousands of men fled to
4800-482: The age of 5–8 to achieve the ideal appearance. The tinier the feet, the better the social rank of a future husband. The practice started seriously to decline in the early years of the twentieth century, and was all but extinct by 1950. China has had many customs relating to girls and their roles as future wives and mothers. Traditionally an unmarried girl would wear her hair in two pigtails , and once married, in one. In some cultures, girls' passing through puberty
4896-567: The army. As a result, mothers focused on improving the physical constitution of their daughters while taking care of their own. Many women who had subscribed to the Cult of True Womanhood before the Civil War found themselves engaging in an array of masculine actions during it. Women being given the duties of men during the period of Civil War encouraged tomboyism. While first wave feminism mainly focused on women's suffrage , second wave feminism expanded
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#17328559610404992-413: The battlefield, many adolescent girls and young women were pushed to be responsible for tasks that would be traditionally considered in the men's realm. Women who had not been allowed to have independent bank accounts were now expected to take care of the finances. American wives, mothers, and young girls who used to rely on the men in the household for security now had the duty of protecting their homes from
5088-403: The child is in their teen years. In Roman Catholic communities, Confirmation is considered one of seven sacraments that a Catholic may receive. In many countries, it is traditional for Catholics children to receive another sacrament, First Communion , at the age of seven. The sacrament is usually performed in a church once a year, with children who are of age receive a blessing from a bishop in
5184-524: The children's peer group . In England , studies by the National Literacy Trust have shown girls score consistently higher than boys in all scholastic areas from the ages of 7 through 16, with the most striking differences noted in reading and writing skills. In the United States , historically, girls lagged on standardized tests. In 1996 the average score of 503 for US girls from all races on
5280-567: The community; violence on the way to school, or in and around schools; long distances to schools; vulnerability to the HIV epidemic; school fees, which often lead to parents sending only their sons to school; lack of gender sensitive approaches and materials in classrooms. Sex segregation is the physical, legal, and cultural separation of people according to their biological sex . It is practiced in many societies, especially starting when children attain puberty . In certain circumstances, sex segregation
5376-725: The definition of the biological female sex , as both males and females can exhibit feminine traits. Traits traditionally cited as feminine include gentleness , empathy , and sensitivity , though traits associated with femininity vary depending on location and context, and are influenced by a variety of social and cultural factors. Gender neutrality describes the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions should avoid distinguishing roles according to people's sex or gender, in order to avoid discrimination arising from rigid gender roles. Unisex refers to things that are considered appropriate for any sex. Campaigns for unisex toys include Let Toys Be Toys . Teenage pregnancy
5472-564: The discussion of gender inequality in areas such as sexuality, family dynamics, workspace, and laws in relation with patriarchy and culture. With the main purpose of critiquing the patriarchal system, this movement opened avenues for women in education, employment, and legal protection against domestic violence. In the late 20th century, the term tomboy describes girls who wear unfeminine clothing, actively engage in physical sports, and embrace what are often known as "boy toys" such as cars, or other activities usually associated with boys . The term
5568-482: The female character wishes to serve in a war, for a multitude of reasons. One reason is patriotism and wanting to be on the front lines. This often ignores the many other ways women were able to participate in war efforts and instead retells only one way of serving by using one's body. This type of story often follows the trope of the tomboy being discovered after being injured, and plays with the particular ways bodies get revealed, policed and categorized. This type of story
5664-401: The first meaning is the most common one. The treatment and status of girls in any society is usually closely related to the status of women in that culture. In cultures where women have or had a low social position, girls may be unwanted by their parents, and society may invest less in girls. The difference in girls' and boys' upbringing ranges from slight to completely different. Mixing of
5760-568: The four stages of life. This ceremony was banned by the U.S. government for many decades; after being decriminalized by the Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, it has seen a revival. Some coming-of-age ceremonies are religious rituals to recognize a girl's maturity with respect to her understanding of religious beliefs, and her changing role in her religious community. Confirmation is a ceremony common to many Christian denominations for both boys and girls, usually taking place when
5856-460: The groundwork for tomboyism. In Charlotte Perkin Gilman's 1898 book, Women and Economics , the author lauds the health benefits of being a tomboy, that girls should be "not feminine till it is time to be". Joseph Lee, a playground advocate, wrote in 1915 that a "tomboy phase" was crucial to physical development of young girls between the ages of 8 and 13. Coupled with the birth of first wave feminism and
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#17328559610405952-503: The higher testosterone levels of the mother during pregnancy. Being a childhood tomboy does not determine one's sexual orientation or life-long gender presentation. The idea that there are girl activities and clothing, and that there are boy activities and clothing, is often reinforced by the tomboy concept. Tomboyism can be seen as both refusing gender roles and traditional gender conventions, but also conforming to gender stereotypes. The concept may be considered outdated or looked at from
6048-527: The impact of "tomboy" as a pejorative term. Sociologist Barrie Thorne suggested that some adult women take pride in describing their childhood selves as tomboys, "as if to suggest: I was (and am) independent and active; I held (and hold) my own with boys and men and have earned their respect and friendship; I resisted (and continue to resist) gender stereotypes". In the Philippines, tomboys are masculine-presenting women who have relations with other women, with
6144-461: 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." During the 20th century, Freudian psychology and backlash against LGBT social movements resulted in societal fears about the sexualities of tomboys, and this caused some to question whether tomboyism leads to lesbianism . Throughout history, there has been
6240-478: The knowledge passed down orally from mother to daughter. A well-known reference to these important women's skills is in the folk tale Rumpelstiltskin , which dates back to medieval Germany and was collected in written form by the folklorists the Brothers Grimm . The miller's daughter is valued as a potential wife because of her reputation for being able to spin straw into gold. In some parts of China, beginning in
6336-414: The late 1400s, the word meant a child of either sex; it has meant 'female child' since about the late 15th century CE. The word girl is sometimes used to refer to an adult female, usually a younger one. This usage may be considered derogatory or disrespectful in professional or other formal contexts, just as the term boy can be considered disparaging when applied to an adult man . Hence, this usage
6432-399: The late 19th century. Girls were not entitled to receive a Baccalaureate diploma in France until the reforms of 1924 under education minister Léon Bérard . Schools were segregated in France until the end of World War II. Since then, compulsory education laws have raised the education of girls and young women throughout Europe. In many European countries, girls' education was restricted until
6528-695: The majority. There are gaps in access between different regions and countries and even within countries. Girls account for 60 percent of children out of school in Arab countries and 66 percent of non-attendees in South and West Asia; however, more girls than boys attend schools in many countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and Western Europe. Research has measured the economic cost of this inequality to developing countries: Plan International 's analysis shows that
6624-411: The maturation of their reproductive capabilities, the pre-pubertal, physical differences between boys and girls are the genitalia . Puberty is a process that usually takes place between 10 and 16 years, but these ages differ from person to person. The major landmark of female puberty is menarche , the onset of menstruation , which occurs on average between 12 and 13. According to a 2010 Canadian study,
6720-469: The meaning of tomboy has changed drastically over time. 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 "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;
6816-555: The necessary preventive strategy: 'I believe in exclusion by race.'" He paid the salary of James H. Patten, a League lobbyist who believed in supporting the so-called Teutonic race . Lee also was in direct contact with his cousin, Henry Cabot Lodge , the senator from Massachusetts, to propose literary tests and additional fees to restrict immigration. In the effort to pass the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, Lee wrote to Lodge, "I don't know why we shouldn't discriminate, but if it
6912-614: The ones that undergo a makeover scene in which they learn to be feminine, often under the goal of getting a male partner. Usually with the help of the more girly character, they transform from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, ignoring past objectives and often framed in a way that they have become their best self. Doris Day 's character in the 1953 film Calamity Jane is one example of this. Tomboy figures who do not eventually go on to conform to feminine and heterosexual expectations often simply remain in their childhood tomboy state, eternally ambiguous. The stage of life where tomboyism
7008-419: The other women tending to be more feminine, although not exclusively, or transmasculine people who have relationships with women; the former appears more common than the latter. Women who engage in romantic relationships with other women, but who are not masculine, are often still deemed heterosexual. This leads to more invisibility for those that are lesbian and feminine. Scholar Kale Bantigue Fajardo argues for
7104-452: The outside world. Child labor has a very negative effect on education. Girls either stop their education, or, when they continue it, they are often subjected to a double burden, or a triple burden of work outside the home, housework in the parental home, and schoolwork. This situation is common in places such as parts of Asia and Latin America . The United Nations Convention on the Rights of
7200-703: The practice of dowry is partly responsible for a strong son preference. Another manifestation of son preference is the violence inflicted against mothers who give birth to girls. In India, by 2011, there were 91 girls younger than 6 for every 100 boys. Its 2011 census showed that the ratio of girls to boys under the age of 6 years old has dropped even during the past decade, from 927 girls for every 1000 boys in 2001 to 918 girls for every 1000 boys in 2011. In China, scholars report 794 baby girls for every 1000 baby boys in rural regions. In Azerbaijan , last 20 years of birth data suggests 862 girls were born for every 1000 boys, on average every year. Steven Mosher, president of
7296-482: The practice of bias against girls, through sex-selective abortion , female infanticide , female abandonment , as well as favouring sons with regard to allocating of family resources is well documented in parts of South Asia , East Asia , and the Caucasus . Such practices are a major concern in China, India and Pakistan. In these cultures, the low status of women creates a bias against females. China and India have
7392-619: The primary financial underwriter for the Immigration Restriction League, which conducted meetings regularly at his home. Lee "feared that 'all Europe might soon be 'drained of Jew--to its benefit no doubt but not ours.' And in a letter to one of his closest associates he declared that the Catholic Church is a great evil'; revealed his fear that the United States might 'become a Dago nation'; and needed only six words to explain
7488-462: The printing press and the Reformation made literacy more widespread. One notable exception to the general neglect of girls' literacy is Queen Elizabeth I . In her case, as a child, she was in a precarious position as a possible heir to the throne, and her life was endangered by the political scheming of other powerful members of the court. Following the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn , Elizabeth
7584-419: The problems out while boys use "test-taking tricks" such as immediately checking the answers already given in multiple-choice questions. Wolfe said girls are steady and thorough while "boys play this test like a pin-ball machine." Wolfe also said although girls had lower SAT scores they consistently get higher grades than boys across all courses in their first year in college. By 2006 girls were outscoring boys on
7680-409: The research, all one apparently has to do is tell a woman who has a lifetime of socialization of being poor in math that a math test is gender neutral, and all effects of that socialization go away." Author Judith Harris has said that aside from their genetic contribution, the nurturing provided by parents likely has less long-term influence over their offspring than other environmental aspects such as
7776-400: The same period. Joseph Lee (recreation advocate) Joseph Lee (March 8, 1862 – July 28, 1937) was a wealthy Bostonian who trained as a lawyer but never practiced law, and is considered the "founder of the playground movement". He was a social worker, author, and philanthropist. Lee believed that community life could be strengthened by playgrounds and play. Lee was also
7872-566: The sexes and the requirement that women cover almost entirely their bodies. The ages from which this practice is enforced vary by community. Such practices are most common in cultures where the concept of family honor is very strong. In cultures where sex segregation is common, the predominant form of education in single sex education . In many parts of the world, girls are at risk of specific forms of violence and abuse, such as sex-selective abortion , female genital mutilation , child marriage , child sexual abuse , honor killings . In parts of
7968-506: The sexes may vary by age, and from totally mixed to total sex segregation . The English word girl first appeared during the Middle Ages between 1250 and 1300 CE and came from the Anglo-Saxon word gerle (also spelled girle or gurle ). The Anglo-Saxon word gerela meaning dress or clothing item also seems to have been used as a metonym in some sense. Until
8064-527: The similarity between "tomboy" in the Philippines and " tombois in Indonesia ", and " toms in Thailand " all as various forms of female masculinity. 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
8160-477: The tomboy's "image undermines patriarchal gender boundaries that separate the sexes", and thus is a "threatening figure". This "threat" affects and challenges the idea of what a family must look like, generally nuclear independent heterosexual couplings with two children. Gender scholar Jack Halberstam argues that while the defying of gender roles is often tolerated in young girls, adolescent girls who show masculine traits are often repressed or punished. However,
8256-473: The transition from childhood to womanhood . While completely secular in nature, a girl’s first bra is sometimes seen as an important next step in her life. Unlike many more traditional coming of age customs, the event has no set date in a girl’s life and can occur when she is a teenager and in other times can occur when she is a preteen. In many ancient societies, girls' upbringing had much to do with preparing them to be future wives. In many cultures, it
8352-448: The ubiquity of traditionally female clothing such as skirts and dresses has declined in the Western world since the 1960s, where it is generally no longer considered a male trait for girls and women not to wear such clothing. An increase in the popularity of women's sporting events (see Title IX ) and other activities that were traditionally male-dominated has broadened tolerance and lessened
8448-424: The variation of age in which menstruation begins had a "statistically significant" relation to where the child was living, household income, and family type. Biological sex interacts with environment in ways not fully understood. Identical twin girls separated at birth and reunited decades later have shown both startling similarities and differences. In 2005, professor Kim Wallen of Emory University noted, "I think
8544-457: The verbal portion of the United States' nationwide SAT exam by 11 points. A 2005 University of Chicago study showed that a majority presence of girls in the classroom tends to enhance the academic performance of boys. In many parts of the world, girls face significant obstacles to accessing proper education. These obstacles include: early and forced marriages ; early pregnancy ; prejudice based on gender stereotypes at home, at school and in
8640-501: The victims of rape , are at risk of honor killing by their families. Girls' health suffers in cultures where girls are valued less than boys, and families allocate most resources to boys. A major threat to girls' health is early marriage, which often leads to early pregnancy . Girls forced into child marriage often become pregnant quickly after marriage, increasing their risk of complications and maternal mortality . Such complications resulting from pregnancy and birth at young ages are
8736-541: The world, especially in East Asia , South Asia and some Western countries' girls are sometimes seen as unwanted; in some cases, girls are selectively aborted, abused, mistreated or abandoned by their parents or relatives. In China, boys exceed girls by more than 30 million, suggesting over a million excess boys are born every year than expected for normal human sex ratio at birth. In India, scholars estimate from boy to girl ratio at birth that sex-selective abortions cause
8832-450: The world, especially in Africa, South Asia, Southeast and East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Oceania. The ten countries with the highest rates of child marriage are: Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Guinea, Mozambique, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, and Malawi. Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses
8928-748: Was active in her father's work and later served as vice-president of the National Recreation and Park Association . His son, Joseph Lee Jr. , helped establish the Massachusetts Committee to Further Outdoor Recreation and the Boston Board of Recreation and served as chairman of the Boston Park Commission and Boston School Committee. Lee founded the Massachusetts Civic League and served as its president from 1897 to 1937. He
9024-473: Was an active officer in the Immigration Restriction League from 1905 until his death in 1937. He served as president of the National Recreation Association from 1910 until the time of his death. "For the one political cause to which this friend of the common man [Lee] devoted the most time, money and sheer fervor for more than twenty years was the movement to restrict immigration." Lee was
9120-605: Was considered illegitimate. Her education was for the most part ignored by Henry VIII . Henry VIII 's widow, Catherine Parr , took an interest in the high intelligence of Elizabeth, and supported the decision to provide her with an impressive education after Henry's death, starting when Elizabeth was 9. Elizabeth received an education equal to that of a prominent male aristocrat; she was educated in Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, philosophy, history, mathematics and music. It has been argued that Elizabeth's education helped her grow up to become
9216-612: Was not the norm for women to be economically independent. Thus, where a girl's future well-being depended upon marrying her to a man who was economically self-sufficient, it was crucial to prepare her to meet whatever qualities or skills were popularly expected of wives. In cultures ranging from Ancient Greece to the twentieth-century United States, girls were taught essential domestic skills including sewing, cooking, gardening and basic hygiene, and medical care such as preparing balms and salves , and in some cases midwifery . These skills were passed orally from generation to generation, with
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