Tuesday Aug 11, 2020
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
POWERHOUSE Arena
28 Adams Street (Corner of Adams & Water Street across from the Archway)
Brooklyn , NY
11201
This event is now virtual! Registration link here!
PLEASE NOTE: Submitting an RSVP for this event DOES NOT guarantee entrance. This is a free-access event — entrance will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
About the Book.
Inspired by several of her viral op-eds for The New York Times, Lisa Selin Davis’s TOMBOY: The Surprising History and Future of Girls Who Dare to Be Different explores the history, and imagines the future, of girls who defy societal expectations based on their gender. TOMBOY is a revealing dive into the forces that have shifted and narrowed our ideas of what’s normal for boys and girls, and for kids who don’t fall neatly into either category. It looks at tomboyism from a Victorian ideal to a twenty-first century fashion statement, chronicling the evolution of the pink/blue divide; what motivates those who cross or straddle it to gender independence; and the incredible people they grow up to be. Davis critically investigates the word “tomboy,” but lauds the ideas and ideals it represents.
Davis talks to experts from clothing designers to psychologists, historians, neuroscientists, and tomboys from 8 to 80, to illuminate debates about what is masculine and feminine; what is biological versus socially constructed; what constitutes the categories of boy and girl; and the connection between tomboyism, gender identity, and sexuality. Ultimately, TOMBOY is a celebration not just of tomboys but of gender diversity itself, and of those who resist the pressure of gender norms and summon the courage to live as their true selves. In TOMBOY, Davis ultimately finds that gender nonconformity is a true gift.
About The Author.
Lisa Selin Davis is an essayist, novelist, and journalist who has written for major publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Time, Yahoo, and Salon, among many others. She lives with her family in New York.
About The Moderator.
Lauren Sandler is an award-winning journalist based in Brooklyn, and the author of This Is All I Got: A New Mother’s Search for Home, a book of narrative nonfiction about a young homeless mother in New York. Lauren is the author of two previous books, the bestselling One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One and Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement. Lauren’s essays and features have appeared in dozens of publications, and she has been on staff at Salon and at NPR.