I was a tomboy, back in the 50’s. I LOVED doing sports and there simply weren’t ANY sports available for girls. My dad, an assistant Little League coach for my older brother’s team, told my brother ‘if you don’t start hitting better, I’m going to put your sister in to pinch hit for you!’. My brother starting hitting better.
I eschewed dolls to take apart things like my gumball machine. I played field hockey on my high school class’s team. I also grew up, went into the Sciences, married and had a family.
Little girls should be encouraged to do what they want, but not bullied into thinking they were born into the ‘wrong gender’. This ‘culture’ is destroying our children. And they are doing it happily.
My mom was a ‘50s teen. She absolutely adored her girls-only Catholic school, where she was in field hockey and basketball. Always said how rough the hockey was.
And ALWAYS complains about the half-court basketball. She hated the stopping short and switching sides because someone crossed the line. She loved BB but hated the stupid “girl” restrictions.
Mom is more feminine than I. I think she liked tea sets a lot. However, she apparently wasn’t that into dolls, e.g., and liked being active outside (skating, sledding, etc).