Cures for Gender Dysphoria

By Susan King, Transitioning into Tomorrow

Five things I do when my gender dysphoria kicks in and I am locked in the closet.

1. Take some time to pamper myself like take a bubble bath, shave my body hair, watch TV while giving myself a manicure

2. Create a pretty outfit on Polyvore.

3. Build a nice board on Pinterest.

4. Read a book. I am currently reading books with transgender or woman lead characters. I love SF books, so I am trying authors of SF books with female leads. I have tried fiction books with a transgender theme. But I have not found the right author.

5. Snuggle under a nice soft blanket and watch a comedy with a female lead. I get some popcorn and a diet soda (water now) and enjoy.

These five things do not always work. But I will  try one of them when I am stuck in the closet.

How do you handle your gender dysphoria?

Wearing Trina Turk.

Wanda Zambella, mid-20th Century professional femulator

New Shoes

I had some gift cards from Payless and recently visited the local Payless store to use them. Lately, the local stores do not have much in my size for women, so I bought two pairs of men's footwear and still had a balance left on the gift cards.

Going to Fantasia Fair in October, I decided I wanted some new shoes for the trip, so I used my gift card balance online where the inventory in women's footwear in my size is much more plentiful. I bought four pairs (most on sale or clearance) and only had to add $20 out-of-pocket to cover the amount the gift card balance did not. And I spent enough to qualify for free shipping. (By the way, shipping is always free no matter how much you spend if you have the order delivered to a local Payless store.)

The mailman delivered the first pair yesterday. They fit perfectly, were comfortable throughout the time I wore them and looked very attractive. The shoe is called "Eleanor Wedge" and this is its description:

Update your classic ballet flat with this stylish wedge! It features a round toe, pleated details with buckle accent, jersey lining, breathable insole, 2" wedge, and sturdy outsole. The soft footbed boasts a two layer insole. Memory foam, like pillows provided in five-star hotels, absorbs shock, shapes and holds perfectly to cradle the foot for lasting comfort. Latex foam has a premier bouncing nature which provides cushion and a feeling of protection with every step. Manmade materials.

I paid $16 for the pair.

I have been buying more and more wedges lately. I find that they are usually more comfortable than flats and heels... not that I am giving up on flats and heels, but they are very comfortable without looking like they should be!

Wearing Just Fab.

Graham Weaver, Richard Grieve and Jason Donovan
on the London stage in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset

All day and all of the night, I get e-mails from Google Alerts, which monitors "the web for interesting new content" on topics I want to know about.

About 95% of the alerts I receive are on the topic "transgender." Each e-mail alert typically contains one to a half dozen new web content about "transgender." I typically receive one transgender alert every hour or so, therefore, on an average day, I may receive 24 to 144 new transgender web contents.

It didn't used to be that way.

Two or three years ago, there were only a handful of transgender alerts each day. That was before Caitlyn and before the right wing and/or "Christian" bathroom fetishists went apeshit about transpeople peeing in the same pots where they pee.

Everyday I read stories about some judge or attorney general ruling against laws and policies that favor transpeople or politicians advocating the same. And then there are the religious folks who preach against us never taking under consideration what Jesus would do.

I am very tired of reading bad news that makes me sad and upset. Even the good news make me sad because often it is only temporary and will soon be short-circuited by the haters.

When will it end?

(Stop the world, I want to get off.)

Wearing Madeleine.

Falete femulates Sara Montiel on Spain's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Progress

On Thursday, Harper's Bazaar magazine sent me an e-mail asking me to take a survey. If I took the survey, I would be entered into a contest to win a major award, so I agreed.

The first question was "Do you most identify as... Female or Male?"

Wow!

Wearing ModCloth.

Brent Johnson and Jonathan McNeal are members of The Rubi Girls,
Dayton, Ohio's comedic drag troupe.

Curious X 3

Billy Kennedy (right) in BBC One's adaptation of The Boy in the Dress.

1

David Walliams authored a popular kids' book titled The Boy in the Dress.

And World Book Day is an annual event intended to encourage reading.

Schools around the world celebrate the day and some of these celebrations include encouraging students to attend school on that day costumed as their favorite book character. And some boys show up dressed as the crossdressing Dennis from Walliams' book. (I'd prefer to go as Trudy from Coffee, Tea or Me?, but that's me.)

Anyway, I was curious how popular was dressing as Dennis for World Book Day, so I searched the Internet and found over 60 photos of schoolboys dressed as Dennis en femme. I was also surprised to find a few photos of male teachers also dressed as Dennis en femme.

2

My curiosity about how I got this way has never waned, although I am less concerned about it in my old age because I don't think I will ever know for sure. But I still find information on the topic interesting and so I found another reference to the finger-length indicator that I've discussed here in the past.

So it goes that if your ring and index fingers are approximately equal in length, you are female and if your ring finger is longer than your index finger, you are male.

I was born with male plumbing, but my ring and index fingers are equal in length indicating that I am female. No surprise there!

Anyway, Christen's blog, The Woman Within, has a fascinating article on the topic, as well as other posts of interest. So go there!

3

And this was kind of curious... this blog gets at least 5,000 hits ("pageviews") per day. Sometimes more, but always at least 5,000 hits each day.

On Monday, the blog had 10,548 hits!

Why? I don't know. There wasn't even a new post on Monday, so go figure!

Wearing Nine West.

Vanessa Williams and her femulating brother Chris
in a 2010 episode of television's Ugly Betty.

I Go

I asked, "Should I stay or should I go?"

Your overwhelming response was that I should go.

So, thanks to your encouragement, I decided to go to Fantasia Fair.

I just made reservations at my favorite B&B and will be landing in Provincetown on Monday, October 17, and departing, Saturday, October 22.

I hope I will see some of you in P-Town in two months!

Wearing Michelle Mason.

All male cast of As You Like It, University of Maine, 1907

Follow Your Heart

"Why Neutrals are Key to Transition Dressing"
(The actual text accompanying this ad from Joie.)

Mateusz Jakubiec femulates Grażyna Brodzińska
on Polish television's Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Just finishing two weeks' vacation.

It was wonderful taking two weeks off back-to-back. I have not done that in a long time, but with so much vacation time on my hands, I figured, "Why not!"

I mostly hung around town. I did some home repairs that I have put off doing for years. Otherwise, I did not do much. I didn't even do much blogging, as you may have noticed. t was very relaxing.

My wife had a birthday during my vacation, so I took her shopping. We went to my favorite store, Dress Barn, and I bought her whatever she wanted. It was the Dress Barn nearest my home, not the store near work where I am a frequent shopper in girl and boy mode. So I was not familiar with the sales staff, nor they with me.

Although I was in boy mode, I perused the racks "looking for stuff for my wife to try on." It was a perfect cover!

I saw a few items for my girl mode, but I thought I already have plenty to wear and since I have not gone out much lately, I really didn't need anything new.

But it's that time of year when gurls have visions of Provincetown dancing in their head. That includes me and I have been thinking about going to Fantasia Fair, but I can't make up my mind.

To help me make a decision, I listed the positives and negatives about going.

+ Have plenty of vacation time left to use
+ It is personally affordable this year
+ Wife's health is stable, so my absence from home would not be a burden
+ There are still rooms available in Provincetown
+ Have not gone to Fantasia Fair in two years
+ Opportunity to see old friends
+ Opportunity to present as a woman 24/7 for an extended period of time
+ Have plenty of new outfits to wear
+ I love Provincetown

- Packing
- Conflicts with baseball post-season (my Red Sox are in a position to be participants this year)
- Been there, done that regarding the Fantasia Fair schedule of activities
- I dislike the 4-hour drive to and from (especially from) Provincetown
- My dog lost her eyesight recently, so she may be a burden while I'm gone
- Just went to Fantasia Fair two years ago
- It is off-season, so some Provincetown places are closed
- Provincetown knows the gurls are in town, so passing is difficult
- Adams Pharmacy

So, should I stay or should I go?

Wearing Solace London.

Allied prisoners-of-war put on a show in German Stalag XVIII.

SaveSave

Retirement Age

"Telling us we should or shouldn't wear certain items is an easy way to make us take pause. Every woman is allowed to dictate her own personal style and what makes her feel best. That being said, we've all come to a time when we've stopped and asked ourselves, Do I really still want to wear this? Whether it's due to passing trends or evolving taste, over time, there are pieces that just no longer seem to fit in with the rest of our wardrobes."

In today's WhoWhatWear, Aemilia Madden writes about the right age to retire certain items in your closet including such tranny staples as miniskirts, leggings and skinny jeans. I invite you to follow this link to begin thinning out your closet.

Wearing David Meister.

Jorge femulates Jennifer Lopez on Romanian television's Te Cunosc de Undeva!

Dressing Apples

By Susan King, Transitioning into Tomorrow

Many of us have an apple shape. Part of having an apple shape is having great legs and a statuesque look. We just are a little squishy in the middle.

My question is "how to find the right dress for an apple shape?" This is a nice video with some answers and good tips.

Wearing Komarov.

Alex Newell femulates on television's Glee (2009).