Initially Feminine

I have been reading the old Drag magazines that are accessible at Internet Archive and the following article from a 1978 issue (volume 7, number 26) of the magazine fascinated me.

Boys Should Be Girls

LOS ANGELES ― A University of California psychoanalyst says all little boys start life by wishing they were little girls.

This thesis, voice by Dr. Robert Stollar [sic], contradicts the theory of Sigmund Freud, who concluded that all little girls subconsciously wished they were little boys.

Dr. Stollar [sic] told a meeting of the American As­sociation for the Advancement of Science that it was "only natural that all babies would want to be girls because the mother, not the father, is the parent with whom they identify first.''

The doctor says he has treated hundreds of male patients who had trouble switching their ''gender identity" as they grew older. Earlier in life, they had all wanted to be girls, he said.

If this is indeed true, then TVs and TSs are the only people in society who are following their nor­mal God-given urges!

I looked the doctor up and found that he's Dr. Stoller, not Stollar. Wikipedia expands a bit on what the Drag magazine article said.

Drawing on his extensive research with transsexuals and new advances in the science of sex, Stoller advances his belief in "Primary Femininity," the initial orientation of both biological tissue and psychological identification toward feminine development. This early, non-conflictual phase contributes to a feminine core gender identity in both boys and girls unless a masculine force is present to interrupt the symbiotic relationship with the mother.

That fits me perfectly, like a size 12 dress!

(Caveat Emptor: This post is a rerun from February 2016.)

I can't concentrate in flats - Victoria Beckham (Source: Starla)

Professional femulator Courtney Act

His Crowning Glory

Wearing MAJE dress, Sergio Rossi boots and Linda Farrow sunglasses.

Womanless swimsuit competition, circa 1950.

The Women of Transvestia

Thanks to Linda, I recently gained access to 36 back issues of Transvestia published during the time that Virginia Prince was editing the periodical (1960 to 1980).

Transvestia was written by its readers and I am fascinated by the first person accounts contained in the magazine. Reading them, I realize how some things never change. The women of that era had the same fears and emotions that we have today.

Their experiences differed from ours because in that era, society abhorred crossdressing. In most places, you could be arrested for crossdressing. As a result, women were very closeted and only the very brave went out among the civilian population.

In addition to the first person accounts, I absolutely adore the photos that accompany the stories.

This was the era in which I was developing as a young woman, so I have an affinity for the fashions that the women wear in the photos. They usually are in their "Sunday best" because they are photo shooting with film and likely will only take a few shots, which they will sneak on a roll containing innocuous family photos. Unless they had a darkroom, they had to take the film to a camera shop or drug store to be developed and printed. Therefore, they had to look presentable so as not to arouse the suspicion of any civilians handling the film.

By the way, I know one woman who built her own darkroom so she could shoot and print photos of her feminine self to heart's content. I'm sure she was not alone.

In honor of the woman of Transvestia, I am posting a selection of their photos here today and in the future. I hope you will find their images as wonderful as I do.

Audrey from New Jersey, 1961

Ramblin' Barbara from Connecticut, 1961

Carolyn from California, 1961

Members of the Los Angeles "Hose and Heels Club," Carolyn, Nancy, Catheryn and Joan, 1961

Catheryn mobile in California, 1961

Dee Ann from Ohio, 1961

Smokin' Doreen from Massachusetts, 1961

Gail from New York, 1961

Gloria and her twin sister from Pennsylvania, 1961

Jane from Kansas, 1961 (Is that her military portrait hanging on the wall?)

Louise from Ohio, 1961

Marilyn from California, 1961

Another California girl, Mary, 1961

New York's Susanna of Casa Susanna fame, 1961

Transvestia cover girl, Terry, 1961

Vicki from New York, 1961

The Rocky Twins, Leif and Paal Roschberg, circa 1928

Primary Femininity

Like Mother, Like Son

I have been reading the old Drag magazines that are accessible at Internet Archive and the following article from a 1978 issue (volume 7, number 26) of the magazine fascinated me.

Boys Should Be Girls

LOS ANGELES ― A University of California psychoanalyst says all little boys start life by wishing they were little girls.

This thesis, voice by Dr. Robert Stollar [sic], contradicts the theory of Sigmund Freud, who concluded that all little girls subconsciously wished they were little boys.

Dr. Stollar [sic] told a meeting of the American As­sociation for the Advancement of Science that it was "only natural that all babies would want to be girls because the mother, not the father, is the parent with whom they identify first.''

The doctor says he has treated hundreds of male patients who had trouble switching their ''gender identity" as they grew older. Earlier in life, they had all wanted to be girls, he said.

If this is indeed true, then TVs and TSs are the only people in society who are following their nor­mal God-given urges!

I looked the doctor up and found that he's Dr. Stoller, not Stollar. Wikipedia expands a bit on what the Drag magazine article said.

Drawing on his extensive research with transsexuals and new advances in the science of sex, Stoller advances his belief in "Primary Femininity," the initial orientation of both biological tissue and psychological identification toward feminine development. This early, non-conflictual phase contributes to a feminine core gender identity in both boys and girls unless a masculine force is present to interrupt the symbiotic relationship with the mother.

That fits me perfectly, like a size 14 dress!

Wearing A.B.S. by Allen Schwartz.

Abraham Placencio as Angelica del Rio, Kenneth Ansloan as Joan
Crawford and Matthew Bubb as Marilyn Monroe on stage in
The Joan Crawford Marilyn Monroe Christmas Show (1997).

Eureka: Drag!

In my late teens and early twenties, I would occasionally take the train into Manhattan and explore The City. During one of my explorations, I was taking in the huge display of magazines and newspapers on sale at the newsstand in Grand Central Terminal, when what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a magazine titled Drag.

Now, this was not the typical drag magazine I was used to seeing back home ― magazines that featured hemis, gassers, headers, blowers, mag wheels, Garlits, funny cars, etc. No, this drag magazine featured guys in gowns, boys in bras, men in minis, fellows in fishnets, males in marabou, etc.

Wow! I had found a magazine just for me!

I looked around me to see if anyone was looking at me looking at the magazine sitting on the rack. The coast was clear, so I reached for the magazine and flipped through it quickly to make sure it really was a magazine about trannies and not trannies. Satisfied, I handed it to the newsdealer and paid the exorbitant (for circa 1970) cover price of $3 (that's almost $20 in 2016 money).

As the newsdealer put the magazine in a brown paper bag and handed it to me, he gave me a dirty look. No fan of drag was he, but I did not care because I had in my hands something I hoped would expand my knowledge of the world that I seemed to be part of.

Drag never showed up on the local magazine racks, so I did not buy the magazine unless I was in NYC and could dp so surreptitiously if I happened to have any company on those trips. As a result, I only acquired two or three issues of the magazine and cherished them until "The Great Purge of 1983," when they went out to the trash with all my other gurly paraphenalia.

Over the years, I saw clippings from Drag on various Internet places and I even saw complete issues for sale on eBay at exorbitant prices that I was unwilling to pay. But last week, Diana of Little Corner of the Nutmeg State fame e-mailed me with some good news: complete issues of Drag were now available for downloading from Internet Archive.

So I plan to reverse "The Great Purge of 1983" and rebuild my small collection of Drag.

Wearing JustFab.

Two pretty femulators from San Francisco, circa 1970

Vintage Femulation Magazines

My previous posts about Lee Brewster and Drag magazine have spawned nostalgic  comments here and on Facebook about old magazines. For example, Pat commented, "If I could get my hands on a Drag or Female Mimics I would stash them and read them over and over again."

Vintage copies of these magazines occasionally show up on eBay, but the prices are exorbitant. A copy of Female Mimics Volume 1, Number 1 recently went for $34 and that is typical for that popular auction website.

But all is not lost. Using magazines from the 1950s, 1960s, and other decades as source material, Fetish Nostalgia has created digital, ebook versions (in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format) of a variety of periodicals and publications that are of interest to Femulate readers. The titles include Female Mimics, Female Impersonators, Drag Queen, Guys in Gowns, Letters from Female Impersonators, etc. The classic Female Impersonator's Handbook by Pudgy Roberts is also available.

The prices are very attractive ($3 to $5 for most of the femulation-related titles) and delivery is practically instantaneous: order on-line and within an hour you receive an e-mail directing you to a webpage where you can download your purchases.

I have ordered most of femulation-related titles over the past few years; I am a very satisfied with the service and highly recommend it.

 

Femulators socializing, circa 2006.

 

 

 

Wearing Pink Tartan.

Eureka: Drag!

In my late teens and early twenties, I would occasionally take the train into Manhattan and explore The City. During one of my explorations, I was taking in the huge display of magazines and newspapers on sale at the newsstand in Grand Central Terminal, when what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a magazine titled Drag.

Now, this was not the typical drag magazine I was used to seeing back home --- magazines that featured hemis, gassers, headers, blowers, mag wheels, Garlits, funny cars, etc. No, this drag magazine featured guys in gowns, boys in bras, men in minis, fellows in fishnets, males in marabou, etc.

Wow! I had found a magazine just for me!

I looked around me to see if anyone was looking at me looking at the magazine sitting on the rack. The coast was clear, so I reached for the magazine and flipped through it quickly to make sure it really was a magazine about trannies and not trannies. Satisfied, I handed it to the newsdealer and paid the exorbitant (for circa 1970) cover price of $3.

As the newsdealer put the magazine in a brown paper bag and handed it to me, he gave me a dirty look. No fan of trannies was he, but I did not care because I had in my hands something I hoped would expand my knowledge of the world that I seemed to be part of.

 

Professional femulator Laverne Cummings, circa 1960.

 

A queen of the world.