This argument actually started with one of my very good friends who Blossoms here. She refers to herself as a Tomboy. According to one online dictionary, that would mean that she is a girl who behaves in a manner considered boyish. Kinda like me, right? Wrong.
A laddette, is assumed to be a young woman who has taken up the lad culture, not just climbing up trees and playing with toy trucks, but the dress, the swag, the booze, the fast cars, the motor bikes, HIM, ADAM, and the list goes on of all the grievances the young lady has committed against her prim and proper aunts.
Now, a tomboy, loves rough sports, too, but she might not be loud and boorish. She might like boyish clothes but she might not go all out with it. She might like motor bikes, and fast cars, the magazines and the booze, but she might also be gentle, and cautious. Her behavior might not be some kind of rebellion, it just might be a matter of preference.
See that’s where the labels really get to me. Admittedly, I have gone and slapped one on my forehead, maybe even one that is considered negative. But that is just my point. We label people, and cluster them in groups, but everyone is different and unique in their very own way.
Blossom, for example is loud at times, does not drink, loves rough sports, but she can be sweet and gentle.
Another Laddette who goes Poetically Mad here, can be tough, firm, quite loud, loves soccer, and rugby, but when she is working with a child she is the best teacher and friend ever.
A young lady who Expresses herself here, is what I would call, tiny, cute and adorable. She is quiet and soft spoken. That does not mean that she does not like any of the other things the girls above like.
The labels, tomboy, laddette, girlie, and as many others as you can list, would be great if they were just used as adjectives, but we more than always use them alienate people that we feel are different. A girl might be laddish, but her qualities, and preferences will be as unique as she is, they do not have to be similar to the laddette next to her.
This yard stick applies to everyone, woman, man, child, teenager, physically challenged or not, black or white or colored, luo or kikuyu, lesbian, gay or straight….
