University of Otago PhD graduate Dr Cassandra Joseph found "tomboyism", a widely accepted form of gender play, had unexpected associations with trauma and distress.
Her study, published in the Journal of Gender Studies, focused on the depths of "tomboyism" and the varied experience of those who resonated with the term across the globe.
Dr Joseph interviewed 11 assigned-female-at-birth (AFAB) tomboys aged between 24 and 42 of various ethnicities and gender identities from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States.
It became clear participants often shared a sense of "unhealed trauma" when discussing "past or present tomboyism", she said.
"The media often paints tomboyism to be a carefree experience, with tomboys being heralded as rebels," she said.
"Nobody associates tomboys with trauma."
Some identified as tomboys as a form of "self-preservation", while others were labelled with the term due to experiences of "bullying or ostracisation", she said.
One participant from Singapore said in secondary school, male students would "pull at her skirt" and say she "looked like a boy".
The bullying became so bad she took up taekwondo to feel safe, she said.
"One particular participant had a story of how she was assaulted in the boys’ toilet, and that’s where she took on the label, to empower herself."
Another participant said she adopted a "tomboy persona" due to her religious upbringing having taught her women were "deemed sinful by being desirable to men".
When she was just 10 years old, two men attempted to assault her.
By appearing as a tomboy, she felt she would be "less desirable to men" and therefore safer.
Dr Joseph said the study suggested "tomboyism" was often used for self-preservation from "the leering eyes of the patriarchy".
"While this is not the case for all tomboys, it is rather telling that AFAB people have to navigate gender norms to embody gender traits that make them feel safe," she said.
Some participants continued to actively identify as a tomboy as an adult, while others felt expected to conform to "feminine conventions" once they reached puberty.
"As a child, you don’t come into this earth being like, ‘let me process my identity’. You just go with it.
"To grow up feeling a sense of freedom that aligns with one’s tomboy identity, only to have that stripped away during puberty and post-puberty, is a trauma that has been previously unrecognised when it comes to the tomboy narrative," she said.
The meaning of the term "tomboy" had transformed a number of times since its origins in the 16th century.
"Tomboyism was initially used on very blokey boys.
"And then it was used on sex workers, so, immodest women."
She hoped her study would encourage the public to think critically about gender and understand the fluidity of the "socially imposed binary" of masculine and feminine identities.
The concept of "tomboyism" historically served as a stepping stone into more contemporary discussions on gender and sexuality, she said.
"I think the concept of tomboyism will continue to remain a starting platform in the discussion of gender nonconformity, even if the term ‘tomboy’ isn’t as actively used in some contexts."
