You Know You Were a Tomboy When...

By: Shannon Hames

Growing up as a tomboy, I was constantly battling the world and its feminine expectations of me. This meant having to fight expectations for me to dress, talk and act like it was expected that a girl should act. But true to my tomboy nature, I fought for my self-identity tooth and nail.

Now that I’m an adult, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my tomboy childhood. I’ve laughed over the things that I’ve done and marveled with my fellow tomboys at how much we share with each other over common childhood experiences. Here are a few ways we’ve decided that you know you were a tomboy when…

• You insisted on being a superhero for Halloween.
• Your mom tried to force you to play with other little girls when you were little.
• Your toy box included little green army guys, sports equipment, and cap guns.
• You would wear your brothers underwear because you hated the panties your mom bought for you.
• You cried when your Grandma gave you a doll or dollhouse for Christmas.
• You wanted to play sports rather than watch them.
• You got grounded for riding your bike shirtless through the neighborhood like the rest of the boys.
• You ran away from home when your mom tried to get you to wear a dress and patent leather shoes for a family photograph.
• You’ve tried to pee standing up more than once.
• You made yourself a bubble bath facial beard and thought it looked great.
• Someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up and you answered “Stunt man.”
• Most of your friends were boys.

We want to hear from you – can you think of any more? Leave them here in the comments section.