The Grand Unified Appearance Trope Clean-up:

The act of putting your hair in a ponytail because shit got serious is a rather normal trope that I am shocked does not exist.

True but the short low pony tail is a trope in of itself and associated with tomboys.

As an example of something that uses both Smile Pretty Cure's Nao Midorikawa a sports player and oldest sibling of 8 kids is extremely active and has a high ponytail. Akane Hino however is the actual tomboy of the group and wears the small low ponytail[1]◊.

EDIT: also we do have other ponytail tropes like Samurai Ponytail, with quite a bit of use that would mean more Active Ponytail.

edited 25th Jul '16 11:27:53 AM by Memers

I can only think of Ken Master from Street Fighter for the moment. He has long blond hair and he does tie it in a ponytail when he fight.

edited 25th Jul '16 11:25:31 AM by WhirlRX

right, but being active doesn't mean youre a tomboy. A girl might tie her long hair up in a ponytail to and thread it through the hole in a baseball cap so she can play sports and get rough and tumble. A girl may also tie a ponytail because she goes with her sorority to a yoga class and then they sip lemonade between breaks. Or on rare occasion a wandering samurai with long hair may tie his hair in a ponytail because he doesn't want it flying anywhere when he's doing sword work.

it's all essentially the same thing. Tomboys do it, girly girls do it, and even on rare occasions guys might do it, if they have long enough hair. You don't cut it, so you tie it out of the way so you can go be an athlete/superhero/warrior/casual gym goer.

EDIT: really this can apply to both low and high ponytails.

edited 25th Jul '16 11:29:33 AM by acrobox

I've amended my previous post to exclude Japanese media, since men with long hair isn't that strange in Japanese culture in the first place (you can see it in their historical artwork).

edited 25th Jul '16 11:28:21 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

All that should be filed under Samurai Ponytail or Bushido Ponytail might be a better name for it.

Combat Miko will wear them too.

edited 25th Jul '16 11:37:07 AM by Memers

That does bring to mind Makoto Kino from Sailor Moon. It's really hard to call her a tomboy since one of her main trait is her good cooking skills and she as much of a romantic as Usagi. She wears a ponytail but she one of the physical strongest of the Sailor Warriors. There's also Minako Aino who is a good volleyball player but she doesn't wear a ponytail.

edited 25th Jul '16 11:32:30 AM by WhirlRX

Not everything is universal and some tropes are just used specifically there, especially visual tropes like Tomboyish Sidetails which is wholly an Japanese thing due to reasons I have explained before. The Japanese have an affinity with sidelocks in general just these have a stereotype associated with them and exact way to wear them.

Hell I would say Tomboyish Ponytail as written isn't used in Japan, the examples on the page are pretty coincidental with Active Ponytail. The latter I think is I think universal.

edited 25th Jul '16 2:15:39 PM by Memers

Good point. We should be thinking universally in regards to tropes because that is how they will inevitably be used.

Anyway, are there any objections to add the "sidetails" note to Tomboy? Regardless of whether a Tomboyish Hair Style trope is made or anything else, I second the notion that it will be a good addition. "A girl with this personality type will often wear her hair in sidetails, particularly in anime and manga".

I object to that. Its a separate trope and short hair or Short Hair With Tail as well as no hair decorations are part of for said trope as well. These Sidelocks are the hair decorations.

And thats not even getting into the Cat Girls and such which are 'tomcats' by default and sidelocks are almost always a requirement to hide the fact that they don't have normal ears. [1]◊

You will be spending half the page talking about a hair style that 95% of the examples do not have.

I wouldn't mind expanding it to cover more sidelock stereotypes beyond tomboys with the subtropes like Go Nagai Sideburns and Ojou Ringlets.

edited 25th Jul '16 2:54:06 PM by Memers

(Insert "we shouldn't be making any mention of sidetails because we made up the goddamn term here" here) Yes, I know you put it in quotes but I just wanted to make my point clear.

edited 25th Jul '16 2:40:35 PM by Larkmarn

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.

At that point it's no longer a trope, Memers. It's a useful notes page about Anime hairstyles. Though honestly, that may actually be more useful and interesting since it doesn't need examples and it can go in depth into the why of certain things.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

So, add note to Tomboy about sidetails

Rename and cleanup Ponytail

and Draft Useful Notes Anime Hairstyles

sound about right?

if thats the case i'm going to continue the sidetails dewicking.

I guess.

At minimum I would like to revamp Tomboyish Sidetails to something a little bit more as well as

• add a paragraph about how its standard to use this or a variation of Go Nagai Sideburns on Cat Girls, Dog Girls and the rest of those without normal ears due to it looking funny without that area covered
• Add that this is a very common thing with Short Hair With Tail especially with Kunoichi

in addition to the other elements I already brought up on the last page.

Dont dewick it yet, seriously.

edited 25th Jul '16 4:21:11 PM by Memers

Why Useful Notes and not part of an Analysis subpage to a universal Tomboyish Hairstyles trope?

Since when did we even agree to start dewicking the trope?

edited 25th Jul '16 9:58:46 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

dewicking was called for like two pages ago.

shima called for it, entry 1400 exactly.

edited 25th Jul '16 10:55:46 PM by acrobox

@acrobox: It sounds like what you're describing is Practical Ponytail - a hairstyle worn for reasons of practicality, with the hairstyle making a statement about the type of lifestyle the person leads or the practical, no-nonsense personality the person may have.

That covers sporty people, warriors (both male and female), or simply someone who needs to do the cooking or change a nappy or read a book. The act of someone tying their hair back means they're about get down to business or that they're constantly busy - this could range from psyching up for a big fight or just the serious girl on the team tying back her hair in preparation for bossing all the classmates into making the perfect "welcome back" party for the poor kid who's been stuck in hospital for a month. It could also denote a person who isn't necessarily sporty or a fighter, but who has a very busy practical lifestyle that needs their hair kept out of their face (like the kid hero's overworked, long-suffering housewife mother, for instance). It denotes a 'worker' type person - someone who is 'on the job' so to speak.

In that sense, it doesn't have to be a ponytail, so it would probably be Practical Hairstyle instead - a hairstyle that says something about that person's lifestyle (active) or their personality/outlook on life (practical, no-nonsense). Buns and ponytails are probably the most common examples.

It's sort of the opposite of a hairstyle that's used for fanservice - or it would be if it wasn't for the fact that everything can be turned into a fetish in storytelling (such as the moment when the busy bookworm lets her hair loose and the jock who never noticed her before can't pick his jaw up off the floor fast enough to ask her out - you know the type of show I mean).

edited 26th Jul '16 3:54:24 PM by Wyldchyld

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

I mean sure i agree with most of that.

when did we start talking about fanservice?

edited 26th Jul '16 8:29:11 PM by acrobox

I think the practical hairstyle thing is rapidly getting chairs the and losing any trope potential it might have had.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

Yeah that is way too wide.

In media though the ponytail is a symbol of a sporty and active character but not completely a tomboy. When drawn in manga and comics they are almost always drawn to show the ponytail off in every possible panel, this is where the 'fanservice' comes in along with Boobs-and-Butt Pose with the flowing ponytail.

It is important that it is their default hairstyle as putting their hair up in a ponytail when stuff gets serious/needed is another different stereotype.

Tomboy Shorthair is the real serious tomboy hairstyle connected to Tomboyish Sidetails and Short Hair With Tail.

edited 26th Jul '16 11:34:51 PM by Memers

we already have Boyish Shorthair, that should cover all the tomboy connoatations, whether it comes with sidetails and ponytails or cotton tails or ducktales

ponytails if its going to be separate should be about action, not style.

edited 27th Jul '16 11:52:51 AM by acrobox

I like the sound of that. Having one trope for tomboyish hairstyle is neater than having three or four, in addition to having more meat on it.

& That's kind of my point. I agree it's getting a little too wide and that there are, at best, two tropes floating around.

One thing that concerns me about Boyish Shorthair is that the name is a bit generic - it doesn't always mean the character is a tomboy. I know the trope itself covers that, but the trope name is a bit generic. I have seen people just using it for any female character that has short hair, even if they're giriy girls or just don't want the fuss but aren't particularly tomboyish or aggressive in personality.

I'm not saying the misuse is widespread. I haven't looked into it to see how common it is. I guess I'm just not a huge fan of the name. Aside from that, I agree with your sentiment.

edited 27th Jul '16 2:36:09 PM by Wyldchyld

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

I think sometimes it's use for a contrast on someone with long hair and is more feminine. Like Velma and Daphne from Scooby-Doo. Velma wouldnt be consider a tomboy but is seen less feminine compare to Daphne since she the Smart Girl while Daphne is shown more as The Chick.

Yeah. By misuse, I'm not talking about that comparison usage, which I am familiar with. I didn't mention it because I didn't know quite how to word it - you put it so much better than I was thinking of.

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.