Uplifting Experience

By Paula Gaikowski, Femulate Contributing Editor

September is here in New England ladies… clear crisp days, and warm cozy sweaters; pull the pantyhose out of the draw, it’s time to show our true colors.

As cisgender women can easily get away with bare shoulders and sleeveless tops this ol’ gal thrives on fall and winter fashions that allows for foundation garments and pantyhose to cover the effects of testosterone poisoning.

Awhile back Stana and I had a discussion about using tape to pull back your eyelids to give a more youthful and feminine appearance. I have tried a number of methods over the years and have come up with a simple and effective method to arch ones eyebrows and lessen wrinkles.

Drag performers have used variations of this over the years, however, their techniques are usually more complex and intricate. I’ve come up with a quick and easy process that is incorporated into my makeup routine and adds only a minute or two to the process. And it is comfortable and holds for hours.


You can see the difference in the accompanying photo where one side is tape free and the other side is taped and my eye is wide open.

The first step and key was finding a tape that held in place for several hours and doesn’t damage the skin. After years of research by Femulate’s team of scientists (well actually just me), I have found Nexcare works great and you can buy it at any leading drug store. DO NOT tape unless you use Nexcare because other brands will not hold and you will be disappointed.

Next, wash your face well; remove all oil and lotion from your forehead. Finding where exactly to put the tape will take a little work. Arch your eyebrows and hold them in place with your fingertips and find the attachment point where the tape will work best (you may have to experiment to find the best point).

Cut four 3 to 4 inch pieces of tape. Put one on the sweet spot, arch your brow and tape it back. As you hold that arch, use a second piece of tape to run alongside the first tape to help anchor in place. Refer to the photo below. Repeat this for the other brow and there it is!

Now complete the transformation into your true self and then go forward and experience one of the most wonderful gifts there is: embracing the world as a woman.

The left image represents how the tape actually appears. The right image was manipulated so you can clearly see how Paula positioned the tapes.

Wearing Boston Proper.

Winner of a Relay for Life womanless beauty pageant.

New Shoes: The Rest of the Story

The remainder of my shoe order from Payless arrived and they are all keepers, that is, they fit and don’t hurt.

Layla Front-Zip Heel

"Elevate your style with the Layla from Fioni! It features a glitter mesh upper, zipper up the vamp, peep toe, pearlized lining, padded footbed, 4-inch heel with a 1/2-inch platform, and a sturdy outsole."

When this pair arrived, I eyeballed the heel and thought it looked higher than 4 inches. So I  measured it and it is almost 5 inches high. The glitter is so subtle that I would not hesitate to wear these shoes out anywhere... except on the cobblestone streets of Provincetown. I paid $27.99 for these beauties on sale versus the regular price of $39.99.

Sinclair High Wedge

"Easily dressed up or dressed down, the Sinclair espadrille from American Eagle features a faux suede upper, ankle sling with adjustable strap, faux leather lining and padded footbed, woven 4-inch wedge with 1-inch platform, and a durable outsole."

This is a shoe I probably won't wear much until next spring, but at $12 a pair, I bought a pair now (in red) before they disappeared in my size.

Mink Medallion Wedge

"The Mink Wedge from Fioni can take you from work to weekend in no time flat! It features a pretty round toe with shiny medallion, 3-inch wrapped wedge, jersey lining, padded insole, and rubber outsole."

I chased this shoe for months, but it was always sold out in my size online and in the store. Then surprise, it was suddenly available this week in my size online and at an incredible clearance price of only $10. I bought a pair in black patent.

One problem that occurred when my new shoes arrived is where to store them. My closet space is overflowing, so I guess it's time to go through my shoe collection and eliminate the seldom worn footwear.

Wearing Boston Proper (I love the necklace!)

Gene Wilder femulates in the 1982 film Hanky Panky.

Don't sweat the small stuff!

Jared Leto femulates in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club.

The transgender community is up in arms again because a cisgender male actor is playing a transgender woman in some new film. “Why wasn’t a transgender actress selected to play the role?” they demand ask.

They don’t call it “acting” for nothing. I say choose the best person for the job.

Can you imagine if the trans community’s argument was used across the board?

- Hire a royal to portray King George VI in the The King's Speech.

- Hire a general to portray General Patton in Patton.

- Hire a psychopath to portray Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

Ridiculous!

Did gays get where they are today by complaining when straights portrayed gays in films?

It is trivial stuff like this that makes us look childish and just gives the “normals” another excuse to keep us down.

Wearing A.L.C.

Kim August and Rod Steiger femulate in the 1968 film No Way to Treat a Lady.

Fashion for Old Ladies (Like Me)

I am an old lady (65 years old and counting).

When I was a teenager in the 1960s, my grandmothers were about my age today. They dressed like peers their age. As I recall, here were the key items of their wardrobe:

- Ankle-length, flowing dresses that left everything to the imagination, usually in a dark color or a floral pattern.

- Black sensible laced shoes with short, thick heels.

- Black sensible bags.

- Hats festooned with flowers.

- Little or no makeup or jewelry.

- No pants. I never saw my grandmothers wear pants. I doubt if they owned a pair.

Fifty years later and I am old enough to be a grandmother, but I dress nothing like my grandmothers (does anyone?). If anything, I dress like my mother when she was in her 40s and 50s. But sometimes I wonder if I should dress more like the old lady I am rather than a middle-aged woman.

After reading Rhonda's post "Feminine Differential - Body Image," I am convinced I am good.

Rhonda's post is a good read and I urge you to see it for yourself. In it, she refers to a recent post about body image from a blog called Haute Business Fashion and Finance written by that blog's author, Helen.

After perusing Helen's post, I added her blog to my Blog List for future reference. Helen is about 10 years younger than I, but we have some things in common... wouldn't you say?

Helen and I

Wearing Veronica Beard blazer.

The beautiful Terence Stamp femulating for the 1994 Australian film
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Cures for Gender Dysphoria

By Susan King, Transitioning into Tomorrow

Five things I do when my gender dysphoria kicks in and I am locked in the closet.

1. Take some time to pamper myself like take a bubble bath, shave my body hair, watch TV while giving myself a manicure

2. Create a pretty outfit on Polyvore.

3. Build a nice board on Pinterest.

4. Read a book. I am currently reading books with transgender or woman lead characters. I love SF books, so I am trying authors of SF books with female leads. I have tried fiction books with a transgender theme. But I have not found the right author.

5. Snuggle under a nice soft blanket and watch a comedy with a female lead. I get some popcorn and a diet soda (water now) and enjoy.

These five things do not always work. But I will  try one of them when I am stuck in the closet.

How do you handle your gender dysphoria?

Wearing Trina Turk.

Wanda Zambella, mid-20th Century professional femulator

New Shoes

I had some gift cards from Payless and recently visited the local Payless store to use them. Lately, the local stores do not have much in my size for women, so I bought two pairs of men's footwear and still had a balance left on the gift cards.

Going to Fantasia Fair in October, I decided I wanted some new shoes for the trip, so I used my gift card balance online where the inventory in women's footwear in my size is much more plentiful. I bought four pairs (most on sale or clearance) and only had to add $20 out-of-pocket to cover the amount the gift card balance did not. And I spent enough to qualify for free shipping. (By the way, shipping is always free no matter how much you spend if you have the order delivered to a local Payless store.)

The mailman delivered the first pair yesterday. They fit perfectly, were comfortable throughout the time I wore them and looked very attractive. The shoe is called "Eleanor Wedge" and this is its description:

Update your classic ballet flat with this stylish wedge! It features a round toe, pleated details with buckle accent, jersey lining, breathable insole, 2" wedge, and sturdy outsole. The soft footbed boasts a two layer insole. Memory foam, like pillows provided in five-star hotels, absorbs shock, shapes and holds perfectly to cradle the foot for lasting comfort. Latex foam has a premier bouncing nature which provides cushion and a feeling of protection with every step. Manmade materials.

I paid $16 for the pair.

I have been buying more and more wedges lately. I find that they are usually more comfortable than flats and heels... not that I am giving up on flats and heels, but they are very comfortable without looking like they should be!

Wearing Just Fab.

Graham Weaver, Richard Grieve and Jason Donovan
on the London stage in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset

All day and all of the night, I get e-mails from Google Alerts, which monitors "the web for interesting new content" on topics I want to know about.

About 95% of the alerts I receive are on the topic "transgender." Each e-mail alert typically contains one to a half dozen new web content about "transgender." I typically receive one transgender alert every hour or so, therefore, on an average day, I may receive 24 to 144 new transgender web contents.

It didn't used to be that way.

Two or three years ago, there were only a handful of transgender alerts each day. That was before Caitlyn and before the right wing and/or "Christian" bathroom fetishists went apeshit about transpeople peeing in the same pots where they pee.

Everyday I read stories about some judge or attorney general ruling against laws and policies that favor transpeople or politicians advocating the same. And then there are the religious folks who preach against us never taking under consideration what Jesus would do.

I am very tired of reading bad news that makes me sad and upset. Even the good news make me sad because often it is only temporary and will soon be short-circuited by the haters.

When will it end?

(Stop the world, I want to get off.)

Wearing Madeleine.

Falete femulates Sara Montiel on Spain's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Progress

On Thursday, Harper's Bazaar magazine sent me an e-mail asking me to take a survey. If I took the survey, I would be entered into a contest to win a major award, so I agreed.

The first question was "Do you most identify as... Female or Male?"

Wow!

Wearing ModCloth.

Brent Johnson and Jonathan McNeal are members of The Rubi Girls,
Dayton, Ohio's comedic drag troupe.

Curious X 3

Billy Kennedy (right) in BBC One's adaptation of The Boy in the Dress.

1

David Walliams authored a popular kids' book titled The Boy in the Dress.

And World Book Day is an annual event intended to encourage reading.

Schools around the world celebrate the day and some of these celebrations include encouraging students to attend school on that day costumed as their favorite book character. And some boys show up dressed as the crossdressing Dennis from Walliams' book. (I'd prefer to go as Trudy from Coffee, Tea or Me?, but that's me.)

Anyway, I was curious how popular was dressing as Dennis for World Book Day, so I searched the Internet and found over 60 photos of schoolboys dressed as Dennis en femme. I was also surprised to find a few photos of male teachers also dressed as Dennis en femme.

2

My curiosity about how I got this way has never waned, although I am less concerned about it in my old age because I don't think I will ever know for sure. But I still find information on the topic interesting and so I found another reference to the finger-length indicator that I've discussed here in the past.

So it goes that if your ring and index fingers are approximately equal in length, you are female and if your ring finger is longer than your index finger, you are male.

I was born with male plumbing, but my ring and index fingers are equal in length indicating that I am female. No surprise there!

Anyway, Christen's blog, The Woman Within, has a fascinating article on the topic, as well as other posts of interest. So go there!

3

And this was kind of curious... this blog gets at least 5,000 hits ("pageviews") per day. Sometimes more, but always at least 5,000 hits each day.

On Monday, the blog had 10,548 hits!

Why? I don't know. There wasn't even a new post on Monday, so go figure!

Wearing Nine West.

Vanessa Williams and her femulating brother Chris
in a 2010 episode of television's Ugly Betty.

I Go

I asked, "Should I stay or should I go?"

Your overwhelming response was that I should go.

So, thanks to your encouragement, I decided to go to Fantasia Fair.

I just made reservations at my favorite B&B and will be landing in Provincetown on Monday, October 17, and departing, Saturday, October 22.

I hope I will see some of you in P-Town in two months!

Wearing Michelle Mason.

All male cast of As You Like It, University of Maine, 1907