OT April a tomboy?
 

Would you describe OT April as being a tom boy in the show? She didn't dress in a particualrly feminine way and she had no problems getting her hands dirty doing rough stuff and she didn't mind jumping into the sewers or following the turtles on their adventures or jumping into the fray of a battle to get her story with the turtles or doing the tough boyish stuff to help the turtles out, like driving or playing back up with Splinter to help execute a plane.

And she also seemed to have some pretty ungirly talents too for the time period the show came on in. She could ride a motorcycle, and fly a helecopter all by her self and figure out heavy machinary. In one episode she figured out a a crate lift and helped the turtles get their van free from a bunch of boxes that had fallen on them. And in another episode she apparently knew how repair the rutters on a her helicopter all by her self.

I voted for the "self sufficient" option. She has both masculine and feminine traits. She does not seem like a total tomboy who is into sports and does not like make-up. But she is no girly girl like Irma either. She is a good blend- what is often considered the ideal or typical American woman.

I agree with Scandia. She has a good mix of traits & skills.

While her outfit may not have been terribly feminine, her cleavage helped make up for that. Her turtle comm also looked like a compact, and I know of at least one ep where she used the excuse that she needed to "powder her nose" to contact the Turtles. If she were a true tomboy that excuse wouldn't fly.

You mean the cleavage that they don't draw in about 90% of the time?

My girlfriend and I actually made a TMNT drinking game based on the OT and "April actually has cleavage" is one of the main things to take a few shots for.

As for the topic at hand, I don't think her skillset is that out-of-place for the times (late 80s through the mid 90s). So, I think she's just self-sufficient. However, if the standard for a normal girl is someone like Irma, then April's more than a tomboy. She might as well have been wearing a mullet, flannel, and combat boots.

I voted no. A plain yellow suit are perhaps not the most girly trend, but the way she talks and acts in general are quite feminine.

I'd say she was just more self sufficient. Sure she wasn't grossed out by hanging out in the sewer, but there were a lot of times when she acted in ways that are stereotypically girlier: like when she was interested in that fountain of youth, being a damsel in distress, when she mentioned wanting to lose a few pounds when that one thing was going around shrinking stuff, etc. I'd say the one thing April didn't do was always talk about wanting a man, I guess that was Irma's department.

it's really a shame that girls can still be labeled as a tomboy if they have some mechanical knowledge, or doesn't wear dresses or can do some "guy" type stuff like drive a motorcycle, or fly helecopters ect.

April may not have been the dainty, demure, fluttering her eyes lashes to look innocent, type of femnine but she was very feminine in her bearing and how she presented her self and walked carried her self. I almost voted for "April is just independent" but she gets in trouble and gets kidnapped to many times to be seen as completely physically capable, so I voted for "she is to feminine to be a tomboy".

Yeah, but even Splinter's been kidnapped due to the Shredder before. Also, April does tend to try and fight back when she can (even if it normally doesn't do any good). That, and she's being kidnapped by a couple of super strong mutants being lead by a Ninja master who is also apparently a chemist, a technical engineer, and the most notorious supervillain next to Krang in two of the known dimensions in the OT.

So, we have to give her some credit.

She's the all round chick who knows how to use her body and fix a rotor or a motorcycle.....

or is there more to it than that?:o

think April was more self suffient and capable than an actual tomboy, alot of people nail her butt to the wall for being all "my career comes first" but considering she was a woman in a feild with a bunch of men I think she had to be that way to survive in it.

April was just practical, I think due to the feild she was working in she felt the need to to be profieint in many areas to get around or get ahead, like flying her own helecopter to film a car chase instead waiting around for a pilot to take her and miss out on a good story. April just strikes me as the type that wouldn't want to rely on any one because it could slow her down or make her mostly male collegues look down on her or think she was unsuited to cover a certain story, so she probably trained her self in all these areas to better compete to cover good stories so their wouldn't be any short commings on her part that would prevent her from getting that dangerous but juicy assignment.

April was definatly feminine becuase she was caring and almost--motherly she just put her practical skills to good use. And I sort of disagree with the whole , remember that episoide where the turtles where all sick with a fever and she took care of them and made them soup.

and I dissagree with April useing her body do get what she wanted, she had more class than that. She mostly just used her own wits and skills to do things and to get her to places she needed to be. I can only think of one time when she used her wiles and that was she flirted and kissed the Irish cop to get him to get the turtles released from jail, and then that was for them not for her self.

Well what do you mean by tomboy? every thing you listed just seems like personal taste in clothes and skills, not how she acts or behaves? Do you mean tomboy that she is sporty and athletic and doesn't like to wear dresses or that she has manish ways about her like walking and talking like a man and being crass and unclassy? Or that she runs around with the "boys" (the turtles) as if she where one of them? What exactly makes you a tomboy?

I notice alot of people have diffrent ideas of what a tomboy is and I've met some girls by age and older who act like like they are guys and come off really offensive because they are just crude and it's ugly in a female. So far I haven't seen this in 80's April so I think she isw waaaaay to feminine to be considered a tomboy by my defination.

good point but you would think with all the times she is carted away she would carry around some mace or at least kick her assailants in the cajones. A kick to the family jewels would slow some one down better than a kick to the shin. So she loses points for not fighting like woman.

April is too in the middle to decide. From either tmnt universe, being a scientist's lab assistant or a tv news reporter doesn't seem all that tom-boyish to me.

yeah but even useing her "wiles" to get the turtles out of jail is something a guy could never do which give her an unfair advantage. Girls are more likely to flirt and show alittle skin than a guy would to get what they want and April was no diffrent.

lol! I always thought that too! A good kick to the family jewels or a healthy dose of mace to the face would slow them down! :lol:

I voted for self-sufficient. I never thought of her as being really girlish nor really boyish. I think she was a fair representation of a woman in a strange situation of knowing mutant ninjas and their sensei, mutant punks, an evil ninja master, and a bodiless brain. :)

can ask what is wrong with being a tomboy? Every one seems to act like it's something negative or unflattering to be one. Is it so bad to be labled a tomboy? :-?

It's not bad to be labeled a tomboy...hell, I was tomboy from like age ten to fifteen. I personally just don't think the label tomboy fits OT April.

Now, if she was challenging the turtles and other boys to full contact football all the time or something like that, I would have voted for tomboy :)

So..if April became a fighter and was challenging the boys to spar with her so she could get better at fighting would that make her a tomboy because it a full contact activity? :ohwell:

Well, if that's your definition of a tomboy then yeah, that would make her a tomboy. Tomboys are usually considered to be girls who do rough sports or noisey activities traditionally associated with boys. It's not a bad thing at all :)

well no that is what you said was the defination of a tomboy. That is if April was challenging the boys to full content foot ball she might be considered a tomboy, thats why asked if you would consider her a tomboy if she was challenging the boys to spar with her, would that make her a tomboy by your defination since its a full contact activity?

When I said "if that's your definition of a tomboy" I didn't mean it was your personal definition...I was just trying to point out that everyone's definition of what a tomboy is, is different...that's all. It really depends on what your or anyone else's personal definition of a tomboy is and I already stated I don't feel OT April is a tomboy at all.

You had mentioned that you felt like people were making it seem like it's a bad thing to be a tomboy and I was just responding that I don't think it's a bad thing to be a tomboy.

None of the above. No tomboy uses her boobs and mindless flirting the way OT April did, but I wouldnt say she's self sufficient, either.

I never saw her going out of her way to seduce anyone. Or flirt, for that matter.

She did crave being captured, tho.

I agree with Darth Shredder. When did April ever act like a mindless flirt in the series? :-?

April was quite feminine! She wasn't stupid, but she where acting like a bimbo from time to time.

I think you're thinking of Irma not April. Irma was the one that occassianally behaved like a bimbo.

And April did, once in a while flirt to get what she wanted.

Ryona made a comment about April in the first live action movie, that she mingled with the turtles like she was just like on of the guys; and I think that is a pretty good observation. She did mingle with them like she was just like them instead of acting like a demure blushing lady that wasn't on equal footing with the turtles.

What I think is cool is that it didn't take away from her at all and I think it actually made her more appealing as a female character to be able to do that. I think guys like it when a girl can act like your best pal that you can exchange a few jokes with rather than dainty damsel you have to pull out her chair for or kiss her hand. :)

Is this thread back again:P

you know who would be considered a tomboy. Karai, she wears her hair short and shys away from guys who show an interest in her (or at least she did).

how does that make Karai a tomboy? Lots of girls have short and shy away from guys can be feminine.

Now if you want to see a butch mannish female all you got to do is look at the Dr. Abigale Finn to see a he-she. I mean yikes! And Casey's mother something of a battle axe her self. Jeeze she looks like a scrawny guy with long hair.