# We need a male equivalent of "tomboy" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2004, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306 "2004-02-15T05:21:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/81 "2017-01-08T11:29:45Z")
“Tomgirl”? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/82 "2017-01-09T23:58:17Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > “Tomgirl”? Tammygirl? ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/83 "2017-01-10T07:10:56Z")
I always wondered how “tomboy” (rather than “tomgirl”) came to mean what it does. I still don’t know, but I did eventually come across the word “tambo” in an oldish book (1930’s or 40’s?) describing, IIRC, a tough and disreputable sort of girl, and I thought aha, maybe “tomboy” began as an attempt to make English sense out of “tambo” (even if a failed attempt). I still think that might be so, but alas I’ve forgotten what the hell book I was reading, I have not run across the word otherwise, and web search results also seem barren. It was definitely not the 2014 Australian book “Tambo Girl” (where Tambo is simply a place name) that I read. I can’t think of a neutralish male equivalent (neuterish, maybe). If one were generous, a boy might be described as “sensitive” or “mature”, but if it comes to an epithet, it’s not going to sound nice. Worse than “tomboy”, because you seldom hear “he’s just going through a sissy phase”. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/84 "2017-01-10T11:15:59Z")
I see that metrosexual was a contender in 2004, but now it means “someone who in 2004 was insisting he wasn’t gay” ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/85 "2017-01-10T13:45:37Z")
I knew a hot girl (unfortunately not in the Biblical sense 😉 ) that used the term “girly-man” for an unmanly man. (no I don’t think she meant me) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/86 "2017-01-10T15:26:33Z")
When I am trying to describe a male person who has some more overt feminine traits, I generally use the word “androgynous”. It’s a fairly exact term without inherent perjoritivy. I thus suggest the word “Andy” as an appropriate neutral slangish term. “Yeah, he’s kind of an Andy, he did the flower arrangements for our wedding …” ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/87 "2017-01-11T02:24:36Z")
Bowie at times referred himself, or his younger self anyway, as an “androgyne.” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/88 "2017-01-11T09:20:16Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > When I am trying to describe a male person who has some more overt feminine traits, I generally use the word “androgynous”. It’s a fairly exact term without inherent perjoritivy. > > I thus suggest the word “Andy” as an appropriate neutral slangish term. “Yeah, he’s kind of an Andy, he did the flower arrangements for our wedding …” > [@foolsguinea](#): > > Bowie at times referred himself, or his younger self anyway, as an “androgyne.” Androgyne is a perfectly appropriate word but it doesn’t mean a feminine male, it means a person who is in-between, midway between feminine and masculine. I suppose, though, that someone could consider “tomboy” not to mean a masculine female but instead a female who is no more feminine than she is masculine. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/89 "2017-01-19T22:03:03Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > I knew a hot girl (unfortunately not in the Biblical sense 😉 ) that used the term “girly-man” for an unmanly man. (no I don’t think she meant me) If you are a girly-man it just means you need Hans and Franz to PUMP! YOU UP! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306/90 "2017-01-19T22:22:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > From what I’ve seen at work, Carhartt gets it - when they have “women’s” outdoor clothing it’s identical to what the men have, except for the size. Except for these 🙂 > **[Baby Girls' Overalls | Blain's Farm & Fleet](https://www.farmandfleet.com/baby-girls-overalls/)** > > Shop online or in-store for Baby Girls' Overalls. Buy quality overalls for infant girls from Carter's and more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-male-equivalent-of-tomboy/229306.md?page=4)