The evolution of Feminism

Tomboy a gender film

Tomboy is a film by Céline Sciamma, from 2011.

Presentation of the film

Laure is a 10 year old girl, who looks like a tomboy, moves to a new town, during the summer vacations, with her parents and her sister. Where she feels excluded.

Soon after she meets Lisa who thinks she is a boy, deceived by the way she dresses, her short hair and her boyish looks. And who asks her "are you new?", and Laure answered "yes" after a few seconds of hesitation, Lisa continued by asking her "what's your name?" and Laure answered "Michael". This scene enters within the framework of the Althusserian interpellation, because the request for a first name enters the ritual of recognition between the children.

Lisa then introduces " Mickaël " to her friends and " he " quickly becomes part of the group. Having little breasts, she can play soccer and swim topless, and to make things even more real she even cuts off the top of her bathing suit to keep only a pair of panties and even puts a piece of modeling clay in it to make it look like she has a penis.

But one day while playing soccer, she feels a strong urge to urinate and quickly goes to relieve herself in the bushes, but she is caught squatting by one of the boys, so she quickly gets up and urinates on his shorts.

The boy who surprises her tells the others how "he" (Laure) has "pissed himself". Laure feels humiliated, but she is not discovered, and the matter seems quickly forgotten.

But the situation starts to get complicated when Lisa, who seems to fall in love, kisses her. And even more when, a little later, Lisa is surprised that "Mickaël" is not on the list of students for the next school year.

However, the deception is discovered after Laure has fought with one of the boys to protect her little sister, and the mother of the latter comes to complain to Laure's mother, who quickly understands what has happened, by the fact that she talks about Laure as if it were her son, but does not contradict her.

But then she forces Laure to put on a dress and takes her to the group of friends to confess her secret, who are shocked by this news. A few days later, they push Lisa to check Laure's sex by removing her pants, and Laure more than humiliated locks herself at home.

But she decides to go out again when she sees Lisa, alone at the place where they met the first time, and when the latter asks her again how she is called, she reveals her birth name.

What does this film provoke ?

This film re-launched the debate on the study of gender in France in 2013, and it was included in the "School and Cinema" scheme supported by the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Culture.

And in a context of demonstrations against gay marriage, a petition entitled "No to the broadcasting of the film Tomboy in schools!" was launched, but the satisfaction rate of teachers who had seen the film was very high, 79% of them judging the film very interesting", and the teaching therefore judged in its report that it is necessary "to trust the analytical capacity of students and not to project adult fears on what children might think".