What is Tomboy?

Tomboys are masculine girls who have not yet reached adolescence. This pre-pubescent female masculinity is socially acceptable, to the point of once being a popular genre of film, despite adult female masculinity being taboo. Halberstam considers the associations between female masculinity and lesbian sexuality, and of masculinity itself with adult maleness, and wonders if these reasons are why masculinity is deemed unacceptable for adult females.