Wednesday Wanderings

Actresses Portraying Transwomen: Counterpoint

My post yesterday suggested that male actors should portray transwomen in films and on television. My friend Diana suggested something different and you can read here post on this topic here.

Second Planet from the Sun

Monday, I wrote about my discovery of clothing from online seller Venus. It's not like I just discovered Venus a week ago; I have been aware of Venus for years, but I thought that in general, their clothing was too sexy and I held off buying their clothing... because I didn't want to look too sexy???

I Love the Smell of Ohio in the Morning

Did I mention that I will be living as a woman 24/7 for 5 days the weekend after Mother's Day? I'm so looking forward to my annual trip to Ohio for Hamvention! I hope to see some ham radio sisters there.

Wearing Etienne Aigner (Source: Etienne Aigner)

Bill Kaulitz

Actresses Portraying Transwomen

I have a pet peeve: actresses portraying transwomen.

Here are two portrayals that come to mind that are so unrealistic: Rebecca Romijn on Ugly Betty and Famke Jannsen on Nip/Tuck.

Both are television portrayals, but the film industry is just as guilty using actresses to portray trans-woman, for example, Raquel Welch in Myra Breckenridge and Felicity Huffman in Transamerica.

Male actors should portray transwoman. Such portrayals would be more realistic if men filled the T-girl roles. Few actresses are the right size to realistically portray a male-to-female transperson. Their voices are not convincing and in boy mode, their mannerisms are not convincing.



When male actors do portray transwoman, the portrayals are very realistic. Cillian Murphy in Breakfast on Pluto, Lee Pace in Soldier's Girl and Johnny Depp in Ed Wood are examples of successful portrayals of actors portraying transwomen.

Can you imagine someone like Drew Barrymore portraying Ed Wood? I think not.

Wearing Venus (Source: Venus)

Ed Wood femulating in the 1953 film 📺 Glen or Glenda.

Sisters Act

In light of the brouhaha over actress Scarlett Johansson portraying/not portraying a transman in a new film, I am repeating what I wrote (with edits) in March 2015.

That is actor Eddie Redmayne in the photo above femulating in the film The Danish Girl in which he plays Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, a Danish artist who was an early sex reassignment surgery patient.

As in the past, whenever a non-transgender person gets the role of a transgender person, there is a hue and cry from the transgender community complaining that a transgender actor/actress should have gotten the role. And so it goes with the non-trans Redmayne portraying Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe.

I have no complaint about hiring a non-trans person to play a trans role. If I was casting a film, I would want the best actors/actresses to be in my film whether or not their personal life experience matched that of the film’s characters. If there was a match that would be icing on the cake, but if not, that’s where the ability of an actor to play a role takes over.

And as a member of the audience, I want my money’s worth; I want to see the best performances that money can buy up on the big screen, not an amateurish production featuring authentic transpeople or cowboys or cops or snipers. Have you ever sat through a film featuring any of Warhol’s trans trio, Candy, Holly, and Jackie? I rest my case.

My complaint about the casting of transgender roles is using females to play transwomen and vice versa, using males to play transmen. For the sake of authenticity, male actors should play transwomen and female actresses should play transmen.

Who is a more authentic transwoman: the pretty and petite Felicity Huffman in Transamerica or the large of frame, six-foot-one Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent? The audience has to suspend disbelief, i.e., that Huffman is a cisgender woman in order to accept her as a pre-op transsexual, whereas it is easy for the audience to buy into Tambor’s masculine roots.

And in this day and age, during Trump's War on Transgenders, I think we have bigger fish to fry than something as trivial as who portrays who in movie roles.

Wearing Intermix (Source: Intermix)

Taylor Hawkins femulates a flight attendant in The Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly" video.

Girls Like Us?

Harvey Korman (center) femulating on The Carol Burnett Show.

Over the weekend, Sheila and I exchanged emails about films featuring femulators, specifically No Questions Asked and Rubbeldiekatz. Both films contain some pretty amazing femulations.

During our email exchange, Sheila commented, "It's fascinating to me that non-transgender or non-crossdresser men do not take any special ongoing interest in femulating after they do it in a film, play, TV show, or womanless pageant ... especially the 'pretty boys' who make beautiful women."

I responded, "I imagine that for most actors, dressing as a woman for a role is just another job. On the other hand, I bet there are a few actors who may not be civilians and love the opportunity to dress at work. Off the top of my head, Harvey Korman and John Ritter come to mind."

Harvey Korman and John Ritter crossdressed numerous times during their acting careers. Korman did so on television (often on The Carol Burnett Show, The Star Wars Holiday Show) and on film (Americathon). Ritter also did so on television (Three's Company, The Love Boat, Hooperman) and on film (Stay Tuned).

Those are just two examples. Stan Laurel also comes to mind...

...civilians or girls like us?

Wearing Alice + Olivia.

Matthias Schweighöfer (right) femulating in the 2011 German film Rubbeldiekatz.

Sisters Act

That is actor Eddie Redmayne in the photo above femulating in the film The Danish Girl in which he plays Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, a Danish artist who was an early sex reassignment surgery patient.

As in the past, whenever a non-transgender person gets the role of a transgender person, there is a hue and cry from the transgender community complaining that a transgender actor/actress should have gotten the role. And so it goes with the non-trans Redmayne portraying Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe.

I have no complaint about hiring a non-trans person to play a trans role. If I was casting a film, I would want the best actors/actresses to be in my film whether or not their personal life experience matched that of the film’s characters. If there was a match that would be icing on the cake, but if not, that’s where the ability of an actor to play a role takes over.

And as a member of the audience, I want my money’s worth; I want to see the best performances that money can buy up on the big screen, not an amateurish production featuring authentic transpeople or cowboys or cops or snipers. Have you ever sat through a film featuring any of Warhol’s trans trio, Candy, Holly, and Jackie? I rest my case.

My complaint about the casting of transgender roles is using females to play transwomen and vice versa, using males to play transmen. For the sake of authenticity, male actors should play transwomen and female actresses should play transmen.

Who is a more authentic transwoman: the pretty and petite Felicity Huffman in Transamerica or the large of frame, six-foot-one Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent? The audience has to suspend disbelief, i.e., that Huffman is a cisgender woman in order to accept her as a pre-op transsexual, whereas it is easy for the audience to buy into Tambor’s masculine roots.

On the other hand, if any film company decides to do Femulate: The Movie, then all bets are off!

 

Wearing Max Mara.

Actor Peter Sellers in the 1962 British film Lolita.

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in Film

White Christmas, 1954.

High Times, 1960.

On the Double, 1961.

It is a great time to be a tall woman

I am over six feet tall, so I am a tall woman.

In my early teens, I became interested in tall women because they affirmed my existence as a tall woman, that is, I was not the only tall woman out and about in society. Few were as tall as me, but maybe there were enough out there so that I could blend in more easily as just another tall woman.

In the past, tall women tried to blend in with their shorter sisters, so they dressed down (pun intended); instead of celebrating their height, they tried to hide it (to appear less intimidating to men).

Also, tall women did not have a lot to choose from clothes-wise. Few clothiers catered to tall women, so tall women had to make do with what was available, which typically did not celebrate tall women's height.

Today, tall women are out and proud and celebrate their height. They have more clothing to choose from now that more clothiers recognize their potential as customers. They no longer dress down to hide their height. They wear high heels and leg baring skirts and dresses. They don't care if they are intimidating. They've come a long way!

It is a great time to be a tall woman!

To celebrate tall women, I maintain a list of tall female celebrities, my Famous Females of Height List. Here are latest additions to the list, including two Baldwins who are unrelated. However, the 6'2" Baldwin is related to actors Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin (she's their daughter).

5'8" - Emmy Rossum - actress - television - Shameless

5'9" - Emily Deschanel - actress - television - Bones

5'10" - Brooke Baldwin - news anchor - CNN (photo above)

6'0" - Ashlan Gorse - American entertainment journalist - E!

6'2" - Ireland Baldwin - fashion model

 

Andrej Pejic, fashion model.

 

Wearing Alice + Olivia.

Another Happy Birthday

Linda asked about my shout-out to Del Crandall.

I explained that my catcher's mitt was a Del Crandall model. It was a birthday gift from my parents, whereas my fielder's mitt was a Harvey Kuenn model that I obtained by saving S&H Green Stamps.

All my shout-outs are related to something or someone that was influential to me during my 62 years on the planet Earth. Some of the influences were minor, some major, some trans-related, some not.

For example, Mary Wilson was someone I wanted to femulate as were Lee Radziwill, Anne Jeffreys, and Tippi Hedren.

I always found Sandie Shaw's (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me haunting and I almost used it for one of my lipsynching performances.

As an amateur astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, was an important figure, not to mention that I toured his home when I visited Toruń.

Eddie Izzard is one of my heroes because he is completely out about being "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian."

Groundhog Day is one of my favorite films, as is The French Connection, thus my shout-out to Popeye Doyle as portrayed by Gene Hackman, who also happened to femulate in the film The Birdcage.

The list goes on and on. I think you get the idea, but I will be happy to explain any obscure shout-out that you don't get.

 

The Birthday Girl, 20 years ago.

 

Wearing Alexander Wang.

Happy Birthday, Jane Seymour!

Actor Jim Rash appeared briefly en femme in the new episode (“Valloween”) of Community that aired last night. In this Halloween-themed episode, Rash was dressed as a ring girl (see below left).

That is two weeks in a row that Rash has been en femme on the program.

   

Junior Varsity Division winner of a recent womanless beauty pageant.

Actress Cobie Smulder

The Importance of Being Lady Bracknell

Since it is Lady Bracknell Week in The Femulated slot, Anne N sent me a great article from the Daily Mail titled "I just love being a woman..."

The article describes how actor Gyles Brandreth lived as a woman full-time 24/7 for two months last year to prepare for the role of Lady Bracknell in a UK production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

He wrote, "Above all, I am discovering that the essence of being a woman is being aware of others... I don’t believe women are naturally more intuitive or sensitive than men. They just seem that way because they look and they listen more carefully than men do and consequently they see more and hear better.

"I want to cross the male-female divide and step inside the mind of a woman because it’s an interesting place, and full of surprises. But I only want visiting rights, though, I don’t plan to live there permanently."

I’ve heard that before!

You can read the entire article here.

The Importance of Femulating in Earnest

Regular Femulate contributor, Aunty Marlena e-mailed me about a femulation in a 2011 New York City production of The Importance of Being Earnest. In it actor Brian Bedford played the Lady Augusta Bracknell.

The Importance of Being Earnest with a crossdressed cast, Washington, D.C. 2010

I thought that was cool and I searched online for an image of Mr. Bedford in the Lady Bracknell role to use in The Femulated sidebar of this blog.

I was surprised to discover that over the years, males have often played Lady Bracknell. Online, I found 18 other productions of the play in which a male actor played Lady Bracknell. And I even found a 2010 Washington, D.C. production in which all the roles were played by the opposite sex (see photos)!

As a result, I will feature the better Lady Bracknell femulations in The Femulated slot all this week.

Found Danny

Reader FJ saved me the trouble of renting the film, Prêt-à-Porter (Ready to Wear). He rented the film, captured screen shots of the transgender dinner-party scenes, and e-mailed them to me yesterday. Thank you, FJ!

I will share three images with you here today. The first image shows Danny Aiello in a Chanel suit and Teri Garr, who plays Danny’s very supportive spouse, seated at the transgender dinner party during fashion week in Paris.

The other images show other transgender women attending the dinner party. Legend has it that they were played by actual transgender women and not actors.

Film and Television

Paul Gross

I promised to build an archive of The Femulated images that appear daily in the left sidebar. To properly archive 739-plus images is a big job, so I am doing it in manageable chunks.

The first chunk, The Femulated of Film and Television, is now available for viewing on flickr.

Each image includes the name of the femulator(s), the name of the film or tv show where they femulated, whether the image is a film or tv show, and the year of the femulation. If information is unknown, then it is labeled "unknown." 

By the way, there is also one image from a radio show in the set.