Back to School

A 1950 womanless beauty pageant at Cradock High School in Portsmouth, Virginia

Commenting on last week's womanless beauty pageant post, my blogging sister Meg Winters wrote, "I can't figure out why the schools sanction these events. There must be some sort of educational explanation, but I cannot for the life of me imagine what it is. Do you have any thoughts?"

I believe that schools sanction the womanless pageants because they are a good moneymakers. The schools' investment is minimal, so most of the income is profit. It is a lot easier than selling chocolate candy bars door-to-door, which is what my high school made us do.

Historically, I believe the womanless beauty pageant was a descendant of the womanless wedding, which was a popular fundraiser in the Midwest and Southern USA in the 20th Century.

Except for the flower girls, the femulating participants of womanless weddings were adults. So when it came time to find fundraising activities for a scholastic femulators, womanless beauty pageants seemed more age-appropriate. The pageants began in earnest in the late 1940s, grew in popularity in the 1960s and today, is still a popular fundraiser despite pushback by transphobia.

Anyway, I sure would have preferred donning an evening gown and sashaying on stage rather than selling candy door-to-door.

Go back to school in this preppy outfit from ModCloth (Source: ModCloth)

Miss Danny Hicks was a vision of loveliness in the 1965 boy beauty pageant at Columbia (SC) High School.

It’s that time of year

By Starla Renee Trimm

Ahhh… autumn in the Deep South.

In a few weeks, the oppressive heat and humidity will begin to wane, the mountainsides will come alive with spectacular colors, the SEC will begin to once again dominate college football and the kids will return to school. And where gays, atheists and Muslims are still soundly reviled, where they would rather let trans students pee in their pants than use the appropriate bathroom, where city council and school board meetings still begin with prayers “in Jesus’ name,” where your “right” to buy an AR-15 without the guv’mint intefering is soundly defended, where schools, streets and parks are named not after Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, but for Lee, Jackson and Davis... yes, where grits are considered a vegetable and animal flesh is thoroughly deep fried to make sure the critter’s dead before it’s eaten... in the land of hypocrisy writ large, Gun ownin’, Bible totin’ real men and genteel women will gleefully and enthusiastically put their ‘tween and teen boys in full, beautiful feminine drag and parade them down a makeshift catwalk in a gymnasium for their school’s womanless beauty pageant with nary a trace of irony, lavishing as much time, prepartion and mascara on them as they do when their sisters run for Rattlesnake Roundup Queen or vie to be crowned Miss Mule Days. (Um, no kidding, those really are things.)

Sarcasm aside, it’s that time of year and what follows are links to galleries of some of the best school womanless events currently available online. Some schools pretty reliably hold a pageant every year like clockwork; others more sporadically so and some are “one-hit wonders” that inexplicably pulled out all the stops for an elaborate pageant one year, while never doing it again.

These are full galleries (and a few videos), some posted by schools, others by parents, teachers or other sources. It is not by any means exhaustive and there are many equally good pageants to which only a single photo or two or three scattered around the Web bear witness or for which the original source galleries have vanished over the years.

Many of the photos in these galleries have been spread around and you may well have seen most of them. But this is a chance for you to see them in context as originally posted with whatever comments were appended to give you a taste of some of the “Best of the Best” school womanless pageants in Dixie.

Will the more consistent schools grace us with another excellent event this year? Will some of the “one and done” schools revive the idea? Or will some school rise out of obscurity to begin a new pageant tradition? We shall see. Meanwhile, be inspired, amused, appalled or whatever by these shining examples of the schizoid Southern culture!

Alexander City Middle School (AL)
2015 pageant (personal gallery)

Beaver Elementary Schoolgurls

Beaver Elementary School (Wildersville, TN)
2014 pageant (personal gallery, manually click/swipe to scan through)

Central Elementary/Middle School (Dubberly, LA)
2016 pageant (personal video of opening number)
2016 pageant (personal video of introductions)
2016 pageant (personal gallery, largely focusing on the poster’s own son):
2017 pageant (personal video of opening number)

Kudos to this school. The womanless pageant is one of its many annual projects to benefit St. Jude and they raise more money than almost any other group in the state. The year I saw documented, they raised $31,000 which is pretty damn good for a not terribly large school in a mostly rural area! Yes, I make fun of Southerners, but give credit where credit’s due.

E.O. Coffman Middle School (Lawrenceburg, TN)
2015 pageant (school gallery)

Ernest Ward Middle School (Walnut Hill, FL)

Ernest Ward Middle Schoolgurls

2010 pageant (newspaper gallery)
2013 pageant (newspaper gallery)
2014 pageant (newspaper gallery)
2018 pageant (newspaper gallery)
2018 pageant (personal gallery)

Gordo High School (AL)
2013 pageant (personal gallery)
2015 pageant (personal gallery)
2018 pageant (personal gallery)

Haralson County Middle School (Tallapoosa, GA)
2017 pageant (personal gallery)
2018 pageant (school gallery)
2018 pageant (personal gallery)

May be an up-and-coming “sleeper” that will get better in time. Right now mostly “so-so” femulations and way too much of the huge, unrealistic balloon boobs sort of thing, but they’re getting an impressive number of boys participating, who seem enthusiastic (which can’t be said for the audience which seems bored out of its gourd at times).

Honaker Elementary/Middle Schoolgurl

Honaker Elementary/Middle School (VA)
2013 pageant (personal gallery)

Potts Camp Middle School (MS)
2018 pageant (teacher’s personal gallery)

Rehobeth Middle School (AL)
2017 and 2018 pageants (school club gallery; manually click/swipe to scan through)
2018 pageant (personal gallery; manually click/swipe to scan through)

Thomasville Middle School (AL)
2013 pageant (winners only)
2014 pageant (school gallery)
2015 pageant (school gallery)
2015 pageant (personal gallery)
2016 pageant (school gallery)

Wilson Hall Middle Schoolgurl

Wilson Hall Middle School (AL)
2015 pageant (professional photographer gallery, 400+ photos!)

Not many schools can afford to engage a professional photographer to document their womanless pageants, however, in this case, the photographer is also the mother of one of the contestants – the gurl in the red dress and headband – so I assume they got these for cost or maybe even for nothin’!

Finally, not a beauty pageant and not in the Deep South by any means, but I have to mention the YouTube videos from the annual talent shows held at Rachel Carson Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For several years running, it seemed to be a tradition that some of the graduating 5th grade boys would put on a dance number dressed as girls. However, I can’t document any such act in the last 5 or 6 years, nor prior to 2009. My guess is that it was a specific group of parents that spearheaded and organized these things and when their kids aged out and moved on, the annual drag numbers ceased. But you never know – one of these years, someone associated with the school may see these videos and think, “Hey, what a fun idea!” and revive the tradition. In any case, here are three of the annual events.

Rachel Carson Elementary School (Gaithersburg, Maryland)
2009 (“All the Single Ladies," includes some fun “behind the scenes” footage)
2010 (“Life’s About to Get Good”)
2011 (“Pretty Girls Rock”)

Wearing Jovani

Bill Kaulitz

Girls on YouTube

Sunday some friends and relatives stopped by for dinner (deep fried turkey with all the fixings) and to watch the NFL playoff games.

After the company left and we cleaned up, I collapsed on the couch and surfed the channels looking for something entertaining and/or trans-related. I ended up watching Boat Trip figuring it had some femulating potential. There was some drag in the film, but nothing to write home about.

With my laptop lap, I began surfing the Internet looking for any womanless pageants and male-to-female transformations that I have not seen.

There was one pageant and one transformation that were worth noting (this pageant and this transformation), but the highlight of my late night surfing was this video of a tween-aged boy being transformed into a tween-aged girl at the hands of his sister. The boy's enthusiasm is addictive and his reaction to his transformation is priceless.

I don't have a clue if he is trans. He has a couple of other transformation videos online and at the conclusion of this one, he thinks he looks pretty and "wants to stay like this."

So, you go, girl!

Wearing Dion Lee (dress), Alice & Olivia (coat) and Rachel Zoe (shoes).

Boys will be girls, girls will be boys.

Womanless Pick of the Week

Yeah. I know. You all are asking, "Where's last week's pick?"

Or, for that matter, the week before that?

Sorry.

Some weeks, the pickings are so slim that I can't pick.

And some weeks, I forget!

In either case, you can receive a full refund at the box office.

So, without further ado, this week's womanless pick of the week comes courtesy of Aunty Marlena, i.e., the 2011 edition of the People Unlimited Charities' Womanless Beauty Pageant.

By the way, People Unlimited will hold the 2012 edition of their womanless beauty pageant on Saturday, September 22 in Scottsdale, AZ.

Another by the way, in their ads for the events, People Unlimited call it a “womenless” beauty pageant, but everywhere else, they refer to it as “womanless.” Go figure!

Standards of Care for Womanless Events

Gina sent me her personal criteria for what constitutes a “good “ womanless event. I mulled over her criteria; modified it slightly and added to it.

Here is what we came up with: the Femulate Standards of Care for Womanless Events.

- No facial hair

- No visible body hair including underarm hair

 - Heels only - or at least, female dress shoes - no bare feet, flip-flops, beach sandals, or male footwear

 - Normal-sized busts and derreires – no exaggerations

- Makeup is a must, but not an outlandish or clown-like application

- Naturally colored and styled hair or wig - no wild wig colors and styles

- No coconut bras and no grass skirts

- If you need a girdle, then wear a girdle

So, girls, those are your marching orders --- get gorgeous!

Teen Pageant

Cheryl e-mailed me links to photos and videos from the 2012 Groovy Teen Pageant, which occurred at Glenvar High School in Salem, VA, on March 2.

Some of the femulations were so good that there may be a few future Miss Universe contestants in that group.

This link includes photos and videos of the pageant. 

This link has photos only. 

An aside...

When I was in school, I was unaware of womanless pageants. And even if I had the opportunity to participate in one, I think I would have been too self-conscious to do so and out myself in the process.

Which reminds me of Spanish class...

In my high school, they held an annual "Spanish Night," costume party for all the students who took Spanish. The theme of the costumes was something Spanish.

One day in class a few days before the party, my Spanish teacher asked me if I was planning on wearing a seniorita costume. I guess she picked up on my femininity and decided to tease me about it.

I had no plans to wear a seniorita costume. Instead, I dressed as a Cuban revolutionary in military fatigues, Ridgeway cap, fake beard, and cigar. My costume was a big hit.

Another boy did show up in bad seniorita drag. He was a shy, quiet kid and I sensed that he regretted his costume choice. I wonder whatever became of him/her.

Got Womanless Pageants

Two womanless pageants from the Sunshine State grace today's edition of Femulate.

Aunty Marlena sent along this pageant, "Dude Looks Like A Lady: All Male Revue 2011" from Milton High School in Milton, FL, which took place in March (photo right).

Google Alerts found this pageant, the "6th Annual Womanless Beauty Pageant," which was held for charity in St. Augustine, FL, last month.  Additonal photos may be found here.

The former had some good femulations, the latter, not so much, in my humble opinion.

Enjoy!

To Be Gorgeous

Miss Mexico

But besides the feeling of sisterhood it provides the women with, and the mentoring she is able to give to many of the contestants, Samala also believes that for many competing in the pageant, there is great appeal in being able to live out a commonly shared childhood dream. "I think in early development in life, even when they are young boys, looking at the beauty pageants, [thinking] 'I wish I could be like that, I want to look that pretty.' It's always transgenders [wanting] to be the best they can be and to look the best, to be gorgeous. Our lives are built on getting ourselves beautiful. Because that's the image that women give us and the beauty pageant is a really good platform for us."

From "Queen of the Universe 2011" by Brody Brown in today's edition of The Huffington Post

Read the entire article here.

Sharp-Dressed Men

Spring is in the air and it seems that males everywhere are donning pretty frocks to participate in womanless events, according to the many stories coming in on the mojo wire this week.

For example, Aunty Marlena revealed womanless beauty pageants in North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, and again in Texas.

Meanwhile, Miss Google mentioned womanless pageants in Connecticut, Tennessee, and yet another in Tennessee.

Clive pointed out a viral video from Thailand.

And Aunty Marlena came back with a ton of Ednas (of Hairpspray fame) popping up in Alberta, California, Georgia, Michigan, New York, Texas, Some Place, and Some Place Else.

So, put on your favorite sundress and enjoy the femulating festivities!

The Amazing Miss Engg

Wow!!!

Seems that the College of Engineering, University of Philippines-Diliman conducts an annual womanless beauty pageant competition for the title of Miss Engg.

Viewing the portraits of the 2010 pageant contestants, I am of the opinion that the Miss Engg womanless pageant has to be one of the best, if not the best womanless pageant conducted at an educational institute, whether it be grammar school, middle school, high school, or college.

The girls' femulation is so good that it took awhile before I was sure that the girls were really guys. What finally convinced me was the set of portraits of the girls in boy mode. If all I had to look at were their evening gown and swimsuit portraits, I would still need some convincing.

The portraits are absolutely gorgeous. It is obvious that a lot of time and effort went into the portraits. Whoever was involved knew their business. (I wish I could find someone around here that could do my portrait en femme like the Miss Engg portraits!)

Anyway, without further ado, visit the Miss Engg Facebook page and/or feast your eyes on the images displayed at the following links:

•  Evening gown portraits

•  Swimsuit portraits

•  Video game costume character portraits

•  Boy mode portraits

There are also some videos on the Internet that you can find by searching for “Miss Engg” on YouTube.

Again, Wow!!!

UPDATE: Here are the images from the 2007 and 2009 installments of Miss Engg pageant.

Now For Something Slighly Different

Meg of Call Me Meg fame sent me this link to a beauty pageant that included women competing as men, as well as the usual men competing as women.

The "girls" shaved their legs, painted their nails, and wore their highest heels for the January 20 event, which was a fundraiser for the Medical College of Georgia Children's Hospital.

Excellent Femulation at Womanless Beauty Review

I wish there were more photos of this "womanless beauty review" because the only available photo displays an excellent level of femulation. Anyway, this one was part of the Relay for Life event in Okolona, MS, that took place in May 2010.

Housework

I put on a frilly apron this morning and did some housework around the blog. In the process, I updated the Womanless Archive web page and My Favorite Photos web page.
While I was tidying up, I wondered what you girls would like to see here in my blog. What is missing? What would you like to see more of (or less of)? Et cetera, et cetera.
All sincere suggestions will be considered. I look forward to hearing from you!

Support the "Girls"

An e-mail from Jackie alerted me that the boys who emulated girls in a pageant at the Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill, FL, were receiving flak from some of the folks commenting on the news story about the event.

Seems that the boys put the event together as a fundraiser for the school's cheerleaders, but some "enlightened" individuals found the crossdressing inappropriate and harangued the boys with their comments.

Jackie and I agree that the boys do not deserve the negative comments. Rather, they should be congratulated for their fine work. If you would like to add some positive words to those comments, I urge you to do so here.

Boys Being Girls Again

Bill e-mailed me about womanless beauty pageants at the Travelers Rest High School in Travelers Rest, SC. You can view photos of the 2008 pageant here and the 2009 pageant here.

Bill opines that "2008 is much better than 2009" and that "pierced earrings and high heels are worn in this event."

"Some application of Nair would have improved matters," says I.

More or Less Womanless

I received an unsolicited e-mail a few days ago that invited me to visit a web site to view videos related to womanless pageants, weddings, fashion shows, etc. I checked it out and found a list of approximately 300 links to such videos. Many I had seen in the past, but some were new to me.

I was going to pass the web site along to you readers, then I discovered that there was a "catch." If I was not careful about where I pointed and clicked, the womanless video list transitioned into a pornography video list. So I abandoned the idea of passing along the web site information to you.

Instead, I Googled it myself. Doing so, I came up with 692 womanless-related videos. Like the porn site list, some I have seen in the past, but some were new to me.

You'll have to separate the wheat from the chaff yourself. Enjoy!

Womanless Beauty Pageant

Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill, FL, held a womanless beauty pageant last night.

It is the best womanless event I’ve seen in awhile. There were a lot of pretty contestants wearing beautiful outfits. In fact, the contestants were so pretty that I was not sure it was really a “womanless” contest when I viewed the first photo (above).

The pageant results appear here and a gallery of photos here.

Amazing Womanless Beauty Pageant Femulation

Aunty Marlena e-mailed me links to some Web sites documenting recent womanless beauty pageants. The best of the batch was a March 27 pageant at American Legion Wright Brothers Post 210 in Montgomery, AL.

There were a few above average femulations at that pageant; see for yourself here.

But this pageant also featured one of the best femulations I've ever seen in any womanless pageant. A tall, leggy blond named Tammy (photos above) stole the show and was crowned Miss-ter Post 210 for 2010.

Womanless Archive and More Fave Photos

In the past, a very popular topic here has been the coverage of womanless beauty pageants, fashion shows, and other public events in which "civilian males" impersonate women. ("Civilian males" are non-professional female impersonators.)

Some readers suggested compiling a list of all the womanless events mentioned in past installments of Femulate, so I created the Womanless Archive that you can access here.

Also, I added more photos to my new favorite photos web page.

News Is Good News

Murphy's Law... as soon as I deleted the Womanless News sidebar due to a lack of womanless news, I get some womanless news. So the Womanless News sidebar returns!