Who are tomboys and how do we recognise them?

SynopsisThis article reports on the findings of an exploratory study of tomboy identities. Based on case study data of children aged nine to eleven in two contrasting London schools, we attempt to tease out how children of this age, their teachers and parents, understand the term ‘tomboy’, how they relate it to the identities of themselves and others, the extent to which such identities can be taken up and maintained, and the relationship between these and active play in pre-pubertal girls. The study is theoretically grounded in the idea that masculinities and femininities are individually and collectively negotiated within local communities of masculinity and femininity practice, so that the identities that any individual can take up are locally governed and constructed.It was unusual to identify unproblematically as a tomboy, though several girls described themselves as ‘a bit tomboy’. Although active play remains possible for some girls as they come to the end of primary schooling, for others their movement becomes restricted, due to a number of factors. This has longer-term implications for the range of identities available to teenage girls, and for their physical well-being.