additional height

Yvonne x mentioned that actress Alana de la Garza (left) of Law and Order fame, is 5'9" tall.

And today, I noticed leggy actress Ashley Scott (right) on The Bonnie Hunt Show and turns out she is 5'9", too, so both Ms. de la Garza and Ms. Scott join the Famous Females of Height list.

winsome, lose some

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Are you a Peggy or a Joan?

Today's installment of Salon's Broadsheet asks "Are you a Peggy or a Joan?"

After reading Broadsheet, I had to find out for myself and generated my own Mad Men paper doll here.

On the right, are the results, i.e., the way I would have looked circa 1960 working for a Madison Avenue advertising agency. To tell you the truth, except for the hem line, it is very similar to the way I look today en femme.

look femme, feel femme, be femme

Click on the image to enlarge it.

first Korean trans model

Choi Han Bit, a Korean transgender, has advanced to the finals in the SBS 'Open Hall' supermodel contest. According to allkpop.com, "A spot in the finals is an almost guaranteed ticket to becoming a supermodel, regardless of the outcome of the contest."

You can read all about it here.

crossplay

While digging the Internet yesterday, I viewed some photos of the costumed attendees at this past weekend's San Diego Comic Con. As an old comic book and science fiction fan, as well as a costume maker and wearer, I find the work that some of the attendees put into their costumes amazing.

Looking at the hundreds of photos online, my T-Dar kicked in and I believe I spotted a few males in female cosplay costume.

I have seen males in female cosplay costumes on a handful of occasions in the past, but it seemed to be more prevalent at the Comic-Con. This piqued my interest, so I decided to investigate and it did not take long to find out about the phenomena called "crossplay."

According to Wikipedia, "crossplay is cosplay in which the person dresses up as a character of the opposite gender." It is more popular with female cosplayers, but it is has picked up momentum among male cosplayers, too.

I poked around the Internet to find out more and a simple search of flickr on the word "crossplay" turned up 1200 photos like the one of Steve (above) dressed as a maid (note the convincing cleavage).

I also found a forum on Cosplay.com that reminds me of the forums I've seen on crossdressing Web sites covering such topics as how to tuck (for guys) and how to bind (for gals), how to add curves (for guys) and how to hide curves (for gals), and for guys and gals both, which bathroom to use?

Sometimes, it seems like I live in a cave and have to get out more. I knew nothing about crossplay until yesterday and now I am fascinated by the subject.

Although teenagers and young adults seem to represent the majority of cosplayers/crossplayers, older adults are participating, too. So, my age would not prevent me from crossplaying and the best part is that I would not have to dress my age!

New England Trans Pride On October 3

The New England Trans United Pride March & Rally has an additional community organizing meeting to help with the planning of the upcoming regional transgender rights march on October 3, 2009, in Northampton, MA.

The Community Organizing meeting, open to all trans people and our allies, will be at Tapestry Health, 365 Bay St. in Springfield, MA 01109 this Thursday, July 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

We need lots of volunteer hands to help with a march and rally of this size -- the hottest event of the year! We are looking for folks to help with security, fund-raising, rally setup and cleanup, outreach to contingents, sign-making, blogging, social media networking, videography, photography, and more.

Come out with your good ideas and energy to lend a hand to build your trans rights movement! Join us ... and please spread the word to your friends and lists!

Thanks!

Bet Power
Steering Committee Member
New England Trans United Pride March & Rally

***

Yours truly attended the first Trans Pride March & Rally in June 2008. The "Big T" was an amazing day and I plan to attend this year's installment, too, but this time, I will bring comfortable shoes!

Ladies or Gentlemen

A few months ago, a new bookstore opened in the vacated Linens 'N Things store nearby. It sells remainder books at 75% off list price.

I bought a stack of books there for $30 when I visited the store shortly after it opened earlier this year and I returned Friday to see if there was anything new of interest to buy.

I walked out with three books for $25. Two books were excellent buys, but my big score was Ladies or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-Dressing in the Movies.

Published in 2005, Ladies or Gentlemen is a coffee table size book that lists for $65, but I bought it for $16.50. (What a deal!) According to Amazon.com, the 407-page book is a "pictorial history" that "examines the grand tradition of male cross-dressing in the movies through more than 700 photos, more than half of which are previously unpublished."

The book is very comprehensive and seems to document every noteworthy appearance of an actor appearing en femme in a film, both foreign and domestic. I have followed the en femme film genre very closely over the years, yet there are films in this book that were new to me, for example, the comely Robert Livingston appearing in the 1944 film Goodnight Sweetheart (pictured above right).

I know I would not have paid list price for this book or even the discounted Amazon price ($45), but at $16.50, I could not resist. If you can make a similar score, I highly recommend adding Ladies or Gentlemen to your library especially if you are a big film fan like I am.

While on the topic of books, please read and consider responding to my Book Report posting below. So far, seven thoughtful comments follow the post and I hope you will add yours, too.

outed at Barnes & Noble

Please read and consider responding to the Book Report posting below. Thank-you.

book report

Over the years, I have bought enough non-fiction books on the topic of transgender to fill a library.

I started reading every book I bought, but I finished reading few.

Maybe it's just me, but I found the majority of transgender-related non-fiction books to be boring. I read a few from cover-to-cover, but most did not hold my interest and I added them to my tall stack of unfinished books.

So, I'm curious which transgender-related non-fiction books you liked and why?

I'm also curious about what would be your "ideal" trans non-fiction book, i.e., what would you like to see in a trans book that you have never or seldom seen before?

Please answer using the Comments feature of this blog or by e-mail.

Wednesday's wash

Lots of stress around here these days, but none of it is trans-related.

I have not femulated in over five weeks; a day out en femme would sure take my mind off all the mundane matters that are a bother these days. But I am in transhibernation until September when the weather is more compatible with with the wig, makeup, and the variety of foundation garments I wear in order to present as a member of the distaff side of the family of man.

To tell you the truth, this summer has been unseasonably cool and most days, I could have gone out en femme without working up much of a sweat. But I know if I plan a day out en femme next Tuesday, Mother Nature will crank up the temperature and humidity to 99 and I will be a wet tranny mess. So, I will play it safe and continue hibernating until Labor Day.

Actually, I lucked out with the weather last month. When I planned my Womanhattan trip, I worried that it might be too hot for Staci in The City in mid-June. But the weather has also been unseasonably cool in Zip Code 10001, so Secret had me covered for my NYC adventure.

Meanwhile, I await the mail order catalogs and the fall fashions to keep me in a femulating mood for the next five weeks.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the fall fashion mail-order catalogs late this year? By now, I am usually drooling over all the fall stuff I'd like to buy and narrowing my choices down to a few must-have to-die-for items. But nothing.

My favorite on-line coutures (Spiegel, Newport-News, Metrostyle) are still pushing summer stuff (at some great prices, by the way). I assume sales are down as a result of the hangover from the "Bush Era of Prosperity" and they want to get rid of as much old stuff as they can before they bring in the new, but I am getting a little anxious.

I hope you like today's cartoon. (Actually, I hope you like all my cartoons.) There actually is a little truth buried in today's 'toon. Halloween 1983, we were invited to a costume party and the Missus and I reversed roles; I went as she and she went as me and we helped each other fine tune our costumes. I passed, she didn't, when a young lady in a cat costume at the party asked me why I was not wearing a costume.

And so it goes.

companies succeed with more women in charge

Make room for transwomen in the board room, too.

According to a Washington Post article, recent research reveals that companies are more successful if they have more female participation in their management.

Here are some key points from the article, but I urge you to read it all yourself and you will be impressed with the findings:

• New research says a healthy dose of estrogen may be the key not only to our fiscal recovery, but also to economic strength worldwide

• All those right-brain skills disparaged as soft in the roaring '90s are suddenly 21st-century-hot, while cocky is experiencing a slow fizzle.

• Adding to this debate is the fact that the laid-off victims of this recession are overwhelmingly men.

• Gender stereotypes aren't politically correct, but the research broadly finds that testosterone can make men more prone to competition and risk-taking. Women, on the other hand, seem to be wired for collaboration, caution and long-term results.

So, doesn't this put us in the driver's seat?

Transwomen bring the best of both worlds to the table and should make us a highly prized employee in the corporate world.

Instead of being afraid of being outed at the workplace, we should flaunt our diverse personalities and wear a dress and heels to work on the days of the week ending with the letter "Y." Show them we are not testosterone-poisoned guys, but that we can be just as estrogen-driven as the women in the boardroom.

Is this a little tongue in cheek?

Maybe, but if your job is on the line and you are grasping for a lifeline to avoid the unemployment line, showing up at work cloaked with a feminine wardrobe and feminine attitude may not be a bad idea.

looking fab in photos

Whereas diamonds are a girl's best friend, photos are a crossdresser's best friend.

Old joke: How many crossdressers does it take to change a lightbulb?

Three: one to climb the ladder to change the lightbulb, one to hold the ladder, and one to take photos of the event.

Before digital cameras, I took photos... usually Polaroids to avoid having them processed and handled by strangers. But Polaroid film was expensive, so I did not do as much photo-documenting of my early crossdressing life as I do today now that I have an endless supply of free "film" in my digital camera.

Dunno about you, but one reason I take a lot of photos is that maybe one in five is any good. The other four out of five are not good for one reason or another.

Readers Digest has an article online that may improve my one to five success ratio. Titled "10 Ways to Look Good in Photos," the brief article is must-reading for any "girl" who expects to be on the business end of a camera.

Say, "Cheese."

added height

My Famous Females of Height List just keeps getting taller!

Watching Frantic on television yesterday, I noticed that actress Emmanuelle Seigner (right) was right up there with Harrison Ford, so I looked her up and she is 5'8".

Longtime girlfriend Sirena wrote that she recently saw Miracle Laurie at a sci-fi convention and the actress, who plays November in the TV show Dollhouse is 5'9".

I read last week that model Karolina Kurkova of Victoria's Secret's fame is preggie, not to mention 5'11" tall.

Dear Staci

Dear Staci,

Is your female persona different from your male persona. If so, what are the key differences?

MonicaM

Hi MonicaM,

There is not much difference between my female and male personas. People who know both tell me that I am the same in male and female mode.

I know I do not act any differently in male or female mode. I am the first to admit that I am not a typical macho guy and when I was growing up, some of my peers let me know about it.

A telling moment occurred many years ago when I went to a Halloween party in college dressed as a woman. One of my classmates, who knew me well commented that it had never occurred to him how naturally feminine my speech and mannerisms were until he saw me dressed as a woman. And so it goes.

Best Wishes,

Staci

Do you need advice concerning femulation or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is staci-staci at sbcglobal.net.

discovering the fine line betwen lines

Click on the image to enlarge it.

stirred, straight up, with a twist

I discovered a very interesting blog called "Stirred, Straight Up, With A Twist" that "celebrate the gods and goddesses of celluloid and vinyl, with nary a trace of elitism: Jeffrey Hunter or Cary Grant; Eydie Gorme or Maria Callas, we worship them all, and accord them their proper place in the pantheon of greats."

TJB, the brains behind the blog, has a great sense of humor and decorates the blog with fantastic photos from 1962 (give or take a decade).

If you are (like me) a femulator who likes glam (isn't that redundant?), visit TJB's blog.

the bathroom debate

Today's installment of Salon's "Broadsheet" tackles the great trans bathroom debate and asks its readers, "Are single-sex bathrooms prudish, antiquated and insensitive to trans people? Or are these spaces still necessary to protect the privacy of both genders?"

The responses are interesting and most seem to favor allowing transwomen in the women's restroom.

One of the best comments (IMHO) came from For Heavens Sake!, who wrote, "Doesn't it occur to these people that these 'dangerous sexual predators' that they fear so deeply right now have *gasp* access to the men's room-- where presumably they can freely molest the innocent sons of God-fearing Christians? I mean if it really is so dangerous to pee, it should be dangerous right now, donchya think?"

Excellent!

Meanwhile, back in Transphobialand...


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Will he return the mascara (and other legal issues)?

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Michael Jackson biographer: Jackson “dressed as woman”

(updated below)

Two weeks ago, I wondered here if the late Michael Jackson was trans. Here is an article that offers more evidence that maybe he was.

By the way, the author of this article, Matt Kailey, got it right, i.e., if a man wears woman's clothing, it does not mean that he is gay (NTTIAWWT).

He also writes, "It is important to keep in mind is that any speculation about Jackson’s gender identity is not a negative thing. If Jackson did, on occasion or even frequently, dress in women’s clothing, this is not a bad or negative occurrence, and it does not cast a pall on his memory. It is not wrong or bad to be a crossdresser or to be a transgendered male-to-female."

Read the rest of the story here.

UPDATE: I fixed the broken links to the article mentioned above.

more funnies

Meg e-mailed two more femulation-themed cartoons that appeared in the newspaper funny section: Herman and
Get Fuzzy, which appears right.

more height

Lee e-mailed me with a correction and additions to the Famous Females of Height list, which seems to be getting taller all the time!

The correction: I listed Marcia Cross twice, at 5'8" and 5'10". The Desperate Housewives actress is only 5'8".

The additions:

Actresses Jeri Ryan (Star Trek Voyager) and Suzy Amis (Titanic) at 5'8"

Actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Isabella Scorupco (Goldeneye, Reign of Fire) at 5'9"

Actress Judy Greer (27 Dresses, The Wedding Planner) at 5'10" (she appears in the photo on the right)

size 16 should do

Click on the image to enlarge it.

raised as a girl

Last night, I watched my favorite television show, 30 Rock.

30 Rock is in reruns and last night's episode was from 2006 and it was one I had seen before and I know I need to get a life.

(Hey, I actually was in the real 30 Rock last month and, darn, I was so busy buying souvenirs in the NBC Store for my family that I forgot to buy a 30 Rock souvenir for myself.)

Anyway, the show opens with a debate between the show-within-the-show's writers and the cast about a skit in which Tracy Morgan (played by Tracy Jordan) will appear in drag. He appears in drag in this scene.

Toofer, a black writer, played by Keith Powell, convinces Tracy that a black male doing drag is a put-down of all black males, so Tracy refuses to do the skit.

The other writers are now upset about the aborted skit, but another cast member, Josh Girard, played by Lonny Ross, steps up and volunteers to do the skit with the comment that "My parents raised me as a girl for ten years."

When the writers look at him as if he just deboarded from a flying saucer, he adds, "I told you guys that."

Next scene shows Girard in drag with the rest of the cast at the end of the show within a show.

30 Rock has had numerous trans moments throughout its run, in fact, in this episode, Tracy Morgan/Jordan appears in drag again and there is a brief reference to Tina Fey's character having some gender issues, but the being-raised-as-a-girl revelation was probably one of the most memorable 30 Rock trans moment... so far.

passing

This morning, I read a message thread on a trans message board which touched upon the subject of passing. One writer opined that trans people put too much emphasis on passing... that passing is not important... that acceptance is more important than passing... yadda yadda yadda.

I'm sure you have heard these arguments before (and I know I touched upon them here in the past).

Note: I am now putting on devil's advocate hat.

I think that some trans people use the argument (that passing is not important) as a cop-out because for whatever reason, they do not pass.

In addition to being an excuse, it is also a put-down of trans people who do pass, i.e, yes, they pass, but what they are doing is not important, so they are just wasting their time.

I resent that!

I take a lot of pride in my presentation and I admit that it takes some time and effort to get the results I want, but I feel that it is worth it because:

* I pass some of the time, which is a wonderful affirmation of my hard work.

* When I don't pass, at least I don't look like a caricature of a woman. Rather, I look like I am trying my best to emulate a woman and I believe that fosters acceptance.

we're all intersex

On Salon today, Thomas Rogers interviews Gerald N. Callahan, the author of Between XX and XY about people born neither male nor female -- and why everyone's a little bit of both.

Read all about it here.

Tuesday, Tuesday

Tuesdays after long weekends aren't much better than Mondays after long weekends except that they are not Mondays.

* * *

You know how they say that styles repeat themselves. I've been dressing en femme long enough that I have seen that phenomena myself with clothing I have worn.

While perusing the Saks Fifth Avenue Web site, I noticed a Diana von Furstenberg dress for sale that is very similar to the dress I wore the first time I went out en femme that wasn't Halloween. That occasion was to attend my first support group meeting over 20 years ago. (see photo)

I loved that dress and now that it is back in style, I would like to wear it again. I just hope I did not discard it or give it away!

I will look for it tonight and if I find it, I will clean it and wear it next time out.

* * *

My blog readers submitted two additions to the Famous Females of Height list:

Shannon submitted 6' Candice Olson of HGTV's Divine Design.

Linda submitted 6'3" Arianne Cohen, author of The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High.

Monday, Monday

Mondays after long weekends are hard.

* * *

Yvonne e-mailed me yesterday with another addition to my Famous Females of Height list: 5'9" actress Julianne Nicholson from the television series Law & Order Criminal Intent.

Meanwhile, I was surfing television channels and ran across a film starring Italian actress Claudia Cardinale (that is her photo on the right). She looked tall relative to the male actors in the scene I saw and I remember her as always being statuesque in all her films. I looked her up and she is 5'8" tall, so I added her to the list, too.

* * *

One thing led to another and I was on YouTube viewing videos of Woodstock performances that did not make it into the film. I was particularly interested in Creedence Clearwater Revival because Creedence was one of my favorite groups and I saw them perform at Woodstock. Since they were not in the film, I enjoyed viewing their Woodstock performances again a few weeks shy of 40 years later.

During my search of YouTube for Woodstock performances, I came across a video of Bert Sommer. I recall the name from way back when, but I was unfamiliar with Sommer's work had missed Sommer's performance at Woodstock, and I was not even sure if the name "Bert Sommer" was the name of a group or an individual, so I viewed the video to see what I missed.

Turns out Bert Sommer is an individual, but when I started watching Sommer's YouTube Woodstock video, I thought Sommer was a female. Sommer looked like a female and sounded like a female, but he was male (died in 1990), so I wondered if he was trans. I cannot find anything on the Internet indicating he was trans, so he probably was not.

I can't find a thing on the Internet indicating he was trans. I know that just because a male looks female and sounds female, he is not necessarily trans, but it did make me wonder.

* * *

I can't help it. Being trans something or other, I often wonder who else is trans.

Clean shaven, long haired males are always suspect. Actors who do a lot of drag are also suspect (John Ritter and Harvey Korman come to mind). Guys who are interested in other guys who are trans or do drag make me wonder, too.

And so it goes.

is it chilly out here or is it just me?

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Kate Silverton and her tall company

During the past week, I received the following additions to my Famous Females of Height list:

Lee e-mailed the following tall ladies of note:

5'8" actress Amanda Tapping, who starred in Stargate and Sanctuary

5'9" actress Claudia Christian, who starred in Babylon 5

5'9" actress Monet Mazur

5'9" actress Gates McFadden, who starred in Star Trek

5'9" actress Patricia Tallman, who starred in Babylon 5

Yvonne offered the following BBC newsreaders:

5'9" Fiona Bruce

5'10" Kate Silverton, whose photo appears on the right

Lauralee suggested 5'9" actress Kristin Dalton, who starred in Dead Zone and Surviving Gilligan's Island

Lynn Edwards offered 7'1" Sandy Allen

"new" female impersonator ephemera

I added this newly-acquired (via eBay) Finocchio's mailing souvenir (circa 1950) to my female impersonator ephemera collection. You can view it and the rest of my collection on my ephemera Web page.

FYI, Finocchio's was a popular nightclub in San Francisco featuring female impersonators during the second half of the last century.

As usual, click on the image to magnify it.

Dear Staci

Your beard cover and upper arms?

Dear Staci,

You do look stunning...I have 2 questions for you.

a) What do you use for beard cover?

b) How do you keep your upper arms looking so feminine?

MonicaM

---

Hi MonicaM,

Thank you for the kind words!

For beard cover, I use BC-2, an orange-colored product of The Research Council of Makeup Artists, Inc. (RCMA). I bought my tub of BC-2 from Alcone years ago and it will probably last me for another few years.

One of the few good things about getting old is that much of my beard has turned gray. Those parts don't require concealing, so these days I only have to use a little beard cover above my upper lip and on my chin where the beard is still dark.

For my upper arms, I remove hair and that is all I do. My arms are thin and not muscular, so maybe that is why they look so feminine.

Best Wishes,

Staci

---

Do you need advice concerning femulation or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is staci-staci at sbcglobal.net.

but not often enough

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Dear Staci

What's your secret?

Dear Staci,

Your photos don't do you justice! In person, your skin is glowing and so feminine. What's your secret? Do you use hormones?

Hugs,

An Inquiring Girl

---

Hi Inquiring Girl,

Thank you for the very kind words.

I never used hormones. I also never smoked, seldom imbibe alcohol, try to eat healthily, watch my weight, and walk daily for exercise.

I began using skin care products about five years ago after shunning them for most of my life because I thought they were a waste of time and money. I changed my mind after trying a sample eye cream that did wonders to the fine line situation around my eyes.

After my positive experience with the eye cream, I began using other skin care products and they made a big difference, too. In addition to improving and feminizing the look and condition of my skin, I also discovered that when I used makeup, it "liked" my new skin; as a result, it went on easier and lasted longer.

The following summarizes the products I currently use.

Cleansing - Olay Foaming Face Wash – I use it in the morning and in the evening.

Exfoliating - Avon Sweet Finish Sugar Scrub Exfoliant – I do not use an exfoliant daily. Typically, I use it once or twice a week or whenever my face feels like it needs a deep cleansing. Avon discontinued this product, but luckily I stocked up on this product during a sale.

Morning Regimen – After cleansing my skin, I apply three products in the following order:

1. Avon Ageless Results Renewing Eye Cream – I apply this to my eye problem areas, i.e., below and the outer corners of my eyes, but you can also use this cream above your eyes.

2. Cosmedicine MegaDose Skin Fortifying Serum – I apply this to my nose, cheeks, chin, and around my mouth. This is an expensive product, but the good news is that a little goes a long way; 1 ounce lasts me over three months.

3. Philosophy When Hope Is Not Enough Replenishing Cream – This is billed as a nighttime cream, but I use it as a daytime moisturizer. I apply it all over my face and neck.

Evening Regimen – I just cleanse my face and get a good night's sleep.

And that is all!

Best Wishes,

Staci

---

Do you need advice concerning femulation or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is staci-staci at sbcglobal.net.