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u/Different-Place8968

▲ 41 r/AnimeTomboys

Negative Tomboy Tropes

As a tomboy fan, I really appreciated reading u/TheEVILPINGU's post on The Road to Femininity. As a few folks commented similar concerns on one of my recent posts about Boyish Girlfriend, I wanted to share my thoughts here and hopefully have a helpful discussion with my fellow tomboy fans. I would consider some of the themes/plot points below to be very light SPOILERS for Boyish Girlfriend, and also hopefully I've written this in a way that you can participate even if you haven't read it.

I don't think this manga falls under the typical "Road to Femininity" negative trope for a few reasons. First, the boyfriend likes her just how she is, whether she's being "cool" or "cute," he's into it. She doesn't have to do something to win him or deepen their relationship other than learn to accept his feelings and get over her embarrassment. To me, the way she's written is that she wants to wear cute things sometimes but feels like she's not allowed to because they don't suit her.

I don't consider it tomboy erasure if the character enjoys being feminine sometimes - I think of tomboy erasure as something more like the tomboy has to convert to being feminine in order to start fitting in; treating the tomboy aspects as if they were something negative and a personality problem to overcome. Reading about real life women's experiences, some have commented that they would get teased for both dressing in a masculine and feminine way, and sometimes they wanted to do both.

I think this is part of the appeal of tomboys for me. Gender roles and expectations are stifling, sometimes in multiple directions at once. People should be allowed to be who they are and figure out their preferred style for themselves (even if it's feminine coded at times!) and be accepted for that.

Curious for other's thoughts on this!

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u/Different-Place8968 — 4 days ago
▲ 1.5k r/AnimeTomboys+1 crossposts

The point of this list is to collect my favorite tomboy content (with limited ecchi). What follows is a very brief case for each title, in the order of my rating. Obviously these span lots of varieties of tomboy. No spoilers beyond the first chapters.

Fujiyama's Adolescence (9) - Coming of age, sporty/tall tomboy, chapter 1 start of the relationship, completed, and beautiful.

12cm Promise with a Cool Girl (9) - Coming of age, sporty/tall tomboy, ongoing, great character design and development.

Aoi-kun Wants This Muscular Girl to Flex! (8.5) - Adult romance, muscular tomboy, 14 chapters and complete. Subverts bad tomboy tropes (yay!)

Fighter Saotome, Cover Up (8.5) - This is top tomboy boxing coming of age, it's complete and it's great. They get together in chapter 1 in a hilarious way.

How to Treat a Lady Knight Right (8) - Fantasy setting, lots of abs, comedy. Fairly long, complete.

Men's Life: Her Secret Life in the Boys' Dormitory (8) - Crossdressing/sporty tomboy coming of age first romance story. 15 chapters and complete. Kind of absurd premise, but if you get over that it's a fun read.

Tomo-chan is a Girl! (8) - Classic completed tomboy manga with a great anime adaptation.

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro! (8) - Sporty but also feminine tomboy (is that an oxymoron? am I an oxymoron?) that builds the romance over time. Great anime adaptation. Completed.

Boyish Girlfriend (8) - Coming of age, starts with dating firmly established but also takes some time for the romance to develop. Solid tomboy FMC. Ongoing.

Ouran High School Host Club (8) - Classic completed cross-dressing tomboy with a great anime adaptation. This one is out there but it's great. First released in 2001.

Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (7.5) - Tall tomboy coming of age - you have to overcome the MC's terrible haircut. Completed.

My New Girlfriend is Not Human? (7.5) - Supernatural, short chapters, pretty heartwarming.

The Muscle Girl Next Door (7.5) - Short, completed, and completely described by the title! Cute and worth it.

Childhood Friend Complex (7.5) - College tall/sporty/male presenting tomboy. This one had some interesting things to say about gender roles but kind of fumbled a little in my opinion towards the end. Still good. Complete.

A Big Rabbit Has Taken a Liking to Me!? (7) - This was a bit borderline for me, and is relatively new. I'm not a fan of the extreme smoking, but otherwise it's kind of fun. I will likely revise this as it (hopefully!) gets more chapters.

u/Different-Place8968 — 12 days ago