Book Project: The Tomboy Project


I was in Austin, 28 Dec 11 to 04 Jan 12, for a friend's wedding. Having a week off really inspired me to want to take time to do some personal projects and really find myself. I didn't realize what I began to work on would change my life for the next four years.

When I wasn't doing wedding stuff, I was writing, thinking, concepting and organizing my thoughts into what would become the Tomboy Project. It took seven days and three notebooks to figure out how I would do the project if I was funded through KICKSTARTER. The time ran out and I didn't get funded. 

The attention and drive kickstarter gave me was almost as good as getting funded. I've met so many great people over those 30 days and had started to confirm people for the project. Before I get into that, let me give you a small rundown of how the project got started and will function:

I read an article about a little girl who was made fun of because she swapped dresses and dolls for jeans and toy cars. It made me realize how much little girls need to hear and see that it's okay to be who you are. This is when I started developing the idea of gathering stories and giving a face to this lifestyle that no one seems to be able to define.

I started doing research on gender roles throughout time, the history of clothing from when humans started wearing animal skins to when they figured out how to fashion skirts and pants. I wanted to know why girls are supposed to like pink, wear dresses, play with dolls, wear high heels and do all the other things women are 'supposed' to do. All of which drove me to become more and more passionate about this project.

I have planned the project so I will travel to one new states every month for a little over 4 years. I will meet up with a tomboy in each state to interview and photograph them. Once I have finished traveling I will spend the remaining 5 months organizing the materials and self publishing them into a limited edition hard cover book.

I don't like to travel alone, so I will be posting behind the scenes photos and videos during the 4 years. I would like to use social media avenues to create a dialog and community for women everywhere to tell their stories as well. I hope that you will back this project and be apart of the journey from start to finish.

Please visit The Tomboy Project on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest adventures.


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