What makes a tomboy?

AVRAH URECKI/Charleston Catholic

By Cat Higgins
Charleston Catholic High School

She has sweatpants in every necessary color: gray, navy blue and black. The push-up bra is a foreign object, and the process of “getting ready” taking more than five minutes is an unheard of concept to her.

She is often competitive and would much rather play basketball with the boys than go shopping. She always wears her water resistant watch, and she has five pairs of tennis shoes — three of which are coated in mud. Yes, she’s the tomboy, but before you go making assumptions, there are a few things you probably don’t know about her.

Though she’s confident on the sports scene, she is far less confident on the fashion scene. She has a reputation to uphold, and she shies away from wearing “girly” clothes because she’s afraid it will make her look vulnerable and, well, too girly.

What she doesn’t realize is that she can dress feminine but still be good at sports. The only example of this that she needs is the Williams sisters. These tennis stars are very athletic but also into fashion. It’s okay to be both.

The tomboy usually does not like to talk about her feelings very much. She would rather take a run or play an intense game of soccer to let off steam rather than talk about her anger. But while physical activity is an important part of dealing with anger, talking is also extremely important.

She also might have a hard time talking about a boy she may like. Since most of her friends are guys, it’s not really a subject that comes up often, and it’s probably one she tries to avoid. More often than not, if she likes anybody, it is one of her guy friends, and she doesn’t want to mess anything up by telling him.

The tomboy is usually the person guys go to to talk about a girl they’re smitten with. After all, she is the closest thing they have to a girl. Guys will often value her opinion much more than any other girl they know.

The tomboy might grow tired of being “one of the guys” sometimes and wish that she was the girl the guys adored. She will refuse to let on that she feels this way, though.

If there’s anything the tomboy hates more than high heels, it is probably losing. She will never lose to a boy on purpose to make him like her. Ever. In her book, that’s unheard of.

In fact, she will probably play even harder to beat him, in hopes that it will impress him. This can have one of two outcomes. It will either A) impress him or B) make him so uncomfortable with losing to a girl that he starts to avoid any competition with her in fear of losing again. Hopefully, it’s the first one because she is not going to change.

Though all of this isn’t true of every single tomboy out there, through careful observation and experience, you’ll find that a lot of it is. In fact, a lot of us girls probably can relate to at least one aspect of the tomboy, whether it’s being headstrong, shy with feelings, comfortable in sweatpants or getting along better with the opposite sex.

Whoever you are, though, embrace it. Don’t feel like you have to be something just to keep up with your label. Be who you want to be, and don’t worry if it’s in fashion.