What is the tomboy's allure? Bass, Marty, Furn and Siskoid dissect the phenomenon and digress a HECK of a lot, with some support from Romance Comics Theatre, "That Strange Girl" from DC's Young Romance #197 (Jan-Feb 1974). Plus, we open the male bag and read your comments!
Listen to Episode 10 below (the usual filthy filthy language warnings apply), or subscribe to The Lonely Hearts Romance Comics Podcast on iTunes!
Relevant images and further credits at: Lonely Hearts Ep.10 Supplemental
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Enjoyed this especially potty-mouthed, yet deep, episode of LHRCP!
As usual, Romance Comics Theater was a winner. If I knew any girls, I’d add this feature to all my podcasts.
DC was skirting the “L-word” subject in their “girl” comics of the late 60s/early 70s. In her non-powered, karate-chopping phase, Wonder Woman ran afoul of some evil ladies with code verboten inclinations. Or at least that was suggested. http://www.dcindexes.com/features/comic.php?comicid=31227
The Romance Comics theater segment was a hoot as always. Not sure what’s up with her pants in that first panel. Those would look bad on anyone!
As for tomboys, I think you guys hit the nail on the head. One thing the comic got right was tomboy girls tend to cut through the stereotypical claptrap that young girls often feel like they have to engage in. They are usually straight-shooters, due to their independence, and therefor more appealing.
Chris
Very fun episode.
My definition of tomboy is a little different than yours. I think not only of ‘masculine’ traits of strength and leadership but also an outward appearance that leans more masculine. I would never ever call She-Hulk a tomboy. But I do think there is an appeal to tomboys mostly because I think guys in general think they can relate and understand them more.
I think more like Anybody in West Side Story, the boyish girl hanging out with the Jets.
So in comics, I think they are a rarer beast. I guess the closest I can think of is Shrinking Violet in the post-Great Darkness Saga Legion through Five Years Later. She is usually depicted with short hair, rugged, and in pants.
Sorry I wrote so much about Supergirl. Trust me, that was the short version of my comments!
Thanks again for a great show.
Tomboys are a funny thing to talk about, because I think that increasingly it’s a term that is losing its usefulness. It seems like society is finally starting to realize that interests, hobbies and past times are not inherently gendered, we’ve just deemed them to be. We’ve still got a ways to go on this front, but I’m seeing progress where for so long nobody questioned the idea that it was strange for a girl to like to build things or for a boy to be into sewing. You guys touched briefly on the issue of men being perceived as “girly” as baring a greater stigma than women being perceived as “manly.” The reason for that is simple enough: “manly” characteristics are seen as inherently good things. Therefore a woman being tomboyish, though perhaps seen as abnormal by some, is still exhibiting traits that are considered good things (strength, determination, etc.) However traditionally “feminine” traits are viewed much less favorably in and of themselves, so a man who possesses those traits is immediately seen as difficient, whereas a woman being manly tops out at being simply weird (baring the lesbian connotations, but the linking of needlessly gendered activities to sexual preference when there’s no inherent connection between the two outside of what society deems would be a whole other rant which I’ll spare you.)
So… was that Tumblr enough for you guys?
Great episode, as usual.
Yes, that was perfect. Thanks Vera!
(What’s Tumbler, anyway?)
If you don’t know about Tumblr, then it’s probably best that you remain ignorant of Tumblr. It’s one of the internets many black-holes. Though so far as I know it’s the only one to breed SJW’s (that would Social Justice Warriors, which is a pejorative term slapped on anybody who says “Hey, could we maybe all stop being such assholes to each other?” by the people who really enjoy their freedom to be assholes.) I feel like I’m educating so much today! Wheee, this is fun!
Vera, are you new round these parts? Great comments. May we keep you? In a non-possessive, non-patriarchal way, of course!
And lads, great episode as always. Liz looks a bit like Mike Sekowsky era Linda Danvers, but as Anj never pointed this out, I may be imagining it…
And typical Anj, I was reading his post, thought I’d mention Anybody’s, and he mentions Anybody’s!
I’m old, but I’m still not so old that girls wearing trousers or having short hair at school was worthy of comment. Mind, there was a British comic character called Tomboy.
New to the comments section at least, so as far as you know I am. Long time lurker though (check out you’re window, I’m probably in the bushes.)
And sure, you can keep me. And I’m not even going to automatically shut down the patriarchal approach, but we’d need work out a sugar-daddy & pampering kind of situation if we’re going down that route.
I’m telling you Mart, we have a hive mind.
‘Anybody’s’ is a deep cut. Funny we both thought if her.
No offense to the Fire & Water Podcast Network All-Stars, but I’m well familiar with the southern United States, and its accents hold no allure for me. I missed my Romance Comics Theater French girls with their comparatively obscure rhythms and ooo-la-la inflections.
Speaking of the South, there was still the ghost of a stigma about tomboys when I was growing up, but more as something merely recalled, like a nostalgia for biases past. I do recall girls being teased for failing to shave their legs if such was visible past the pant line, though. I wouldn’t say that I was a sissy or a Nancy Boy, but I was always bookish and shy, so I’d be a straight version of the Truman Capote character who grew up with and routinely dated Scout Finch. None of my girlfriends have ever worn make-up or dresses outside special occasions, and while I’d have liked a little bit more of that, I doubt I’d have much patience with a girlie-girl. Also, it’s probably a byproduct of my own feminine passivity, since I’m typically the pursued recluse of atypically aggressive women. That said, I’ve still got my macho tendencies. I once knew a mistress who told me she worked as a “switch,” meaning she was the top or bottom as the mood or situation prompted. I get that, since my own relationships aren’t so binary as “Me Tarzan, You Jane.” When there’s a critter loose in the house or a scary part in a movie, I’m The Dude, but I’m likely to be called to such a task while soaking in the tub listening to some folk rock chick while reading Jezebel. It’s 2016. Labels are for simple minded losers.