Sissies, Mama’s Boys, and Tomboys: Is Children’s Gender Nonconformity More Acceptable When Nonconforming Traits Are Positive?

Abstract

The evaluation of gender nonconformity in children was examined in two studies. In Study 1, 48 young adults evaluated the positivity of culturally popular labels for gender nonconformity, including "tomboy," "sissy," and two new labels generated in a pilot study, "mama's boy" and "brat." The "mama's boy" was described as a boy who has positive feminine traits (gentle and well-mannered) as opposed to the "sissy" who was described as having negative feminine traits (crying and easily frightened). In Study 2, 161 young adults read descriptions of gender-typical and nonconforming children, evaluating them in several domains. The label "mama's boy" was considered negative in Study 1 but an unlabeled positive nonconforming boy was rated as likable and competent in Study 2. However, participants worried about nonconforming boys, saying they would encourage them to behave differently and describing such children with derogatory sexual orientation slurs. "Tomboy" was generally considered a positive label in Study 1. In Study 2, gender nonconforming girls were considered neither likable nor dislikeable, and neither competent nor incompetent, reflecting ambivalence about girls' nonconformity. It may be that we use gender nonconformity labels as indicators of sexual orientation, even in young children. Therefore, even when an individual displays objectively positive traits, the stigma associated with homosexuality taints judgments about their nonconforming behavior.

Emotion and Gender Typicality Cue Sexual Orientation Differently in Women and Men

“…Although gender inversion is an exaggerated stereotype, particularly as the association between sexual orientation and gender typicality is not always straightforward (e.g., Bailey, Bechtold, & Berenbaum, 2002), it does bear a kernel of truth: Gay and lesbian individuals indeed show more gender-nonconformity in their interests and behavior than heterosexual individuals do (e.g., Bailey & Zucker, 1995;Lippa, 2002;Pillard, 1991). This may particularly apply to lesbian women, consistent with society's greater valuation of masculine than feminine traits (e.g., "tomboy" behavior enjoys greater tolerance than "sissy" behavior; Coyle, Fulcher, & Trübutschek, 2016;D'Augelli, Grossman, & Starks, 2008;Lippa, 2008).…”

The Upshot on Princess Merida in Disney/Pixar’s Brave: Why the Tomboy Trajectory Is Off Target

“…In other words, the term tomboy validates the oppositional dichotomies of gender roles (in which certain traits-positive traits-are designated masculine). At the same time, the term also reinforces confined notions of gender (as does the label sissy that is connected to rigid views of masculinity linked to homophobia) (Bray 2015;Coyle et al 2016). Nevertheless, the concept of a "tomboy" is likely to have sustained resonance as a "cultural slot" (Thorne 1993, p. 120).…”

“…Tomboys are girls that are conspicuously independent and involved in male-associated activities (Thorne 1993). Seen as "one of the guys", they commonly feel a sense of pride about this label, in contrast to boys subject to censure when they display stereotypically feminine traits (Coyle et al 2016): "Spirited and adventuresome, they like to move freely and to be outdoors . .…”

Balancing Gender and Power: How Disney’s Hercules Fails to Go the Distance

“…Because of the $3 billion in retail sales in 2011 of the Disney Princess brand (Goudreau 2012), there are clearly financial obstacles to more progressive gender roles that deviate from stereotypical princess traits. While Hercules is not considered a Disney princess film due to the characterization and implications of the would-be prince and princess, the reasons for the film's exclusion from this category illustrate how certain gender norms are deeply entrenched and are only recently starting to depart from longstanding tropes, at least in the case of princesses (Hine et al 2018), that arguably have more latitude in terms of acceptable behavior that is gendered (Coyle et al 2016).…”