Hi, my name is Kathleen Short also known as K.Short and I’m the Creator of Tomboi International.
Tomboi International was officially founded on July 1, 2018, but the idea has been around for over three years and continues to take shape in my mind. That’s the problem though…it’s all in my head and it won’t truly exist, unless I take action. So here I am…writing my first blog post to share my process with you as a Creator and a Tomboi.
First, I’ll catch you up on my background and upbringing, then I’ll share with you what has inspired this endeavor, but first…what is the definition of “tomboi?” How does the world define it and how do we define it pertaining to this current space?
The World (or at least dictionary.com and urbandictionary.com):
tomboy [ tom-boi ] noun
Dictionary.com / https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tomboy
an energetic, sometimes boisterous girl whose behavior and pursuits, especially in games and sports, are considered more typical of boys than of girls.
a girl who acts or dresses in a boyish way, liking rough outdoor activities.
Urban Dictionary.com / https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tomboy
a female with male-like characteristics.
Tomboys give 0 f*cks about what’s going on or who talks about them. They'd rather spend the day in the mud wrestling with their friends than to stay inside painting their nails. A tomboy doesn't have to play a sport. Tons of girly girls play sports so it doesn't really matter.a young girl who would rather be playing football in the rain than out shopping and boy hunting. Hangs out with boys. She does not care about what other people think of her, nor does she judge others for the way they are. Very sporty, and does not follow the latest fashion trends. She does not make fun of what most people would call " nerds" or " geeks" and in fact, befriends them most of the time.
a girl who would pick digging up worms and climbing a tree in her backyard rather than going shopping at a mall. Tomboys tend to hang out and get along with boys rather than fellow girls. Tomboys usually get this way from hanging out with brothers/neighborhood boys and their friends or being raised by brothers or males figures of the family. A stereotypical tomboy wears no makeup or jewelry, wears jeans, baseball caps, has scraggly hair, etc. This is not necessarily true, as many tomboys wear girl stuff. They just don’t care what other girls or people think of them. A tomboy who wears girl stuff usually does not cooperate with "normal" girl activities and do stuff that they like to do.
After reading this I decided to search “boi:”
LGBTRC.USC.ed / https://lgbtrc.usc.edu/education/terminology/ :
Pronounced “boy.” A female-bodied person who intentionally or non-intentionally expresses and/or presents culturally/stereotypically masculine, particularly boyish, characteristics. Also, one who enjoys being perceived as a young male, and/or intentionally identifies with being a “boy” rather than a “man.”
Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boi_(slang) :
Boi (plural: bois) is slang within LGBT and butch and femme communities for a person's sexual or gender identities. In some lesbian communities, there is an increasing acceptance of variant gender expression, as well as allowing people to identify as a boi. The term boi may be used to denote a number of other sexual orientations and possibilities that are not mutually exclusive:
A boyish lesbian.
A submissive butch in the BDSM community.
A young trans man, or a trans man who is in the earlier stages of transitioning.
A younger bisexual or gay person who may have effeminate characteristics. The term can also be used by anyone who wishes to distinguish from heterosexual or heteronormative identities.
Boi may also refer to someone assigned female at birth, who generally does not identify as, or only partially identifies as feminine, female, a girl, or a woman. Some bois are trans or intersex people. Some "bois" identify as one or more of these, but they almost always identify as lesbians, dykes, or queer. Many trans bois are also genderqueer/nonbinary (in itself a trans/transgender group), or might identify as cis persons or trans men, and yet practice genderf*ck in which they do not fit in either masculine or feminine binary gender presentation. Bois may prefer a range of pronouns, including "he", "she", or nonbinary and gender-neutral pronouns such as "they."
LGBT.wikia.org / https://lgbt.wikia.org/wiki/Boi
Boi (: bois) is a term used within LGBT and butch and femme communities to refer to a person's sexual and gender identity. In lesbian communities, there is an increasing acceptance of gender expression and intersexuality, as well as allowing people to self-identify with labels such as boi. The term may denote a number of possibilities that are not mutually exclusive:
A younger person who looks and acts like a young, heterosexual male, possibly embodying stereotyped attributes towards casual sex and commitment in relationships, in contrast with the stereotype of the U-Haul lesbian. Bois may not identify as butch, regarding butches as playing a more powerful or responsible role – the "man of the house" – while a boi is still in a freer, younger phase.
A submissive butch in the BDSM community, or a younger butch in the butch-femme community.
A young trans man, or a trans man who is in the earlier stages of transitioning.
A term of endearment for butches by femmes. It may also be used in the gay community to refer to a younger person – bisexual or gay – who may have effeminate characteristics. The term can also be used by anyone who wishes to distinguish from heterosexual or heteronormative identities.
Boi may also refer to a female-born or female-bodied person—sometimes transsexual, transgender, or intersex, sometimes not—that generally does not identify as, or only partially identifies as feminine, female, a girl, or a woman. Some "bois" identify as one or more of these, but they almost always identify as lesbians, dykes, or queers. Many are also genderqueer or practice genderf*ck. Bois may prefer a range of pronouns, including "he", "she", or gender-neutral pronouns such as "hir", "sie", "zie", and "ey".The term has found increasing usage in the larger LGBT culture.
Take what you will from those definitions, but in this space, I define Tomboi as someone who was born female and identifies on the spectrum of:
a masculine of center queer trans person of color
Let’s break it down:
*Masculine of center (MoC) is a term coined by Cole from The Brown Boi Project that recognizes the breadth and depth of identity for lesbian/queer womxn who tilt toward the masculine side of the gender scale. It includes a wide range of identities such as butch, stud, trans, aggressive/AG, dom, etc. (http://www.brownboiproject.org/)
Queer is a term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations. (https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms)
Trans is an umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. (https://www.stonewall.org.uk/what-does-trans-mean)
Person of Color is a person who is not white or of European parentage
Note: All of the terms are fluid and will change over time. We will do our best to use the most updated language. All of these definitions are up for discussion to increase education and understanding.
-K.S.