Amid the swirling gender politics of our time, one mother is calling on society to be more accepting of tomboys, reminding adults that many young girls with boyish interests still appreciate their biological femininity.

Taking to the pages of the New York Times this week, author Lisa Selin Davis detailed her own daughter’s experience as a less-feminine young woman — one who hangs out with boys, rejects princesses and keeps her hair short — but still fully embraces her girlhood.