The Motherhood Collection

Feature Book

The Family Scrapbook, by Ernest G. Osborne

Excerpt:
Tomboy in the Family
"Barbara insists that everyone call her Bobby. Only under the most pressing circumstances will she wear dresses. Blue jeans and a boy's shirt are her choice. But Bobby is only eight years of age. The Redmans, Bobby's parents, aren't worried about her. Indeed they're rather proud that all the boys in the neighborhood accept her as one of them.
Jo Ann is always called Jo. She too, likes boys' clothes and wears them whenever she can. She's a good athlete and swings along with a mannish stride. Jo Ann is nearly seventeen and her parents are disturbed about her boyishness.
What about this tomboy business? Like so many other things, there's no clear-cut answer. Many a young girl has found boys' activities much more interesting than those of girls, or boys' clothes better suited to the things she likes to do. Perhaps in most instances, there's no deep underlying problem. It's just a phase of growth.
But we parents do need to ask ourselves whether, without meaning to, we may be encouraging our girls to strive to be boys. Perhaps we show more interest in boys. Sometimes parents have so wanted a boy that they have "pressured" a daughter to try to take the place of the missing boy.
As girls move into their teens, normally they want to be more feminine.  It is then that continued tomboyishness is something which we should be concerned about and guard against."