There are two types of tomboys and two types of girly girls, depending on their degree of femininity vs. masculinity:
- Types of tomboys:
- Butch Tomboy tends to be very masculine, to the point of actually being "manly", and has very few, if any, feminine qualities and interests. She may also hate anything that is girly and feminine, such as the color pink.
- Effeminate Tomboy tends to be fairly masculine, but not overly masculine, nor overly feminine either, although she does not necessarily hate traditionally "girly" things. Most of her qualities and interests are masculine, while some of her qualities and interests are feminine as well.
- Types of girly girls:
- Proper Girly Girl has all of the qualities and interests that are traditionally associated with femininity. She is usually not good at any type of sports, other than perhaps dance sports.
- Moderate Girly Girl tends to be fairly feminine, but still retains a significant portion of feminine qualities and interests. If she's good at sports, she plays sports that are typically considered "feminine", such as cheerleading, gymnastics, or volleyball.
Between the two types of tomboys, the effeminate tomboy is considered somewhat more socially acceptable than the butch tomboy, a character male viewers can relate to while still finding attractive. Keep in mind that our views of gender have changed over time, and some traits which now might be considered masculine or feminine, actually weren't in the past, so this is mostly only valid for modern characters. And also keep in mind that just because a girl is a tomboy does not necessarily mean that she is a lesbian; they can straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, or any other sexuality. However, the media, more often than not, usually portrays the type 2 effeminate tomboy as the "better" type of tomboy.
