Johanna's Favorite Photos (of Johanna!)

Hi Stana,

I just want to write some words to you and attach my favorite pics in line with your invitation. I don't want to write my life history more than I have just come out to my daughters and that feels so good. Now is it just the courage to spend more time out in public. It will come.

Hugs,

Johanna


In response to my open invitation to send your favorite photo along with the story behind it and the reason it is your favorite photo, I received a lot of photos and stories that I am posting in the the order I received them. My invitation still stands, so don't be shy, send me your fave foto!

Wearing Jones New York.

Actor Anthony Berry in a 2007 episode of British television's Coronation Street.

Did this ever happen to you?

From the January 28, 2015 issue of The New Yorker. 

Wearing ABS by Allen Schwartz.

Model Alex Wetter

My Favorite Things

Smoothing the back of my skirt as I sit down.

Pencil skirts.

Crossing my legs and dangling a high heel pump on the tip of my stockinged foot.

Carrying a purse.

Taking my compact out of my purse to touch up my makeup.

Wearing high heels.

The clicking of my high heels as I walk.

Being called "Ma'am."

Even better... being called "Miss."

Wrap dresses.

When a complete stranger stops to say, "I like your dress!" or something else I am wearing.

Shopping at a clothing store that starts a dressing room for me and displays my name on the dressing room door.

Shopping.

When a man holds the door open for me.

Dangly earrings.

Wearing lipstick.

Admiring glances.

My shaved legs.

Wearing a scarf.

Realizing that while I am presenting as a woman, it comes so naturally that I don’t have to think about it.

Wearing Sofia Casmere.

Actor Matthew Martin in the San Francisco stage
production of Moby Dick! The Musical (2008).

Girl-Time in Kindergarten

I attended a public co-ed grammar school starting in kindergarten in the fall of 1956. My kindergarten class had two female teachers ― one middle-aged and one twenty-something.

For play time, the class of about 30 students was divided into five unisex groups. Each group took turns each day playing in different play areas: sandbox, toy blocks, art, play house, etc.

When it was my group's turn to play house, us boys played at being mommies, never daddies.

Some the male mommies donned frilly aprons and "cooked" in the play kitchen, while other male mommies tended to the babies ― bottle-feeding Betsy Wetsy dolls and changing their diapers after they wet. When Betsy was dry, male mommies could push their babies around the classroom in doll carriages.

In addition to the frilly aprons, there was a toy box containing pocketbooks, high heels, lady’s hats and adult-sized dresses. There were not enough items to completely outfit each mommy, so we would select just an item or two for our femulations. (I usually tried to get a pocketbook and a pair of heels.)

None of the male mommies, at least in my group, rebelled at being feminized and some of us really got into it by affecting “female” characteristics, such as speaking in a higher pitch and using female mannerisms.

Initially, I felt embarrassed playing a mommy, but it did not seem to bother the other boys, so I played along like a girl with the rest of the boys. 

And so it goes.

 

Wearing J.O.A.

 

 

 

Kosima, an early 20th Century professional femulator.

Dogs

I was a late bloomer when it came to dogs.

My mother had a dog when she was single, but she would not let her daughters have dogs, so I never experienced the joys of a dog's companionship as a child. However, I made up for it as an adult, first with my daughters' dearly departed dog and now with my own dog.

It is interesting how the dogs get/got along with me en femme.

My daughter's dog was my best buddy and acted the same with me no matter how I was dressed. I figure that he did not notice the difference or did not care.

My own dog notices the difference.

Whereas she is my best friend when I am in boy mode, she will have nothing to do with me in girl mode.

Most of the time, she is my shadow and follows me wherever I go. For example, she lays on the bed watching me when I get dressed in the morning or when I change clothes after work. If I dress in boy mode, she sticks around and waits for me to finish, however, if I dress in girl mode, she gets out of Dodge as soon as she senses that I am dressing pretty.

She is very intelligent and I figure that when she realizes I am dressing in girl mode, she knows I am going out without her, so she looks for someone else for companionship.

On the other hand, our cats do not give a damn!

 

 

 

Wearing French Connection.

 

 

 

Early 20th Century professional femulator Fritz Maxfeld.

Uncovered

 

 

 

 

Wearing Madeleine.

 

 

 

Singer Alex Velea performing on Romanian television’s
Te Cunosc De Undeva! (Your Face Sounds Familiar).

Zoé’s Favorite Photo (of Zoé!)

So, Stana, I send you this photo. I chose the photo because of the flowers, which make it one of my favorites. And it reminds me of a very nice sunny day too :-) I do like flowers, but for some reasons, I have very few photos like this one. Once again, thanks a lot for your website. I really enjoy it a lot...... Best regards from Paris, Zoé In response to my open invitation to send your favorite photo along with the story behind it and the reason it is your favorite photo, I received a lot of photos and stories that I am posting in the the order I received them. My invitation still stands, so don't be shy, send me your fave foto!

 

 

 

Wearing La Redoute.

 

 

 

Actor Trent Dawson femulates on television’s As the World Turns (2009).

Maria’s Favorite Photo (of Maria!)

Please find attached my favorite femulation picture of myself. It was taken when I attended the Sparkle event held in Manchester, England in 2009.

It was the first time that I had been out dressed in public. And I was accepted for how I presented. I was accepted as a woman.

Regards,

Maria Ski

In response to my open invitation to send your favorite photo along with the story behind it and the reason it is your favorite photo, I received a lot of photos and stories that I am posting in the the order I received them. My invitation still stands, so don't be shy, send me your fave foto!

 

 

 

Wearing Diane von Furstenberg.

 

 

 

Michael Strahan femulates Oprah Winfrey on television’s Live! With Kelly and Michael.

Femulating in USA’s Queerest City

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that every May I drive to Dayton, Ohio to attend Hamvention, the biggest ham radio convention in the world. And I do the whole trip en femme. My female presentation on these trips has never been an issue. Turns out that The Advocate has just named Dayton as the queerest city in the USA  (among cities with populations of 100,000 or more). Maybe that has something to do with my successful female presentation there ― maybe not. When I attend Hamvention, I spend most of my time mingling with hams, rather than the local population. Those hams come from all over the world, not just the queerest city in the USA, yet I have never had a problem. So go figure!

Dayton 2009

 

 

 

Wearing Carven (dress) and Aquazzura (shoes).

 

 

 

Artur Chamski femulates Małgorzata Walewska on Polish television’s
Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo (Your Face Sounds Familiar).

“Crossdressing Successfully in the Real World”

I will be presenting "Crossdressing Successfully in the Real World" at two venues this spring. The first will be at True Colors Conference at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut on Friday, March 20. The second will be at Transgender Lives Conference at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut on Saturday, April 25. Miss Jan Brown will be co-presenting with me at that venue. I have presented at the first conference five times; the second conference will be a new venue for me. True Colors Conference is intended for GLBT youth and their supporters, so the majority its presentations and workshops are not trans-related (and are more youth-oriented). Whereas Transgender Lives Conference is more adult-oriented and most, if not all of its presentations and workshops are trans-related.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A crossdressed baseball game in 1951