drag competition to be aired

According to The Hollywood Reporter, MTV Networks' Logo, which targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers, has greenlighted a reality competition series starring RuPaul.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" will feature contestants competing to become "America's next superstar drag queen," with RuPaul serving as host, mentor and judge. Online voters will help pick one of the contestants at RuPaulsDragRace.com.

no go

As Robert Burns wrote, "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Work got in the way today and I won't be able to go out en femme tonight.

As Margaret Mitchell wrote, "Tomorrow is another day."

out again

I plan to go out en femme Thursday evening. First, I will dine at a local restaurant with my good friend Diana L. Then, I will attend the monthly cocktail party at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Lana Hunter

Back in August, I wrote here about how I was thinking about changing my name to "Lana Hunter."

Yesterday, out of the blue, I received the following comment concerning that blog posting:

Hi,
My real name is Lana Hunter, and I have always loved it. I was checking the internet to see if it was listed and I came up with your blog.

And so it goes!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers as well as all fathers who femulate.

Christopher Morley

One thing leads to another. My blog entry on Friday resulted in a series of comments initiated by Kathryn Cleve 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.

You can view an illustrated list of his film and television appearances on Jaye Kaye's Transgender Movie Guide. That page includes video clips so you can see for yourself how well he femulated.

(The photo on the right is from the May 1975 issue of Playboy. In that issue, Morley appeared in a series of photos in which he exchanged clothing with a woman. The photo here depicts the results of the clothing exchange.)

film femulation alerts

I discovered femulation in two films that I viewed recently.

Watched the 2006 film Gray Matters. It is the story of a woman (played by Heather Graham) who comes to the realization that she is a lesbian. Near the end of the film, her gay friend (played by Alan Cumming) takes her to her first lesbian bar. When they won't let him in because he's male, he goes home and gets into drag so he can still accompany her.

By the way, I checked out Alan Cumming on the Web and Gray Matters is not the first time he has femulated. He also appears occasionally in real life wearing kilts other skirt-like or dress-like garments. Google his image or check out his Web site to see for yourself.

I also watched the 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian. Actually, I missed the beginning of the film and began watching it when the main character (played by Anthony Hopkins) is accompanied by a trans-woman (played by Chris Williams). I don't know what their relationship is because I missed the beginning of the film and she never appears in the film again, but I now have the DVD of the film and will investigate further.

10 Time-Hallowed, Recession-Proof Tips For Beautification

This article contains great beauty tips for women and femulators alike.

uniform

This is a follow-up to yesterday's blog, specifically the second photo captioned, "Here, I was going for a late 1960's airline stewardess look with this cute vintage minidress that I won on eBay."

In case you are too young to remember, here are two photos of stewardess uniforms circa 1970.



A white minidress was part of the ensemble for stewardesses at Philippine Airlines.



Southwest Airlines stewardesses wore boots and hot pants.

By the way, for a superb Web site on topic, check out Cliff Muskiet's Stewardess/Flight Attendant Uniform Collection.

photoshoot, part 5

Yet another pair of photos from my Sunday photoshoot.



The dress is from Metrostyle and the shoes from Newport-News.



This black sequins swimsuit is from Newport-News.

photoshoot, part 4

Here are two more photos from my Sunday photoshoot.



This is an outfit I quickly threw together during the photoshoot: a stretch cami from Torrid, a short half-pleated skirt from Marshalls, and patent high heel pumps from Sexy Shoes.



Here, I was going for a late 1960's airline stewardess look with this cute vintage minidress that I won on eBay.

photoshoot, part 3

Here are more photos from my Sunday photoshoot. In these, I am modeling my "Father of the Bride" ensemble.

photoshoot, part 2

Here is another photo from my Sunday photoshoot. I am wearing the same outfit as in the previous blog posting, but I am wearing a longer wig.

Which do you like better?

photoshoot

I love digital cameras! You don't have to deal with film, so you can take photos until the cows come home. And after you milk the cows, you can take photos of the cows, too!

Today, I took 160 photos of moi en femme. Here is one in the new skirt and blouse I bought at JCPenney's on Tuesday.

film femulation (1951)

Fanfaren der Liebe (Fanfares of Love) is a 1951 German film in which "two out of work musicians put on drag to get work in an all girl band. Inevitable comical romantic complications ensue."

It sounds like Some Like It Hot, the 1959 American film in which two musicians, after witnessing a mob hit, "flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in."

(Both plot summaries come from imdb.com.)

crossdressing circa 1930

Some folks believe that crossdressing and gender identity issues are a modern phenomena. The photographic evidence alone indicates that this is not so. For example, today's photo shows a young man femulating circa 1930.

guys

I was thinking about this specific Q&A exchange at outreach on Wednesday:

…very pretty student sitting next to me said, "How do you react when guys are attracted to you?"

My answer was simple, i.e., that I never noticed any guys being attracted to me.

The student was incredulous and said, "You make such a pretty woman, so guys must be attracted to you."

I said that she might be right, but I never noticed probably because I did not want to attract guys, so I paid little attention to them.

After thinking about it, I did recall some instances when guys have been attracted to me. In each instance, the guy and I have been in vehicles; he in a car or truck and me in my car.

This makes sense because while I am in my car, it is unlikely that an observer can gauge my height. All they see is a woman's face, hairdo, and maybe hands with long painted nails grasping the steering wheel. They don't see a woman, who is 6'2" tall, so my height does not give away my birth gender while I am in my car.

On the other hand, I may look like a woman walking out and about, but my size will clue in many observers that I may not be what I seem.

Guys see me in a car and assume I am a woman, so they check me out at traffic lights or when they pass me by on the highways. On more than one occasion, I have noticed a guy in a vehicle ahead of me checking me out in his rear view mirror, and a few times, after initially spotting me in his rear view, the guy drives very slowly… to do what? Check me out some more, see if I will react, see if I will wave him over so we can get to know each other better… I dunno.

One time, I was the first car at a traffic light around 10 PM on a Saturday night. A guy solo in a vehicle approached from the crossroad on my right and made a left hand turn onto the street I was on. As his car crossed in front of me, our eyes met and he must have thought it was love at first sight because he immediately made a U-turn and pulled up next to me in the empty lane on my driver's side.

I could see him out of the corner of my eye waiting for me to respond, but I ignored him and prayed he did not follow me when the light turned green. He did not and I breathed a sign of relief.

the "Big T"

June 7, five weeks from this Saturday, the first New England Transgender Pride March and Rally will be held in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Northampton is an hour plus drive from Femulate Central and I plan to spend June 7 there rallying with my T-sisters and brothers from the six New England states and beyond. This T-only pride event will be a first for New England, perhaps the whole East Coast, and I don't want to miss it.

Perhaps, the event should be nicknamed the "Big T" just like the annual Eastern States Exposition held 17 miles downstream from Northampton is nicknamed the "Big E." Just a thought.

day out en femme

Yesterday, I spent much of the day out en femme.

Shopping

I femulated and was on the road before 10 AM. Twenty minutes later, I parked my car in front of JCPenney's at the mall in Meriden.

My goal was to find a dress to match the floral high heel pumps I bought at Payless last week. I saw a dress on JCPenney's Web site that would be perfect and I hoped to find it in the store, try it on, and see if it was a keeper.

I sat in the car waiting for the rain to let up (it was pouring) and to build up my courage to go in the store. I was overdressed for shopping on a rainy day (dress, heels, and tights) as evidenced by the other women I saw entering the store. But, I like to be dressed nicely when I do outreach and so it goes.

Sitting in the car, I worry about all the things that can go wrong femulating in public, but as soon as I opened the car door and walked across the parking lot with my high heels clicking that oh so feminine beat, all my fears went away. (This occurs almost every time I step out in public en femme. Maybe I'll stop worrying someday.)

No one paid any attention to me as I crossed the store to the women's dresses. I looked through all the racks, but I could not find the dress that I saw online. I found two other floral dresses in my size that might do and I also found a black pleated bubble skirt. I took two skirts (size 14 and 16) and the floral dresses to the dressing room.

Both floral dresses were the same size, but one was too tight on top and I could not get it on. The other fit fine, but it did not thrill me and its price tag ($70) made it less thrilling.

I tried on the size 14 bubble skirt and it fit fine and it thrilled me! I have been thinking about buying a bubble skirt for awhile now and I loved the way it looked.

I left the floral dresses and larger skirt on the return rack in the dressing room and began looking for a top to go with the skirt. I found a beautiful short-sleeve satiny blouse in a black and white leaf pattern with pretty puff sleeves. I found one in size XL and hoped that it would fit. I also found a black swing jacket. I took my finds to the dressing room.

I put on the bubble skirt and the blouse and I said, "Wow!" The blouse fit perfectly and looked fantastic with the skirt. I wanted to wear the outfit out of the store, but remembered that my upper arms were unshaven. I also tried on the jacket, but it did nothing for me.

I took the skirt and blouse to the cashier and waited in line behind one woman. While I waited, I noticed some of the female staff checking me out. I assumed they were in awe of the Amazonian beauty in their midst.

The cashier was very pleasant and I was pleasantly surprised that the outfit cost only $52. The price tags added up to $80, so I assume there was some kind of sale going on that I was unaware of.

I left the store and walked to my car; it was still raining.

Outreach

Thirty minutes later, I parked my car at Southern Connecticut State University. It was still pouring and I was about 30 minutes early, so I waited for the rain to let up before I walked to the classroom where I was going to do outreach. Fifteen minutes to go and the rain had not let up, so I grabbed my umbrella and walked about 500 yards to the classroom.

The professor found me and I met the other outreachers: Quinton (a female-to-male transsexual, who I've done outreach with before), Michelle (a male-to-female transsexual, who was new to me), and Diana (another male-to-female transsexual, a good friend, and someone I have done outreach with many times). I was the token crossdresser.

Both classes were big, about 25 students each with a 2:1 female-to-male ratio. I noticed some "attitude" among a couple of the males; I assumed that their testosterone levels were higher yesterday because of the weather.

As usual, we each told our stories and then fielded questions from the students. For the Q&A, the professor divided the class in half and we spent half the period with one half of the class and the rest of the period with the other half. I was paired with Diana for the first class and Quinton for the second class.

I started out sounding nervous, but loosened up during the Q&A and even got a few laughs from the students.

The Q&A was typical. We've heard most of the questions before. I did receive one unique question. During the last Q&A of the day, a very pretty student sitting next to me said, "How do you react when guys are attracted to you?"

My answer was simple, i.e., that I never noticed any guys being attracted to me.

The student was incredulous and said, "You make such a pretty woman, so guys must be attracted to you."

I said that she might be right, but I never noticed probably because I did not want to attract guys, so I paid little attention to them.

During the break between classes, we all went to the student union to eat and chat. We also had an opportunity to read the first class' reactions to us.

A few students said that I was nervous, but at least, no one said I was "sad" as in the past.

One male student wrote, "Staci is so cool that I could tell she is probably a very nice person in boy mode, and in front of me is a woman."

That is perhaps the nicest compliment I have ever received.

going mainstream

Is femulation going mainstream?

Sunday's Parade Magazine had this femulation-related cartoon. The print edition of the magazine also had a photo of actor Patrick Dempsey wearing a skirt, but that photo did not make it into the online edition.