Kids

Nathan Janak on Nickelodeon’s All That

Commenting on Friday’s The Iceberg post, Paula wrote that the Crossdressing Subreddit has over 235,000 subscribers – mostly younger, late teens to 20’s. What’s interesting is the taboo seems to be lifting. Many are out to friends; even more out to their girlfriends. The other thing I noticed is these crossdressers are really good at what they do – very pretty and passable.

I occasionally visit the Crossdressing Subreddit, but not too often because viewing the girls there makes me consider turning in my Official Femulator membership card. 

For starters, all the girls are young (much younger than I) and as a result, their femulations are exquisite (they all pass).

Many of the girls have no inhibitions regarding their crossdressing. They go out crossdressed everywhere, all the time and don’t think twice (it’s alright).

I read about one girl who was going clothes shopping and needed something that could be easily removed in the fitting room, so he/she borrowed a front buttoned dress from his/her wife! Remarkable!

Makes me wonder if the mainstreaming of crossdressing inspires young femulators to crossdress. Of course, there is the RuPaul franchise, but youngsters are more likely to watch Nickelodeon and that network’s All That, which includes some excellent young femulators.   

Anyway, visit the Crossdressing Subreddit and be inspired by the young femulators you will find there.   

Exquisite 

I checked the online Google dictionary to make sure I spelled exquisite correctly in the above piece and found this archaic definition for the word: a man who is affectedly concerned with his clothes and appearance; a dandy. 

A Milestone

On Friday, the blog’s daily hit count reached an all-time high of 16,798! The previous all-time high (15,042) was recorded the day before.

By the way, 25,810,329 is the total hit count since this blog went live. 

Wearing Bebe

Ryan Alessi femulating on Nickelodeon’s All That.

Out!

Wednesday, I went out en femme for the first time since the pandemic disrupted our lives.

My health issues have improved so much that I did not think twice about going out. The only thing I conceded to my achy left leg was to wear kitten heels instead of my usual high heels. (Walking after getting up from the seated position is shaky no matter what I wear on my feet, but once I take a few steps, I am good to go. High heels worsen the problem, while the kitten heels do not.)

I finally wore my Boston Proper vegan leather dress out for the first time. I purchased the dress in the fall of 2019, but it was too small. I could not return or exchange it because it was a “final sale” that I was unaware of until I tried to make the return/exchange. 

I was stuck with the dress. I thought that maybe if I lost some weight, it would fit, but I did not expect that to happen real soon now. But guess what? During the past two months, I lost ten pounds fretting over my osteoarthritis and now the dress fits perfectly. (That’s a total of 35 pounds lost since 2019 for those of you who are keeping track.)

I accessorized with silver jewelry and a black bag. I was ready to exit to my Subaru in the garage when my wife appeared to check me out. She hated my black bag and insisted that I add some color to my outfit. After trying different accessories, we settled on a red bag and a red floral scarf that you see in the accompanying photo. 

My wife was so helpful – it was as if she was helping out a girlfriend rather than a girly husband! She is a treasure!

The 20-minute drive to the Victoria House Restaurant and Tavern in Cheshire was uneventful and I soon found myself seated in the dining room with four lady friends who I have known like forever: Lisa, Sylvia, Diana and blurred Lee Anne, who had to attend in boy mode because he had a boy mode engagement following out luncheon. (I listed the ladies‘s names, left to right, as they are seated in the photo below.)

Food was secondary to the conversations as we were all getting caught up on what we were doing during the pandemic. By the way, we practically had the dining room to ourselves; there were only two women seated at another table, so some of the trans topics we discussed did not cause a commotion.

I did manage to bring attention to myself exiting the restaurant. To leave the restaurant, I had to go through the tavern, where there were about a dozen civilian patrons. One door in the tavern led to the actual exit and the other door led to the rooftop patio. Of course, I chose the wrong door and the waitress shouted to inform me that I was going the wrong way. Meanwhile, all the patrons looked up to see who was the lost soul! (I was not embarrassed – rather I was happy to show off my female presentation to the civilians.)

I drove home exhilarated to be back in my heels again and looking forward to the next opportunity to go out en femme. I was also happy that I was healthy enough to do so.

Update: Transgender Lives Conference

This just in: I will be presenting at the Transgender Lives Conference at 10 AM EDT on Saturday, April 30. My topic is “Confidence: A Crossdresser’s Best Friend.”

Wearing New York & Company

Young femulators performing in UK The Beacon School’s production of Bugsy Malone. (Thank you, Zoe, for the heads-up about this femulation.)

Mainstream Feminization

Yesterday morning, while I was washing the breakfast dishes, my spouse was watching Drew Barrymore’s daytime television show. My spouse was interested in the cake that Drew and guests were decorating, while I was interested in the male guest who was wearing a flowing purple halter-top dress (above left). 

The male guest was Jonathan Van Ness, who is well-known for his feminine wardrobe. I have seen Jonathan in the past, typically on some cable channel late at night, so I was surprised to see him on a major network’s (ABC) daytime television show.

In the afternoon, while I was doing the laundry, “All Access” was playing on our television and the topic of conversation was the growing popularity of men’s lingerie. They were talking about all sorts of lingerie for men, including bras! They even showed a photo of the host Mario Lopez, in lingerie for an episode of Nip/Tuck (above right).

And so it goes!

Wearing Yves Saint Laurent

“Mrs.” Jimmy Fallon on television’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Off the Mojo Wire

Husbands Dress As Wives For A Day

I don't understand Japanese, so I was a little perplexed when I viewed this Nissan ad on YouTube. But Aunty Marlena passed along this story from Hawaii News Now that explained what was going on.

I would love to see a USA version of this ad, but I am not holding my breath.


Texas Mayor Comes Out As Transgender

Aunty also passed along this story from the New York Times about Jess Herbst, the mayor of New Hope, TX, made an official announcement that she is transgender.

According to the Times article, "Ms. Herbst informed residents in a statement on the town’s website about the change, and the joys of her life as a woman, including her preference in pronouns and the endurance of her marriage."

Wearing Veronica Beard.

Mr. Bobbi Lake, 1960's professional femulator

The Times They Are a-Changin'

By Paula Gaikowski

Those were the words Bob Dylan belted out as baby boomers came of age and began to question the social order, while I at 10-years-old had a secret. The world was erupting outside, a country divided by war, freedom protests, and flower power. With this as my soundtrack, I stood in my room alone and confused, dressed in my sister’s clothes, staring into the mirror trying to make sense of these feelings. The freedom train was rolling, but it would be a long time before transgender people would get on board.

This past weekend was New England autumn at its best. It was cool and the foliage was brilliant the sun shined brightly and the scent of fallen leaves wafted thru the air. As I gathered with old friends at a lakeside cabin, it was exciting to reconnect and hear where life was taking them. One young lady who I had watched grow up over the years was now in grad school studying to be a speech pathologist. She came over for a visit and was enthusiastic and passionate about her chosen career. As she ticked off the different clients she had worked with I listened politely.

I perked up when she said “Perhaps, the best group I worked with were transgender.”

When I heard this I subconsciously thought all eyes would be on me, so I remained unresponsive and kept quiet for fear I might pass some innocent remark that could out me, such as, “I want to be a woman, help me, please!”

In all seriousness, what followed was a thoughtful conversation by the group of about eight people. What struck me was the lack of surprise by those present; hardly a progressive group, they all understood what being transgender meant and seemed genuinely interested in the young woman’s work with them. She even mentioned that this would be a positive addition to her resume because there was a growing demand. One person even mentioned a colleague who had a transgender daughter.

Transgender awareness has turned a corner. In this case professionals such as speech pathologists are receiving training for this recognized condition as part of their standard curriculum and a group of average people listened with encouraging interest. I contrast this with the views of the 1960s when the only terms for transgender persons were derogatory and we were the punch line for off-colored jokes and fodder for tabloids.

It’s encouraging to see all these positive changes and I am glad they happened in my lifetime. I wish they had happened sooner. It’s easy to play the game of “what might have been.” However, I have evolved to a point I never thought possible and have reached a level of self acceptance that gives me peace.

And that brings to mind the words of another 60s anthem.

“You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.”

 

 

 

Wearing Alexis.

 

 

 

Manuel Arte femulates Jane Russell and Frankie Kein femulates Marilyn Monroe
at Faces in Santa Monica, California, 1986

Must-See TVs

NBC's Thursday night must-see TV had a handful of TV moment.

Community (episode titled "History 101") had Dean Pelton (played by Jim Rash - photo above) en femme again. Initially, he appeared wearing a long red evening gown, silver pumps, and a black wig. When it came time to do the tango with Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), he stripped off the red dress to reveal a short green sequins strapless number.

At the end of the show, Abel Nadir (Danny Pudi) and Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) appeared en femme in order to gain entrance to a female-only club. Dean Pelton, now in boy mode, manned the entrance to the club, complimented the "girls'" dresses and allowed them to enter.

When Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) tried to enter the club, the Dean blocked her admittance because he clocked her as a male in drag.

The Office (episode titled "Couples Discount") had the staff pair up and play hooky to take advantage of a two-for-one Valentine's Day sale.

Clark (Clark Duke) and Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) paired up and went to a nail salon to get manicures. During their manicures, one of the manicurists asked Clark to remove his glasses. When Clark does, the two manicurists working side-by-side on Clark and Nellie began giggling.

When asked why they are amused, one of the manicurists said that Clark looks like a pretty girl.

Nellie checked out Clark and agreed that he is a pretty girl, then she made a crack about how Clark was developing and suggested buying him a training bra.

Clark exploded in response.

Mainstream Femulating in Japan

Since rising from defeat in World War II, Japan has been a leading source of innovations that have become mainstream throughout the world.

The list of Japanese innovations is long and I will not enumerate them here, but you can view this slideshow to see what I mean. (Yes - I was surprised that the Japanese invented the felt tipped pen, too.)

So which Japanese innovation is going to go mainstream next?

According to a video report from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), male-to-female crossdressing is exploding in Japan and "is becoming more mainstream in a society that once had rigid gender lines."

I was aware of Japanese femulation, blogged about it here in the past, but I had no idea it was becoming "more mainstream." 

According to the ABC report, "Toshinaga Hijikata has published a series of books offering men advice about cross-dressing. Sales have now passed 130,000 copies. He says Japan is slowly learning that not all men want to be macho."

I researched Toshinaga Hijikata and found the following in an article on The Asahi Shimbun website:

"'It started with (manga and anime). I think it lowered the threshold for wearing women's clothing by attracting attention on the Internet,' says Toshinaga Hijikata, editor in chief at WAaI!, a magazine published by Ichijinsha that specializes in covering otokonoko.

"In 2007, Ichijinsha published Onnanoko ni Naritai! (I want to be a girl!), a book with information on how to dress like a woman. Subsequent books have made it into a three-volume series that has sold more than 110,000 copies.

"Hijikata says that most people who like the 'cute boys' that appear in manga and video games are mainly men, many of whom then try to be like these otokonoko.

"'They simply want to be part of the ideal female community they perceive,' says Hijikata.

"Typical fantasies are the images of young girls playing in a field of flowers or whispering secrets in the corner of a classroom, he says. The otokonoko seek out to be part of the group and the beautiful imagery they project, Hijikata says.

"'Perhaps cross-dressing is their ticket to a women-only world,' he says."

I looked for Onnanoko ni Naritai! and found 44 pages of the book on Photobucket. I also found three volumes of Hijikata's magazine, WAaI! (Boys in Skirts), online here: Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3

Gyrlgling, I found femulating Japanese males everywhere! One link led to another with still more Japanese femulators!

My head was overloaded with all this information and I was convinced that crossdressing was indeed going mainstream in Japan.

As they say at Sony, "What's good for Japan is good for the States."

Will crossdressing become more mainstream in the USA, too?

(Thank you, sissyslave4domme, for the heads-up about the ABC story.)

Hanging Chaz

Writing here about Chaz Bono and the effort to hang him out to dry for his Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) stint is like preaching to the choir. I am sure that most Femulate readers support Mr. Bono and hope he does well on the television show, so there is no need convincing you that his DWTS apperance is a good thing.

However, you may want to show your support in a public manner by going to the Vote For Chaz Bono on DWTS Facebook page. (If I still had a Facebook account, I'd do it in a New York minute.)

Anyway, in my opinion, anything that mainstreams transgender folks in a positive manner is a big win for the transgender community. The fact that this mainstreaming is occurring on a very popular television show is even better. The more people who see Chaz on DWTS, the more opportunities there are to convince the civilian population that transgenders are just plain folks who are no stranger than Buzz Aldrin, Bristol Palin, Lance Bass, Margaret Cho, or any of the other diverse cast of characters, who have appeared on the show.

And maybe next fall, DWTS will have a male-to-female transgender compete on the show. My toe should be completely mended by then!