Yesterday, I went to the doctor. She thinks I broke my toe back in April and it did not heal correctly.
Today, I went to the out-patient lab of the local hospital to get X-rays of my toe. I also had bloodwork done, in case something else more dastardly is causing my toe problem.
If the doctor's prognosis is correct, I will go to a podiatrist, who may have to break my toe to fix it right.
Ouch!
I'm very curious at the the distinction between "femulate" and "crossdress" or any other permutation of gender dysphoria.
Miss Gina
Hi Gina,
When I started my blog back in February 2007, I needed a name for it and created the word "femulate" out of thin air. I defined "femulate" as "to imitate, copy, or try to be like a female."
"Femulate" fine tunes the term "crossdress." Whereas "crossdress" refers to anyone who dons clothing not normally associated with their birth gender, "femulate" refers to those of us who go out in public and make a great effort to look, move, speak, and act as a female, with the ultimate goal of passing or at least being tolerated because we are trying our best to emulate females, not be female characatures.
Best Wishes,
Stana
Need advice concerning femulation, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is stana-stana at sbcglobal.net.
New Femulate-related items on the Internet this morning:
A first person account, "Goodbye Husband, Hello Wife," in the Boston Globe, written by a woman whose marriage survived her husband's transition.
Experience Project recounts, "I want to femulate you or be femulated" stories.
The trailer for the new German "Tootsie" film, Rubbeldiekatz, submitted by Anonymous (screen capture above).
Just downloaded Fountains of Wayne's new album Sky Full of Holes from eMusic and I'm groovin' to the tunes, man!
I began reading Mad in 1960; issue number 55 to be exact. I quickly became a "Mad Addict" and received an education from "The Usual Gang of Idiots" that produced the magazine.
Once in a great while, Mad contained a transgender reference (their earliest transgender references actually predated the invention of the word "transgender" --- Hoo-Hah!).
As a budding boy/girl back then, I noticed every trans reference that appeared in my favorite magazine and filed each one away in the back of my mind.
For your amusement, I will dredge up these instances from my memory and present them here on occasion. This is the first occasion.
This week, "Spy Vs. Spy" by Antonio Prohias celebrated its 50th anniversary appearing in Mad magazine, so it is appropriate that our Mad Femulation is an early "Spy Vs. Spy" from April 1961, Mad issue #62 ("Spy Vs. Spy" debuted in issue #60).
(Click on the image for a bigger laugh!)
In May 2008, I wrote about actor Christopher Morley, "who femulated in films, television shows, and even the pages of Playboy during the last half of the last century. Morley passed and definitely was not a guy in a dress like some of the femulators you see in films and on television. He was thin, pretty, and had one of the best femulated voices I have ever heard."
In a follow-up blog post, we wondered what had become of Christopher Morley. I researched the matter and could not find anything recent; Morley's last known appearance (according to IMDB) was on an episode of the TV series Roseanne in December 1995."
On Tuesday, out of the blue, I received an e-mail from Christopher Morley!
He wrote how he had never heard of the expression "femulate" before and that he loved it adding that femulate was "so much more accurate than 'female impersonator,'" which he never cared for and "drag queen," which he loathed.
He also e-mailed me his publicity photo (above) from the 1980s when he was a celebrity illusionist at the at the La Cage aux Follies supper club in Los Angeles.
Needless to say, I was flabbergasted to receive an e-mail from a celebrity, especially one who inspired me to femulate and actualize the woman I am today.
Sissy e-mailed me about a website featuring "incredible makeovers and photo shoots."
I clicked over to the link that Sissy sent and found a webpage displaying a slideshow of photos of gorgeous women. The language on the page was Dutch, so I was clueless and my first thought was that the page was featuring female makeovers.
But as I viewed the slideshow, I noticed some of the slides included small monochrome photos of males labeled "Voor:" Did "voor" mean "before" as in "before and after"?
Then I noticed a British flag icon; clicking on it translated the page into English and, voila!, it revealed I was viewing the "Man becomes woman photo shoot."
Wow! I've seen similar websites before, but this was one of the better ones. The makeup artist and photographer do an excellent job.
Only two problems: their studio, Holland Fotostudio, is in The Netherlands (in a suburb of Rotterdam) and their basic makeover and photo shoot costs $566 (in US dollars). Wow!
But, it does not cost anything to look, so here is the link to the website.
I dunno about you, but I have made some of these mistakes and maybe you have done so, too Read all about what to avoid here on DailyMakeover.
I fell to my knees when I stepped into a pothole back in April. One knee was bloodied, bruised, and hurt climbing stairs for weeks afterwords, but it has finally mended and no longer pains me.
I also stubbed the fourth toe on my left foot during the fall. It did not bother me much until I spent a weekend in June standing on a ladder while hanging gutters at my house. It hurt like heck after standing on the ladder and it has been bothering me off and on ever since.
I can go days without it bothering me, which tricked me into thinking that it was mending. Then I do something that sets it off and I am back to square one.
The "something" that seems to set it off is driving my car, which has a standard transmission. Frequent clutching brings on the pain.
It flared up again Saturday after driving around town running errands half the day, so I finally decided to seek medical advice and will make an appointment today with a doctor.
My toe problem has put the kabosh on wearing high heels and even flats. I have been going barefoot whenever I can and if I have to resort to footwear, I have been wearing sneakers.
And so it goes!
Another interesting article on the subject just popped up, this time from EDGE Boston, and I am happy to refer it to you, too.
The EDGE article reiterates some of the points of the previous articles, but also includes a revealing interview with Alex K Su’a, the president of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association.
"This high-concept comedy centers on two unrepentant guy's guys who, unable to find work, dress as women to get jobs as pharmaceutical reps. Not only do they pull it off, but they might just learn to be better men in the process.
"With unemployment an ongoing issue and women now outnumbering men in the workforce, the new comedy series 'Work It' follows two alpha males who realize the only way to beat the current 'mancession' and land a job in pharmaceutical sales is to pass themselves off as women. Combining all the best elements of the workplace comedy, the buddy comedy and the family comedy, Work It centers on Lee Standish (Ben Koldyke) -- a quick-witted and likable family man who used to be a top car salesman until he got laid off -- and Angel Ortiz (Amaury Nolasco) -- a single, hot-headed ladies' man with no filter -- who quickly learn there are fundamental differences in the worlds of men and women that go beyond teetering in high heels and tightening up with Spanx. Lee and Angel are determined to keep their ruse going for as long as they can -- and keep their newly found jobs — in this smart, funny and relevant look at male and female relationships at work, at home and socially. Being a better man sometimes means having to be a better woman."
I dunno.
Looks like another inane sitcom that normally I would never watch, but I will probably watch an episode or two because of the femulation angle.
There are a couple of comments from trans-folks on the ABC Work It website that are highly critical of the show claiming that it is disrespectful to transgenders.
The show has not aired yet, so those comments may be presumptive. but maybe not. We'll see.
There is a lot of truth in today’s cartoon. It’s not easy being a woman, as explained in this blog post at FashAddix.com.
On the other hand…
“We never said we don’t enjoy being one. In the words of Marilyn Monroe, ‘I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.’ Easier said than done sister! But we concur.”
This is Max.
See how Max is knocking down the "wall dividing male and female fashions" at The New Male Fashion for the Alternative Man.
Last night, I watched The Guru, a 2002 comedy about a young Indian, "Ramu Gupta," who comes to the US to become a singer and actor. I had never heard of the film before, but it starred some actors that I like (Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Michael McKean, Christina Baranski), so I gave it a chance. It exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed it.
Naturally, the first acting job that Ramu gets is in a porn film. While "Peaches," the makeup girl prepares Ramu for his first take, there was a little something in Peaches' voice that caused my trans-radar kick in.
Turns out that Peaches was a trans character. How trans was never clear. She seemed to be full-time. although one of her co-workers revealed to another character that she was a "guy."
Peaches emulation was excellent; the photos accompanying this post do not do her femulation justice. Her looks, mannerisms, and voice were spot-on.
I looked her up on IMDB and found that Dwight Ewell portrayed Peaches.
Now where had I heard that name before? IMDB reminded me that Ewell appeared in one of my favorite Kevin Smith films, Chasing Amy, where he played a comic book artist who, in a memorable monologue, skewers the Star Wars trilogy as being racist.
Ewell also appeared in Stonewall, playing "Helen Wheels." I've never seen that film, so I cannot write about his femulation in that one, but I highly recommend The Guru, where his femulation is top-notch in a film that is entertaining to boot.
This morning, the director of Human Resources IM'd me. She has never IM'd me before, so I was very surprised when her IM popped up on my computer desktop.
She informed me that she had received authorization to add "gender identity" to the company's HR policies, specifically with regards to their discrimination in hiring and anti-harassment policies.
She thanked me for bringing up the matter and I thanked her for doing something about it so soon since Connecticut's gender identity anti-discrimination law does not go into effect until October 1.
 |
| Kathryn Bigelow: A Peer |
What do celebrities Kirstie Alley, Jane Seymour, Kathryn Bigelow, Lynda Carter, Angelica Huston, Cheryl Ladd, Debra Jo Rupp, Pam Dawber, Karen Allen, Patricia Wettig, Patricia Robinson, and Didi Conn have in common?
They were all born in 1951, so they will all be 60 years old by the end of this year, just like me.
***
Cool cats occasionally scold me that I dress too young. My hair is too long, my skirts too short, my heels too high and my makeup too too for a 60-year-old woman. They whine that I should "dress my age!"
OK --- so how do I dress my age?
I know how my grandmothers dressed when they were in their 60s (back in the 1960s coincidentally), but no one of any age dresses like that today.
Looking around to see how my peers dress does not work because I am bad at guessing peoples' ages, so I am never sure who are my peers age-wise.
So I resorted to the Internet.
I searched "women born 1951" and Google came back with IMDB's list of the "Most Popular People Born in 1951." After checking to see if I made the list (I did not), I checked to see who did.
I culled the females from the top 50 in the list and searched the Internet for any of their photos taken during the past 12 months and I found recent photos of the 12 females mentioned above. (By the way, four of the twelve also appear on my Famous Females of Height List: 5'8" Kirstie Alley, 5'9" Lynda Carter, 5'10" Angelica Huston and 6' Kathryn Bigelow.)
First I looked at the hair. None of the 12 had hairdos shorter than mine. Two wore pageboys similar in length to my wig du jour and ten wore shoulder-length or longer hairdos. Therefore, based on my 12 peers, my hair is too short for a 60-year-old woman!
Next I looked at the shoes. All 12 wore heels of various heights. Hard to be exact, but I estimate that the average heel height was in the 3 to 4 inch range. (Hands down, the tallest female, Kathryn Bigelow, wore the highest heels.) So I conclude that my choice in footwear, that is, heels in the 2 to 5 inch range fit right in with my peers.
To determine how much makeup a person wears, you need a photo of that person without makeup to compare it with a photo of that person with makeup. I had no photos without makeup, so determining how much makeup my peers wear was difficult.
Nearly all of them wear eye makeup, probably no more or less than I do. Nearly all also wear lip color, but here is where I need to make an adjustment. No dark reds if I want my lip coloring to match my peers. A more natural lip color should be my goal.
I knew going in that skirt length might be my downfall and I was correct. Most of the hemlines were in the neighborhood of the knee, either at the knee or slightly above or below the knee. None of the 12 wore a thigh-high hemline like I often find myself wearing.
In conclusion, all I have to do is wear a natural lip color and lower my hemlines, then I will be dressing my age. On the other hand, life is too short, so maybe I will wear whatever I damn well please!
This just in from the The New Male Fashion for the Alternative Man blog, Andrej Pejic modeling Apropos womenswear for the fall.
For more, go here.
It was a wee bit too warm to walk the full distance during lunch today, so I had some time to finish updating, revising, and annotating the Famous Females of Height List.
If I missed anything, especially regarding the annotations, please let me know.
Before I could respond to her invitation, I woke up.
***
I have not talked about my dreams in awhile. If you recall, I seldom remembered my dreams, but the ones I did remember were always trans-related.
That has changed.
I read how-to articles about improving one’s ability to remember dreams. As a result, most mornings I now know what I dreamed about the night before.
What is interesting is that I no longer have dreams in which I crossdress, rather my dream themes are random everyday occurrences that anyone may encounter. The only difference is that I am now a woman full-time in my dreams experiencing those random everyday occurrences.
How I became a woman is never given a thought; I am fully accepted as a woman in my dream world.
Sigh.
There were 313 votes; 91 Yes votes and 222 No votes (29% and 70%, respectively).
I was surprised at the results; I expected fewer Yes votes. Less than one-third of the respondents said they attended a religious service en femme, but I expected maybe 10% because the trans crowds I hang out with don't talk much about the subject. There are a few exceptions, but the vast majority are mum on the topic and that silent majority was the cause of my low expectations.
So begins Gala Darling's great article from The Huffington Post. I highly recommend this article to all of you who are serious about femulating, especially if you are taking your femulations out to the streets.
Being a fashionista for a number of decades (that I prefer not to count), I found that I already follow some of Ms. Darling's suggestions. For example, I always take photos of my outfits, as she recommends, "Then take a series of pictures: front, back & side are most helpful when it comes to assessing how you look. (So few of us know what we look like from the back! This can be a total revelation, if a bit horrifying the first couple of times!)"
I do take photos, but I never thought to take photos from the "back & side," which makes perfect sense. After all, other people are just as likely to see me (and you) from the side or back as they are from the front.
Again, I highly recommend reading Ms. Darling's article, which is posted here.
I am still annotating the Famous Females of Height List. I completed all but the 5'10 and 5'11" sub-lists.
The majority of the annotations are like those below, that is, name, profession, and name of film or television show if they're an actress. Some of the annotations are longer and those usually refer to the famous female's connection with femulation. (If I missed any, please let me know.)
In the meantime, I have some additions to the list including a pair of tennis players, a trio of actresses, and a bevy of fashion models from the past.
I don't know how I missed the models; I was infatuated with Suzy Parker and one of my school roommates was infatuated with Cheryl Tiegs. So infatuated that we both obtained autographed photos of our infatuations; my roommate, by sending a fan mail to Ms. Tiegs and I, by purchasing an autographed photo of Ms. Parker online.
Here are the additions from the shortest to the tallest of the tall:
5'8" – Marisa Berenson – model
5'8" – Chelsea Noble – actress – television, Seinfeld ("The English Patient")
5'9" – Rosamund Pike – actress – film, Barney's Version
5'10" – Suzy Parker – (photo above) model, actress – film, Kiss Them for Me, television, Twilight Zone ("Number 12 Looks Just Like You"); Parker was the first "supermodel" according to various pundits.
5'10" – Jean Shrimpton – model
5'10" – Cheryl Tiegs – model
5'10" – Wilhelmina – model
5'11 – Victoria Azarenka – tennis player from Belarus
5'11 – Petra Kvitova – tennis player from Czech Republic
6'1" – Veruschka – model
One more thing: I believe one of you e-mailed me about the two tennis players listed above, but I cannot find that e-mail now, so I don't know who to thank as their source. Thank you nevertheless.
Japanese fashion model, game presenter, and cosplayer, Kayo Sato (a.k.a. Kayo Police), revealed her true gender... she is really a male.
"Kayo says that she is all natural, so she didn’t get plastic surgery to look like she does, and she owes much of her success to her talent in applying make-up."
You can read all about it at Tokyohive.
Wow!
(Thank you, Jones, for the news about Miss Kayo.)
I found this 1918 reproduction of a print on eBay. Its description does not indicate its original source. I am guessing it is from a newspaper or magazine.
The upper caption reads, "This is no other than A. W. Peters, American jackie* impersonator, as he appears when working for Uncle Sam."
The lower caption reads, "But here he is gowned and powdered to amuse the boys when duty is less pressing than pleasure."
I was never in the military, so I am clueless about military life.
Were female impersonators common in the military?
Did the military encourage female impersonation to "to amuse the boys when duty is less pressing than pleasure?"
This is just one example of crossdressing in uniform. I have hundreds of others and I always wondered what the heck was going on!
* I looked up "jackie" and found only one definition (in the Urban Dictionary) that made sense. It refers to a "beautiful girl."
One of the primary goals for writing this blog is to encourage my trans sisters to get out of the closet and go out in public amongst the other beautiful women who populate our world.
I occasionally receive e-mails from my trans sisters that my efforts are having some success. Over the weekend, I received the following story that I want to share with you.
Stana it's been about a year since the last time I e-mailed you. I have been so impressed with the way you handle yourself in public, I decided to take a chance.
My wife left for a two-week stay with her sister.
One of our close friends, a very beautiful women and very close friend of my wife, started talking on the phone the night my wife flew out. One conversation led to another and before you know it, we were talking about how comfortable I was to talk to almost like girl-to-girl.
She had been drinking wine and started telling me her fantasy about me. She has always admired my sexy shapely legs and wanted to see them clad in seamed stockings and stiletto heels, leather skirt, lace top. She stopped and said to me that she really wanted to dress me up to the nines the next evening.
She is a clothes horse and loves everything feminine. I never told her about my occasional dressing alone when my wife is gone. The interaction that took place over the next few minutes set the ground work for the next day and a Sunday afternoon of wine tasting.
Saturday morning, I shaved down completely and crossdressed under my jeans and short. The underdressing was in case my neighbors saw me leave the house.
I did my make-up, which totally surprised her when I arrived at her home. I had my clothes, shoes, and wig in the back seat of the car. Once at her house, the transformation only took an hour, exactly what she fantasized about, seamed nude stockings, black leather pencil skirt, 4-inch black pumps, gold ankle bracelet, red lace top, black belt, and black leather jacket. She did my make-up and styled my blond shoulder length wig. Revlon glue-on red nails, and eyelashes.
She was turned on and totally supportive about what we were doing. She had made reservations at a local bistro for dinner and drinks. It was absolutely amazing!! My first time out in public with a beautiful genetic woman as a well put-together crossdresser.
My God! Did we get the looks! Matter of fact, midway through the dinner, our waiter brought us wine care of a group of admiring businessmen.
She told me to dangle my shoe under the table and watch the looks we would get. Very interesting. Occasionally, I would follow her lead and take out my compact and reapply my lipstick and powder my nose. The group of businessmen that bought our wine bought our dinner. Wow --- what a night! We left at 11:30 and headed home.
She wanted to go to the vineyards on Sunday and she said she wanted to see me again as a female. Casual dress, women's blue jeans, red mock turtleneck, red 2-1/2-inch heels, pearls (hers), long blond wig (hers), and a red purse (hers), full makeup, lipstick matched my shoes and purse. Wow --- what a Sunday!
No sex, no kissing --- just two girls enjoying life.
Thanks to you Stana, I gained the courage to step into this great experience. Thanks!,
On weekends, be it Saturday or Sunday, people attend services of their chosen religion to worship their God.
Since it is Sunday and I missed Mass again, I had religious matters on my mind and thought this question would be an interesting topic for a poll: Did you ever attended a service of your religion en femme?
The poll is accessible in the right sidebar and runs until next Sunday, so vote today.
(By the way, I attended Mass en femme one time… two years ago at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.)
Old certainties about gender identity are disappearing as fast as a woman in a Maserati, writes Stephen Bayley for The Telegraph.
"Traditional determinants of gender identity in the clothes we wear and the products we use are blurring fast. When asked to tick a box on one of those annoying local authority questionnaires that demands to know whether you are male or female, I am always tempted to avoid a straightforward yes/no answer and write: 'It depends.'”
You can read the whole article here.
(Thank you Gwen for the heads-up about the article.)
Connecticut Transadvocacy Coalition (CTAC) is hosting a transgender fashion show fundraiser later this year.
I modeled in their fashion show fundraiser four years ago and when my friend Diana, who is very active in CTAC, mentioned their plans for this fall, I immediately volunteered to model again.
I don't know the show's date or location yet, but I am ready, willing, and able to strut my stuff down the catwalk on a moment's notice.
Being transgender in Samoa is a very good thing.
Read all about what the prime minister of Samoa describes as the "glorious miracles and creations of our Lord" here. (Thank you, Jo, for the story)
A related story, "Fa'afafine - Samoan boys brought up as girls," describes Hazy Pau Talauati (photo above), "a Samoan man who dresses and lives as a woman. She is a fa'afafine. Like most fa'afafine in Samoa - and there are a few in most villages - Hazy is an accepted member of the community, valued for the work she does."
UPDATE: Here is the website of S.O.F.I.A.S. - Sosaiete O Fa'afaine i Amerika Samoa, which translates to "Society of Fa'afaine in American Somoa."
I'm moving to Samoa!
The following demonstrate what happens when boys get into girls' stuff. [Thank you Aunty Marlena (AM) and Miss Google (MG) for the links!]
• Covington County, Alabama - MG
• Redfield, Arkansas: 1, 2 - AM
• Chester, Connecticut - MG
• Thomson County, Georgia - MG
• Hattiesburg, Mississippi - AM
• Auburn, New York - AM
• Nash County, North Carolina (photo right) - AM
• Rocky Mount, North Carolina - MG
• Wake County, North Carolina - AM - MG
• Union, South Carolina - MG
• Crossville, Tennessee - MG
• Livingston, Tennessee - AM
• Brookeland, Texas - MG
• Galena Park, Texas - MG
• Houston, Texas - AM
• Larue, Texas - AM
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin - AM
I took a break from the great outdoors and went indoors to eat pizza. The television was showing a 1996 Whoopi Goldberg film, The Associate.
I was half-watching the film until Whoopi sought out some fashion advice from a friend, who worked at a nightclub that looked suspiciously like a drag club. Sure enough, her friend was a drag performer. I did not recognize the dragster at the time and just looked him up on IMDB.
Turns out the drag performer was Kenny Kerr of Las Vegas fame. The scene I saw him in was about a half minute long. I don't know if he appeared in the film again because I went back outdoors after eating pizza.
These days, a day does not go by without a close encounter of the trans kind. We're everywhere!
Wednesday, I brought two pairs of shoes with me for my day out en femme. My recent acquisition (five-inch heels) from Shoedazzle and a pair of medium two-inch heel pumps that I bought at Payless (can't remember when). I was leery about driving my manual transmission Subaru in five-inch heels, so I switched to the medium heels when I drove and whenever I knew I would be walking any great distance like all around the town of Stonington.
I cannot remember the last time I wore the medium heel pumps, so I assumed they would be more comfortable than the five-inch heels. Wrong! They were equally comfortable/uncomfortable.
About an hour into the CABO meet-and-greet Wednesday evening, my feet hurt so badly that I took off my heels and went barefoot.
One of the women at the meet-and-greet noticed that I was carrying my five-inch heels instead of wearing them and we began discussing shoes. Since she wears women's shoes more often than I do, I was anxious to hear her take on the topic.
She agreed with me that it is difficult to predict which shoes will be comfortable and which will not. The most comfortable shoes I ever owned had a four-inch stiletto heel; I could wear them all day with nary a whimper from my feet, but one would assume that with a four-inch stiletto heel, they would not be comfortable.
She revealed to me that flats are just as bad as heels. Some are comfortable, some are not. For a long time, I assumed flats would be more comfortable than heels even though my personal experience with flats indicated otherwise.
She also agreed with me that those pricey silicon inserts that are intended to make your shoes more comfortable do nothing comfort-wise.
As she was admiring my shoes, I told her that I bought them from Shoedazzle. Her eyes lighted up and she told me that she was familiar with Shoedazzle, but was reluctant to join because she did not know anyone who had first-hand experience with that shoe-of-the-month club. My positive experience may move her to join, so I sent her an invitation to sign-up. If she joins, I get points and when I get enough points, I get a free pair of shoes (just what I need!).
Out en femme yesterday with my friend Diana, she drove us to the shore where we met three other friends to dine at Skipper's Dock in Stonington, which juts out into Stonington Harbor off Fishers Island Sound.
The weather was perfect and we ate outdoors on the dock. (That is the restaurant on the dock behind me in the photo in my previous post.)
After eating, three of us walked around the picturesque town window-shopping, photographing, touring (Old Lighthouse Museum) and desserting on ice cream. The photo accompanying this post is me standing by the town docks trying to pick up sailors (the last phrase of that sentence is my attempt at humor --- hahaha).
A cool antique shop with jewelry in its window attracted my attention. I went inside and I asked the friendly proprietor if she had any clip-on earrings for sale. She brought out two displays of clip-ons and I purchased a gold art deco pair that "called my name."
The proprietor also educated me about foam clip-on earring cushions. I bought a bag of cushions and she slipped a pair on my purchase, which I wore the rest of the day without any slippage, pinching, and the best part, no after-marks.
Late in the afternoon, we drove back to Diana's home where we freshened-up. Then we headed out to a meet-and-greet of the Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities (CABO), an LGBT chamber of commerce.
I had already met some of the attendees at the Transgender Health and Law Conference two months ago, but most of the two dozen were new faces. I met and chatted with the majority of them.
Diana and I were the only trans people there and we were representing the Connecticut Transadvocacy Coalition (CTAC). Actually, Diana was more representative than me, as she is a veteran transgender activist, whereas I am a volunteer doing what I can to help the cause.
By 7:30 PM, we were both tired from a long day and parted ways.
I am trying to track down a comic book that contained a story with a crossdressing theme.
The copy I had did not have a cover, so I don't know its title. It was published in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My copy was lost in the great purge of 1983. I'd like to find a copy, but without a title, the search is difficult; if you can help me out, I'd appreciate it.
The comic book had two stories. Unlike most comic books in which one story follows another consecutively, this book had two stories printed throughout the book concurrently with one story printed on the top half of the page and the second story printed on the bottom half of the page (the story I am interested in was the story on the top half of the page.)
This comic book included sex and nudity, so it was not likely found on the newsstand next to Archie, Superman and Little Audrey. I assume it was sold in porn shops.
The plot of the story (as I remember it) involves a gay spy named Jamie. Out and about one day, Jamie goes to a hair salon for a wash and set. While he is under the hair dryer, the salon proprietor begins feminization hypnosis.
After undergoing hypnosis, Jamie admits to being "a perfect size 12." Next scene, finds him dressed as a female with all the female salon operators gushing over "her." Jamie exclaims that he feels "fabulous!"
When Jamie returns to spy headquarters decked out in a short red dress, high heels, and full make-up, his superiors are not amused. But they have a solution: let some females have their way with him and that will switch him from a gay crossdresser to a heterosexual non-crossdresser.
Their plan works and the hetero Jamie seeks out whoever was responsible for feminizing him. Turns out his mother, who heads up another group of spies, was behind his feminization.
Sound familiar? Let me know.
I am going to spend the day en femme on Wednesday.
For sure, I am going to the shore to dine with friends at a seafood restaurant. And I will be doing other stuff that has yet to be definitely determined.
Needless to say, I am looking forward to tomorrow.
Surfing the Web, I found this story, an oldie, but a goodie, about a 1984 role reversal wedding in the United Kingdom.
According to Syndication International, "The wife wore the trousers yesterday at the weirdest wedding of the year. The 'blushing bride' in white satin and lace, was a MAN, and so were his pretty bridesmaids.
"The black-suited 'groom' was a WOMAN... and it was all legal. For transvestite Bruce Laker won his battle to wed live-in lover Vanda Young in Britain's first gender-bender marriage ceremony.
"Bruce wore tights with a garter and carried a posy of roses and orchids.
"The bizarre wedding took place at Newport on the Isle of Wight. Bruce, 30, and hairdresser Vanda, 34 wore just what they pleased, though the Registrar General frowned on the bad-taste marriage.
"Bruce's mother was philosophical about the whole thing. She said: 'Let's face it. I've not lost son - I've gained two daughters-in-law.'"
In a follow-up story, six years later, the "marriage that would never last" was still going strong, according to the Weekly World News.
"..it's Vanda who dons the trousers each morning as she trots off to work in a styling salon."
"And it's her gender-bending Bruce who ties a frilly apron over his housemaid's dress and spends the day tidying up their little love next on England's Isle of Wight."
Neither story disclosed what "battle" Bruce won in order to wear white at his wedding. The earlier article infers that it was a legal battle, but I don’t know for sure.
The photo is from the Weekly World News article. I take exception to the caption, "World's ugliest bridesmaids." In my opinion, the bridesmaid to Bruce’s immediate left is a knock-out.
The couple turns up again 12 years later in the 1997 book Male Femaling by Richard Elkins.
"Phaedra Kelly is the alternate personality of Bruce Laker. She is a 42-year-old married writer and transgender activist who lives with her wife and step-daughter on the Isle of Wight in a home which doubles as The Museum of International Gender Identity. From the same address she directs the International Gender Transient Affinity, the first working world-wide transgender human rights organization."
You can read the entire excerpt from Male Femaling here. And Zagria has some additional information about Phaedra on her A Gender Variance Who's Who blog.
I could not find anything newer about this ground-breaking marriage. Are Phaedra and Vanda celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary this year? I hope so.
I got a little behind. (Nothing that some padding couldn't fix.)
Seriously, I got a little behind in my correspondence this past month. I assure you that I read every e-mail I received, but due to the weather, I have not had the time to respond to each one.
Let me explain.
We had no real spring to speak of in these parts. It seems that most of the spring was an extension of this year's winter.
When spring-like weather finally arrived, I had a lot of catching up to do, including cleaning, planting, and replacing the gutters Old Man Winter tore down in February.
As a result, I was working outside until dusk almost every night for the past three weeks. Each night, I would just crash after working outside for two to three hours (after working all day at the salt-mine for eight to nine hours).
Meanwhile, the unacknowledged e-mails piled up.
I finally had some time today to catch up. When I examined my e-mail in-box today, I was surprised that some of the unacknowledged e-mails went back to the New Year!
I tried to acknowledge all the unacknowledged e-mails. If I missed yours, I apologize. And I promise to do better in the future,
Beauty and style expert, Paul Venoit, writes in The Huffington Post about the latest fashion in the beauty world, i.e., "the need for luscious, long lashes."
In his "Lashes -- Going to Extremes," Venoit describes the history of eyelash fashjion and the potential dangers of using lash growth products (like Latisse).
Last June, I wrote here about how at my "last makeover, the makeover artist mentioned that my eyelashes are blond and thin. She suggested that I try an eyelash growth stimulator to add some heft to my lashes."
Shortly thereafter, Avon introduced "an eyelash growth serum in their product line. Since I am an Avon rep, the rep discount price for the product was very attractive, so I ordered a tube."
I began using the serum religiously applying it in the morning and evening, as recommended. After two weeks, I was not thrilled with the results, but into week three and beyond, I began noticing a difference. By week five, there was a big difference.
After two or three months, my eyelashes were spectacular. Not so much without mascara (since my lashes are blond), but with mascara --- wow, what a difference. Even after I cut back to applying the serum once a day instead of twice, I still noticed improvement.
Moreover, there were no side effects, so I was a very happy girl.
In October, I had an eye exam and my eye doctor tested me for glaucoma. Turns out that I do have the early stages of glaucoma and the doctor prescribed eye drops to manage the problem.
I began using the eye drops religiously applying them every evening, as recommended.
My doctor listed the eye drops possible side effects. Bloodshot eyes was one side effect that I began to experience almost immediately; most mornings, my eyes are bloodshot, some days worse than others and some days, not at all.
Another potential side effect he listed was eyelash growth. The Avon serum was already doing that and I did not believe that my eyelashes could get any better, but a few weeks after I began using the glaucoma medication, I noticed even more improvement. My lower lashes were getting better, too!
I assume that the Avon serum is a watered-down version of some glaucoma medication. So it makes sense that since I began using a full-strength glaucoma med, my eyelashes have responded accordingly.
I still recommend the Avon serum for those of you lucky enough to not have glaucoma. It made a big difference for me, but everyone is different and your mileage may vary.
