Coming Soon

I discovered two interesting Swedish videos that I believe you will enjoy.

Wearing Venus

Femulating Flip Wilson

Today is Tuesday

We Will Miss Dress Barn

Heather informed me about this interesting Vox article "When I couldn’t tell the world I wanted to transition, I went to Dressbarn." I'm sure many of you can relate to this piece as did I.

Stairs and High Heels

This how-to from Abby of Vivian Lou Insolia insoles fame is worth reviewing even if you read it before.

While it's quite empowering to dress up and get out and about, I've been reminded (on more than one occasion) to be careful on the stairs!

Let's quickly review the 'how to' of stairs in heels.

Going Up

:: Visualize a straight line going up toward your end point, rather than looking down at your feet as you climb.

:: As you walk up the step, place your body weight on the ball of the foot. This means that the back of the heel will most likely hang off the step.

:: While ascending, place one foot right in front of the other on the next step.

:: Hold on to the railing if necessary.

Going Down

:: Hold the railing for support. Keep your grip strong, but relax the rest of your arm and shoulder. Gently glide your hand down the railing as you descend.

:: At first, you may need to look down at the stairs to determine depth and steepness. After a few steps (if possible), visualize a straight line going toward your end point, rather than looking down at your heels.

:: Place as much of the shoe (heel and front of the shoe) on the step as possible. Depending on the depth of the step, you may want to push your shoe back until it touches the back of the step to make sure as much shoe as possible is making contact.

:: If the stairs are narrow, you may try tilting your body at a 45 degree angle feet and stepping down on an angle. Place one foot in front of the other on the next step down. This method definitely takes practice!

:: Go slow. Take your time heading down stairs in heels. Better to be safe than sorry!

As with most other difficult tasks, the more you walk up and down stairs in heels, the easier it becomes.

Finding the Right Eyebrow Color for Your Hair

Women like us can switch hair color faster than you can say "Henry Margu." When I switched from blonde to the brunette-red mix I wear today, I noticed that my eyebrow color did not look right. Did I need to go lighter or darker?

This article from InStyle would have helped and will help you if you make the switch.

Me on YouTube

I appear at 1:57 in this YouTube video collection of photos from Hamvention.

Wearing Venus

Yours truly wearing Venus

FYI: Links

Source: Wikipedia

It has come to my attention that some readers are not getting the full benefit of this blog. In particular, the links in the Femulate Her and Femulator slots below.

Femulate Her links typically go to the website of the seller of the item(s) worn by the Femulate Her model. Occasionally, the links go to the webpage of the actual item the model is wearing.

If the Femulator is an individual, there may be a link to Wikipedia or another website that describes the individual. If the Femulator image is from a film or television show, there may be a link to a video (typically on YouTube) that shows the femulation.

For example, today's Femulate Her goes to the Veronica Beard website. And today's Femulator link goes to YouTube where you can view the entire film, This Is the Army.

What alerted me to this issue was a comment from a reader who said she had never seen a femulation from television's Your Face Sounds Familiar and wondered if the performers lip-synched. This surprised me because whenever Your Face Sound Familiar is in the Femulator slot, I usually include a link to a video of that television show's femulation. By the way, the Your Face Sounds Familiar performers do not lip-synch.

And while on the subject of links, if you click on any link in this blog that takes you to Amazon and you make any purchase during that Amazon visit, your purchase helps to support this blog. So thank-you for your support.

Wearing Veronica Beard (Source: Veronica Beard) (I love this skirt suit!)

Alan Manson femulating in the 1943 film This Is the Army.

Reflections of a "Booth Babe"

Brenda commented on the video of my short presentation at Hamvention last month.

"Stana, you definitely have natural feminine mannerisms that come out in the video. You were 5 nine plus 60db and owned the moment. I hope this gives you the increased confidence that you are the woman that you are and can enjoy life as a woman without hesitation. You have shown us how the thought of coming out is terrifying and even more so where some may know your past but many people have no idea and just see a vibrant woman on stage as the TAPR secretary. Compliments are in order. You looked just fabulous. How about blogging as how you felt being a wonderful booth babe?

Your wish is my command, Brenda.

I confess that on the first time I staffed our booth as a woman in 2010, I was a little fearful about interacting with strangers and felt safer ensconced in our booth.

I spent the morning of the first day of the convention working in the "background" of our booth assisting the guys who were on the firing line interacting with customers.

In the afternoon, the firing line got busier, so I stepped up and began interfacing with the customers. They had questions and wanted information about our products. They did not care who was delivering that information and I quickly felt comfortable in the role of dispensing that information.

Being the only booth babe in our booth, I noticed that I was attracting customers away from the booth boys. Some of our customers actually held off dealing with the boys and waited patiently for their turn to talk with me. So, I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon as the booth babe and after

However, staffing the booth at Hamvention, I got a taste of the prejudices that professional woman face every day.

Approximately 15% of the US ham population are female and the attendees at Hamvention reflected that statistic. By far, the males outnumbered females.

The people staffing booths at Hamvention also reflected that statistic. Some booths have no females, some of the bigger booths have one or two females and a few booths have a bevy of women, but they are professional "booth babes" hired to attract customers.

Some of the visitors to our booth must have read me as the equivalent of a booth babe. On one occasion, a guy approached me at the booth and asked, "Do you know anything?"

Damn! After 50 years in the hobby, I probably knew more about ham radio than he did. I was so taken aback by the question that I did not have a quick comeback. Instead, I did my duty and politely answered his question with a smile.

That moment is probably the low point of my eight stints as a booth babe. If that is the "low point," I guess I am doing OK especially in contrast to some of the high points.

For example, while I was staffing the booth, another guy asked me a question that I could not handle, so I jokingly said, "You'll have to ask him (referring to one of the guys staffing our booth) because I am just a 'booth babe'"

His response was, "And a very good 'booth babe'!"

Still another a guy stopped by and remarked that he remembered me from the previous year because I had bought a receiver kit from his booth. I recalled buying the item, but I did not recall him, so I used my feminine charms and managed to never admit that I did not remember him. And he went away a happy camper.

Countless guys smiled and/or winked at me when they walked past my booth. Women smiled at me too, but in a different way. As you know, there is a big difference between a man-to-woman smile and a woman-to-woman smile.

One fellow, who was staffing another booth nearby visited our booth to get better acquainted. He was interested in taking me out for a date during the convention, but then he noticed my wedding ring, asked about it and then backed off when I explained that I was happily married.

I thoroughly enjoy my life as a woman serving as a booth babe. It was wonderful to meet and chat with the people I already knew, but it was also wonderful to meet and chat with people I did not know explaining the technologies displayed in our booth. It makes the 725-mile roadtrip worthwhile.

During the long hours on the road I do a lot of thinking. As the New York radio stations fade away, I begin thinking about where I have been and where I am going on – especially where I am going in this adventure I have been living.

I love being able to live as a woman and I am so glad that I came out as I did to give me more opportunities to experience life as the woman I really am.

Wearing Celino (Source: Beyond the Rack)

Professional femulator Lee Leonard also know as Liz Lyons

Confidence

As long as I have been going out as a woman, I have had some trepidation before I took that first step out the door into the real world. After all, under that makeup, wig and female finery is a 6 foot 2, 199-pound cisgender male.

Will I pass? Will I get read? How will civilians react? If you have ever gone out in public as a woman, you have been there and done that. I believe I will never do that again.

Two week ago, I stood at a podium in Ohio as a woman and made a short presentation to approximately 150 of my ham radio peers. It was a positive experience and a personal accomplishment.

Tuesday morning, a video of my presentation was posted on YouTube. I hesitated before I clicked the play button to view it. For the first time, I would see my female presentation as others see it... not in a still photograph, but in a full motion "live" video. Would I see a cisgender male in a dress? Would the video shatter the notion that I pass?

I clicked on the play button and five seconds into my appearance I thought "Holy Cow!" Watch my body movement and mannerisms as I say, "I used to write for QST." That is not the body movement and mannerisms of a cisgender male; that is the body movement and mannerisms of a female. 

Watching the 2-1/2 minutes of video, I continued to see a female and I was absolutely floored how feminine I appeared. Yeah, "Holy Cow!"

Growing up, I was clueless about my feminine ways, but my peers were very aware of it and let me know about it in no uncertain terms. But I refused to change because my mannerisms were natural to me, a good fit and I really did not want to man-up and embrace some of the aspects of being "male" that I found unattractive and even abhorrent.

But until I viewed the video, I did not realize how really feminine I appeared. So feminine, that even my male voice worked.

As a result, I am very confident about my femulation and I will never again have any trepidation about experiencing the real world as a woman because under that makeup, wig and female finery is a 6 foot 2, 199-pound female.

Wearing Shoshanna (Source: Rent the Runway)

Krzysztof Szczepaniak femulates Lady Gaga on Polish television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Got Stuff

Got App Dept.

The online app that puts "Your Face on a Glamorous Magazine Cover In Seconds!" seems to be very popular with Femulate readers (and me). More of you have sent in your results, so I am posting a second set of your glamorous images today.

Got Voice Dept.

That Hamvention video that shows me for about 2-1/2 minutes had over 300 views from all over the world not long after I mentioned it here. Since the video was not publicized elsewhere until late in the day, I assume that most of that 300 were Femulate readers. (It has over 650 views 24 hours later.)

I girded my loins for criticism and as expected, I received some comments about my voice. 

Yes, I have a New York accent and sometimes my "these," "thems" and "those" come out as "deese," "dems" and "dose." [Actually, I have a South End of Waterbury accent, which is a distant cousin (80 miles) of a New York accent.]

And yes, my voice is deep for a woman. 

Years ago, I took a femme voice course and after three weeks of practice, I had a very feminine voice, but I always felt silly when I used that voice. It seemed so fake to me. Since I found that my normal male voice was not a deal breaker as far as passing was concerned that is what I decoded to use. 

I think that when people initially encounter me, they see a woman. If and when I speak, they just assume that I am a woman with a deep voice. 

After years of using my normal voice en femme, I assure you it usually does not give me away. As I recounted in last Wednesday post, a fellow came over to me after I spoke at the Hamvention forum and asked me how I am related to Stan Horzepa?

And so it goes.

Wearing Show Me Your Muu Muu (Source: Haute Look)

Abe Vagoda femulates in an episode of television's Barney Miller (circa 1978).

Live!

This year's Hamvention was the first time I spoke at a forum as a woman.

When I attended Hamvention in the past as a male (before 2010), I moderated and spoke at a number of forums. But since I have been attending as a woman, I have not presented because I was not ready to take that step in my coming out process.

This year, I was ready and gave a short presentation at my group's forum, the TAPR Forum, to encourage people to submit content for my group's quarterly publication, which I edit.

I think my presentation went well. No one hooted or threw rotten tomatoes and a couple of people even complimented me.

Even better... the forum was video-recorded and you can view it here on YouTube. (My appearance starts at the 6:39 mark and last about 2-1/2 minutes.)

I looked forward to seeing this video because I have never seen my female self "live" and I wanted to see for myself if I had feminine mannerisms.

All my life, I have been accused of being feminine. The way I walked, talked and moved were decidedly girly according to the social norms police.

I was not trying to act girly, I was just acting in a way that came naturally to me. Furthermore, I was happy with the way I acted and I was not about to change or "man up."

Anyway, after viewing the video, I have to admit that the social norms police were correct.

Wearing Mango (Source: Elle)

David Lander and Michael McKean femulating on television's Laverne and Shirley (circa 1980)

Got Tuesday

Got Drag Dept.

Zoe informed me that Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory fame will appear in the film version of Matthew Lopez’s play The Legend of Georgia McBride. Parsons will play the role of Miss Tracy Mills, a veteran drag queen who coaches a broke young man in the art of performing, transforming him from a washed-up Elvis impersonator to a show-stopping drag queen. (Source: Variety)

Parsons is no stranger when it gets to getting girly. That is Jim en femme in the accompanying photo with Steven Weber attending a 2013 benefit in Los Angeles.

Got Links Dept.

Jan Brown suggested I add links to online videos of the Your Face Sounds Familiar femulations that I post in the Femulator slot below. Videos of the femulations do not always exist, but I have embraced Jan's suggestion and have added links when I find them, as I did with todays Femulator, the amazing Janek Traczyk.

(Source: moldesdicasmoda.com)

Janek Traczyk femulates Slawa Przybylska on Polish television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Opportunity Missed

A brief glimpse of me (far right) at last year's Hamvention

I did not go to Hamvention this year. I apologize to those who expected to see me there, but the decision not to go was last minute and as a result, I did not post the news about my change of plans until Friday.

Good news is that I missed the 2-hour wait in traffic trying to get to the new site in Xenia and I missed the swamp, which is what the flea market became after 3 inches of rain fell Friday and Saturday.

Bad news is that I missed a lot of potential video presence over the weekend. A few booths down the aisle from my group's booth was a camera that streamed live video from the Hamvention throughout the weekend. Quite often, the camera was pointed down the aisle at my group's booth, so if I had been present, you would have been able to clearly see me live and in person just as I was able to see all my ham radio friends who were staffing our booth.

Wait 'til next year!

Wearing Venus (Source: Venus)

A contestant in a recent Indian womanless beauty pageant

Aunt Transforms Nephew into Niece

UPDATE: Thanks to some knowledgeable readers, I now know that this video clip was too good to be true. The boy, who was supposedly transformed into a girl, is really a girl. No aunt transformed her nephew into her niece. By the way, the clip was taken from a Mexican television show called An Angel in the House (1998-1999).

ORIGINAL POST: A few weeks ago, I found this short video from a Spanish language television program. I wonder if anyone knows its source and what is the plot of this particular episode of the show.

YouTube suggests the source might be Mexico. The short description accompanying the video reads, "boy comes home dressed as a girl by her aunts. His father is frightening and terrified"

My take is that the boy's aunt took her nephew shopping for a female outfit. Looks like she even took him to a beauty parlor to get his hair done and his face made up.

The short clip shows the aunt and nephew returning home after shopping to reveal the boy's new look to his family. His mother and brother seem very pleased, but his father, not so much.

My Spanish is not good enough to interpret what is said in the video. Anybody have a clue?

Don't you wish you had an aunt like this lucky boy's/girl's aunt!

(Susan King's series on determining your face shape and what to do with it resumes tomorrow.)

Wearing DressBarn.

Aunt transforms nephew into niece in a Spanish language television show.

No Girls Allowed in 1970

There are numerous videos online depicting various womanless events – beauty pageants, fashion shows and weddings, in which males trade in their trousers for dresses and walk on the distaff side of street temporarily. Most of the online videos are contemporary, but there are a few vintage videos, too.

Zoe alerted me to one from 1970 featuring 28 members of a Boy Scout troop from Henry County, Virginia, who participated in a girl-less beauty pageant, which begins at approximately the 24 second mark of the video.

Don’t you just love the styles the “girls” are wearing? Reminds me of some of the outfits I was borrowing from my mother and sister back then.

Wearing Lands' End.

Miss David Bowie