I'm puzzled at the concept of tom boy - it's the sort of thing I thought had gone away as a result of gender-based activities being open to all. I like the idea of a strong female character, one who is drawn to the analytical and practical, and a girl-child in a medieval setting where gender-based activities follow a more rigid social structure is sure to be an interesting character - but I would not worry about the "tom boy" characterization - just concentrate on her activities, choices and reactions to situations and I think the character will manifest itself.
this actually give me a good idea, i should have the women of their society braid their hair, and have the men wear it long too. it will even cause humor when my MC's meet the Ariam, who always braid their hair.
and i must disagree that tom boyishness has gone away. i know girls (or knew, they don't do that any more, they have gotten older) that didn't wear makeup, didn't cook or play with dolls or any of that stuff, instead they hunted, played foot ball, had belching contests, all of that stuff.
but yes, i think i will use her actions to call attention to it.
I'd say, show her doing the work that men usually do, and being angry/upset if she has to do 'women's work'. If there are things women do to accentuate their sexuality in the culture (like makeup, dress, certain actions or traditions), show her not doing them. There might be some people in her society who don't care what she does in terms of refusing gender roles, but other people might be made uncomfortable or angered by it. Hope that helps!
thank you, I'm a bit ditsy at times, and didn't think of her being angry about working "women's" work. it does help
There are few words I hate as much as "tomboy", but that's just me.
Moving past my own pet peeves: I assume what you mean is "girl who enjoys pursuits that her society views as typically 'masculine'" so the best way to show that is show her enjoying pursuits that her society views as typically "masculine".
Well, yes. Unless your story is set in a purposefully all-male environment (monastery, pre-modern military, etc.) it will be a pretty unrealistic story if there is only one female character.
i hate the word too, hence my reluctance to use it. its used as a mean word and some of my best friends have been tom boys... so yea.
my cast is about mostly males, and takes place mostly in armies. in total, i have a named cast of maybe more than a dozen males, but only four females. One is the warlord of Ariam, so not good for contrast. One is a soldier (and a tom boy as well) and then there is Sol'Via (who is a frilly girly girl), who i guess would be butting heads with Teh'Mehna a lot (even though in the first draft they hardly looked at each other, but that was a first draft), since they are both after the same guy.
ariam is a warior society, everyone is expected to know how to fight, and start learning when they are big enough to hold a weapon.
You could make her a bad cook and show the other characters chiding her for not being more like her mother and sisters. Perhaps she is a whiz at mending gear for her horse, but she can't stitch a straight seam to mend her own clothing. BTW, simply felling a tree is less work than cutting and splitting the logs into managable size (from one who spent her teenage years with wood heat and outdoor plumbing
).
Hope this helps.
heh, ditsyness comes in again to block an idea from me. and to think that i scored high in the "Finding flexible solutions" part of my IQ test, its because i don't see the obvious. i never thought of having her cook! Or Sew!
but as for the splitting part, i build my grandparents wood pile in the summer. (they live in Utah, and i travel out there to help them) I have often had the chain saw break down early so i felled and bucked with the ax. i would say that splitting with a maul is far far easier than felling with an ax. i once had one (a maul) that could spit a one foot wide and foot long log with a single swing.
But yes as said before, this trait just emmenates from her in my mind. i just want to make sure i do it justice, and your suggestions are helping me a lot. a whole lot.
thanks yall.
