Top 10 Biggest Struggles of Being a Tomboy

The Top Ten
You are forced to wear feminine clothes by your parents

I usually like wearing graphic t-shirts most of the time, but sometimes when I go shopping, I have to buy some "trendier" things because my mom says graphic t-shirts can't be the only things I wear. My mom does say that I cooperate the best when it comes to clothes shopping, though.

I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't be allowed to wear a women's tuxedo for a formal dance.

This happens to me sometimes. Once, my mom made me wear a dress because I was wearing a black shirt and plaid pants. I got so mad because I didn't feel like myself. My mom knows that I don't like dresses or skirts and that I prefer more masculine things.

Some girly girls hate you

This happens to me sometimes in school. I do have some friends who are girly girls, and they are very nice to me. But when it comes to girly girls hating you, as a tomboy, you sometimes meet a group of them who just don't accept you for not being girly enough.

For me, I got bullied for being on the autism spectrum and having interests that people thought were weird. I don't think I ever got bullied for being too tomboyish, but I was disliked by some girly girls. I mean, who cares what they think? I know I'm a nice person, but there will always be rude girly girls - and just rude people in general.

There's a girl in the class next door to mine who absolutely hates me. Well, she likes me sometimes, but she's a girly girl with a feminine name and feminine interests. Some girly girls like me, and some hate me. Who cares what they think?

Some people think you're a lesbian

I hate this so much! I'm a tomboy and straight, yet the girly girls in my school call me a dyke and a lesbian. It turns out that one of the girls who bullies me is bisexual!

I am not a lesbian. Not all tomboys are lesbians. Just because they dress boyish does not mean they are. I am bisexual and actually lean more towards men.

Sure, I wear metal band t-shirts, and I have a leather jacket and want more. I want a sidecut (because they're metal)! The latter is usually associated with lesbians, but I want one, and I'm asexual.

Some of your family want you to be girly

I remember my nan saying I was a girly girl, and I didn't agree with her.

I tried putting on makeup. It looked fine at first, but after a few minutes, it started to get on my nerves, so I took it off. I don't like it when my family wants me to be girly. I'm not a girly girl!

One of my sisters is like this. I hate makeup. I tried putting it on once because I was going to this fall bash party, but I just ended up looking like I had a black eye or something, so I took it off.

This applies to all of my family members. My mom wants me to wear very feminine clothes, and my dad gets mad at me for wearing hoodies and flannel shirts.

Some people think you hate girly girls when you don't

There is a huge difference between calling out some annoying people and hating every girly girl. Please learn it.

I don't hate girly girls. Some of my friends are girly girls, and they are nice people.

You are forced to wear makeup by your parents

Every time I go out, I feel pressured by my parents to put on makeup just to look good. But I don't care if I look good.

Yep. Every time I go to a school dance or wedding.

You can't walk properly if you are forced to wear high heels

Honestly, I feel that. I am a mix of tomboy and girly, but to be honest, I hate wearing high heels. I know some ladies wear them to feel powerful, but I will never wear those - they are uncomfortable.

Which is why I avoid high heels. If I wear a dress with anything, I wear flats (or sparkly Converses). Update: I don't wear dresses anymore, and for prom this year and next year, I'm wearing a tuxedo.

Haha, this is me. I just wear combat boots or regular boots that aren't that high up.

You get mistaken for a man

I have a gender-neutral name, "Morgan," and a gender-neutral appearance, but I'm a girl.

I sound like a boy, and I don't look very feminine. I remember a kid in primary school saying I was a boy even after I told them I was a girl. Well, I do have loads of tomboyish interests - Smash Mouth, being tough, etc.

I have a pretty deep voice for a girl. When I first sent a voice recording in a chat room on Amino, one member - who I commonly chatted with - said my voice was manly, even though I'm a girl. When I'm recorded or on video and happen to speak, my voice sounds like a teenage boy's. Even when I make Roblox-based characters, they're often mistaken for guys, and my winter outfit on my regular Roblox avatar is mistaken for male.

You can't wear jeans if you need to wear formal clothes

I HATE dresses, but my mom always makes me wear them on special occasions, and I hate it.

Everyone thinks you are good at sports even if you're not

The thing with sports is that I am not good at them, not because I hate playing or because I don't have the energy. I have both. The issue is that I don't have the organized, quick-thinking skills needed for sports. Sometimes, I might break a rule simply because I didn't follow a step correctly. There are just so many rules in sports, and you have to act quickly. I'm not the most organized person, nor am I the quickest thinker.

I prefer more free-form sports like skating, which isn't very structured. I haven't skated before, but I feel like I would be decent at it since it's not as organized, and I have the energy for it.

The Newcomers

? People find it hard to separate your personality from your sexuality
? People mistakenly think the boyish aspect of your personality is ADHD
The Contenders
Everyone judges you based on your looks

Look, I agree I wear t-shirts and boyish stuff, but it's much better than walking in a short skirt and wearing heels.

No one listens to tomboys

Every time I play football, the boys won't even give me a chance. They never pass to me and barely acknowledge me.

And when I try to give anybody advice in a group project, they ignore me.

Everyone assumes things about you that aren't true

A bunch of people make up random things about me just because I'm a tomboy, and they think that's weird.

Everybody believes them because apparently, every rumor someone makes about me is automatically true.

People try to change you

Yep, I have those problems sometimes, especially when my family tries to compare me to the other girls in our family. I told them that I'm my own person and don't need to be compared to girly girls.

When I told my family I was bisexual, they went berserk. They screamed, "WHAT?! NO, YOU'RE NOT!" So here's what I did: I explained everything I needed to, but I didn't know what else to say. Then they told me they weren't trying to attack me - they were just trying to protect me. Like, what the hell?

Yes, people in school will be like, Oh, why don't you do cheerleading with us instead of doing football?

Because I don't freaking like it, okay? You ask me the same question every day, and yet every day the answer is the same. NO!

Guys might reject you
People behave strangely towards you

Uh… sometimes that happens to me, especially since I'm on the autism spectrum. That's why I try to mask my autism so nobody notices me being autistic in public.

I have loads of staff at school who absolutely love me for being autistic and for being a tomboy.

Yes, I feel like most of the time people don't even know how to talk to me.

You have to hide your tomboyish identity

I kinda relate to this, mate. Sometimes I have to hide my tomboyish identity so nobody thinks I look like a boy!

Yes, because some people get weirded out by me because I'm a girl but I'm acting like a boy.

But the real problem isn't me, it's them.

People want to be friends with popular girly girls

Yes, and like, I understand they're popular and girly and I'm a loser and a tomboy, but can you at least acknowledge me?

The way you sit is considered "unladylike"
You can't wear your cap backwards because some people think you're gay

I can wear my hat backward if I want to, dude. Just because you wear your hat backward doesn't mean you're gay.

People want your favorite color to be anything related to pink

Yes, everyone is always like, What's your favorite color?

And I respond, I like black and green. And they're just like, Oh, but aren't those boy colors? Like really, are boy colors even a thing? Who said that was a thing?

Pink is for girls - not for me or any other tomboys out there.

1. It's an ugly color.
2. It's a girly color.
3. The girls' section always has girly clothes that are pink.
4. Your parents want you to wear pink, but you don't want to wear that dang color!

People think you are trans
It's a pain to find shoes in your size that aren't feminine or from the children's section
You are forced to wear feminine colors by your parents
You can't have boyish jobs
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