Fierce Man With Close Shave Wants No Labels

Philips got some props recently for its thoughtful ad for women's razors that starred a crossdressing dancer (man) named Karis. The spot was a break from the ad world's normal "Girlie men are funny ha ha" angle. Although you shouldn't expect to see any serious portrayals of transvestites in Budweiser Super Bowl ads any time soon. Boinkology went and interviewed Karis, and he wants the world to know that he doesn't put all these crazy labels on himself. His motivation? "Just being fierce."

Read all about it here.

gnome

Last night, I watched a memorable 15-minute film titled Gnome. It stars Lauren Graham (of Gilmore Girls fame) and three actors playing transwomen.

Lauren plays a New Jersey suburban housewife and receives an education in gender diversity by interacting with the three transwomen. It is a very good film. I think you will enjoy it.

It is available free from various Internet Web sites including YouTube.

Enjoy!

going home again

A hometown visit brings back the struggles of growing up black and transgender.

Read this excellent opinion piece by Dannielle King, which appeared in today's Washington Blade.

Namoli Brennet

I just added Namoli Brennet's home page to my Cultural Links list. I should have done this before, but I neglected to do so.

I ate lunch with Ms. Brennet at the True Colors Conference in March 2007. As I wrote here back then, Ms. Brennet performed at the conference and is "a Tucson-based trans/genderqueer songwriter, who has been touring the country since 2002 when she released her first CD, Boy in a Dress. It was the first time I ever rubbed elbows with a rock star."

I remember discussing that she was from Tucson and my tenuous connections with that city. Well, I just learned today from my friend Diana's blog that Ms. Brennet was born in Waterbury, CT, which is where I was born.

Small world!

Dress Up!

In this vintage advertisement, the George Frost Company recommends "Retain the spirit and enthusiasm of youth — quicken your interest in the affairs of everyday life — enjoy the rejuvenated interest of new things — DRESS UP!"

I couldn't agree more.

legs

Rachel wrote to me about legs.

Noting the recent appearance of actress Gwyneth Paltrow without hosiery, Rachel asked, "When is the naked leg look appropriate and which women thrive on this look?"

Gwyneth looks fabulous without hosiery. In my opinion, if someone has the legs for it, going without hosiery is a fashion option especially during warmer weather.

Most young women like Ms. Paltrow, have the legs for it, but older women, may not.

I think I have shapely legs, but I would never go out without hosiery because my bare legs are not a pretty sight. New varicose veins, scars from surgically removed old varicose veins, and skin discoloration ruin the appearance of my legs and some kind of cover-up is necessary. Other women my age may have similar problems.

Rachel also sent along a a fashion tip to make your legs look longer: wear clear shoes. And to give the leg a final definition, paint your toes.

suggestion box

I try to write something here everyday and I am usually successful. However, some days, like today, I have nothing to say regarding the topic of this blog, i.e., femulation.

I am always open to suggestion. If you have any femulation-related topics that you would like me to write about here, please e-mail me and I will save save your e-mail in the suggestion folder on my hard disk. Then next time, I come up empty for something to write about, I will dig into the suggestion folder and address one of your suggestions.

Christopher Morley Redux

In response to my recent post here about actor and female impersonator Christopher Morley, I received the following e-mail:

"I have been curious for some time about what has become of Christopher Morley... she was such a wonderful and successful performer and seems to have disappeared in the last fifteen years. Any idea where she has gone... is she still performing?"

I researched the matter and can not find anything recent about Christopher Morley. Morley's last known appearance was on an episode of the TV series Boy Meets World in October 1998 Roseanne in December 1995. If anyone has more current information about Morley, please let me know and I will pass it on here.

past lives

Do you believe in past lives and reincarnation?

I always thought that if there was something to reincarnation, then it might help explain why trans-people are trans.

For example, if you were a woman in your previous life and came back as a man in this life, perhaps you might bring along carry womanly traits from your previous life. Furthermore, if you were a woman in consecutive previous lives and then came back as a man, you might be trans in this life because old habits are hard to break.

Who knows?

If anyone asks about my past lives, I tell them that in my previous life I was a female singer in a USO troupe touring with Glenn Miller's band during World War II and that I died on December 15, 1944 when Miller's plane was accidentally bombed by the RAF over the English Channel.

Being female in my previous life explains my trans-ness in this life and being a singer during that era explains my affinity for the music of that time period.

My death aboard a bombed airplane explains the horrific nightmares I had as a young child. In these nightmares, I was in an enclosed place that started exploding and before long, I was exploding, too. Then, I'd wake up screaming.

I had that same nightmare numerous times and cannot attribute it to anything I experienced in this life. If reincarnation is fact, then maybe the roots of my nightmares are from my previous life.

Like I wrote before, who knows?

Man! I Feel Like a Free Woman!

Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. Read all about it!

(In the world of femulation, Shania's hit Man! I Feel Like A Woman! has been lip-synced to death. I will admit to helping hammer a nail into the coffin of that song when I lip-synced a medley of Que Sera, Sera and Man! I Feel Like A Woman! at my support group's annual banquet follies back in 2004.)

15 Best Purses for Boys

This article at Refinery29 describes the 15 best male purses or "murses."

This article at EtherHouse describes (with tongue in cheek) how to carry a murse without looking gay (not that there is anything wrong with that.)

Finally, this article at wikiHow describes what to carry in your murse.

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.