…it's not a matter of men dressing like women, or vice versa. "I don’t like to put limits to gender," the Canadian-born designer explained. "I think everybody is feminine, and everybody is born unisex." Not physically, of course. "I don’t believe in making differences between women and men. I think we’re born just, like, a human on the planet and it’s just the way we’re conditioned that we create desire."
Read the whole story here.
Planning a transgender wedding went pretty smoothly. Only one question remains: Will The New York Times accept a wedding announcement from a transgender bride?
According to The Huffington Post...
In 2007, I modeled in a benefit fashion show for the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition. Eight trans girls and boys each modeled two outfits. We had to provide our own outfits and the venue, a bar, was packed. We models had to walk on the floor space around the bar trying to squeeze by the bar patrons (that's me in the photo). It was not an ideal situation, but it was still a lot of fun.
In 2008, I also modeled in the Fantasia Fair's fashion show with a slew of other girls. We modeled our own outfits at that show, too, but we actually strutted our stuff down a catwalk rather than the floor space around a bar. It was a dark and stormy night and as a result, the audience was small, but enthusiastic, and I had a great time.
The Vagina Monologues' author, Eve Ensler, has a new book titled I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls.
I was disappointed. That was the closest I ever got to being in a womanless pageant and I am not likely to get such an opportunity again (unless I move South) because womanless beauty pageants are very rare events in the Northeast.
I remember when I encountered my first womanless pageant. I was well into my second decade of girlhood and that encounter occurred in 1979 watching an episode of Real People, which featured a pageant held somewhere that I don't recall. I do recall that most of the contestants acted more like the rear ends of horses than ladies.
However, I noticed that one contestant in particular was shy and demure. She was pretty, too, and in my opinion, should have won the pageant, but I believe one of the rear ends won instead. She was not one of the good old boys wearing a dress and making a mockery of womanhood. Rather, in my heart I knew she was like me, that is, gender diverse.
Whenever I look at the photos of womanless pageants, there usually is one or two contestant that strikes me as also being gender diverse. There is a certain look in their expressions, especially in their eyes, that indicates that they are living their dream for a few hours and that the pageant is probably not their first and certainly not their last encounter with their feminine side.
It would be so lovely to be in a womanless pageant, but I guess I will have to continue to participate vicariously.
In contrast to the pageant featured in my previous posting, most of the “girls” seemed to know how to remove hair both north and south of the neckline.
Here are the rest of the photos.
Aunty Marlena alerted me to a womanless beauty pageant held last weekend at the Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City, AL.
Yesterday, I received an e-mail that posed the following question: Is there any place in Femulate where you tell how you got drawn into the crossdressing world?
I do not recall telling this story here before, so here it is.
When I was a kid, I was intrigued with disguises. Being a creative sort, I assembled my own original costumes for Halloween rather than wear something off the rack. However, I would never be caught dead in a dress; all my costumes were male-themed, for example, monsters, pirates, ghouls, but not girls.
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, one of the newspapers my Dad bought (the Daily News) began carrying weekly thumbnail-sized ads for 82 Club, a New York City nightclub that featured female impersonators. Each advertisement asked, "Who's No Lady?" (like the postcard above) and contained a photo of a beautiful female impersonator.
Up until then, I was only familiar with the Milton Berlesque variety of female impersonation, so the advertisements fascinated me. The beauty and authenticity of the impersonators amazed me.
Every week, I anxiously awaited the appearance of a new 82 Club advertisement and I was seldom disappointed as male after male was shown transformed into a beautiful female.
I was s0 intrigued that a male could transform himself into a gorgeous female that I decided to experiment with female impersonation myself and soon I was slipping on my first pair of nylons and heels. Using my mother's and sister's wardrobes and cosmetics, I tried to transform myself into a young lady.
I enjoyed every minute of it, but I started feeling very guilty. None of the guys I knew did what I did. I wondered if something was wrong with me. (Sound familiar?)
But, I did not stop and I continued experimenting, while fine-tuning my femulating skills in the process. And that’s my story.
High heels were the second item of woman’s clothing I wore when I began my experiments in femulation back in the early 1960s (the first item was nylon stockings). I took to heels like a duck takes to water. I never had a problem walking in heels and I loved how they shaped my legs. 
To my astonishment, there were more women shopping at Home Depot than men. The majority of the Home Depot "associates" were women, too.
I felt a little out of place just like when I go shopping for girly things in a girly store while dressed in boy mode. It felt like every woman in Home Depot was watching me to see what girly product I would fondle. I could read their minds, "What is HE going to do with that Torx screwdriver?"
I was so paranoid that I used the automated self-check-out instead of going to a cashier (who were all women) to avoid the smirks and knowing looks that I was bound to receive while making my girly purchase.
Next time I shop at Home Depot, I will be sure to wear a dress, wig, makeup, and heels so I won't feel out of place.
I won this item on eBay on January 2 and it finally arrived in the mail on Saturday. It must have gone around the Horn before it got to me!
I watch entertainment industry award shows mainly to see how the females dress and perhaps be inspired on what to wear to my next formal or semi-formal affair.
In this fashionista's opinion, the dresses at the SAG Awards were better overall than the dresses at the Golden Globe Awards a week earlier. Mostly the same people showed up at both events, so maybe their fashion senses improved during the ensuing week.
As in past SAG Award broadcasts I have viewed, I was again taken aback whenever I heard a participant refer to an actress as an "actor." The same people were using the word "actress" a week earlier. It's as if the word "actress" had become the eighth word that you can't say on television.
I don't get it... or maybe I do!
Perhaps all those actresses are actually actors impersonating actresses.
No wonder they are all so tall! They sure have mastered their femme voices and mannerisms. But afterall, they are professional actors; if they can't sound convincing as females, who can?
And they have the best makeup artists and special effects people in the world to girl them up. So, it does not surprise me that all those gorgeous Hollywood starlets are actually guys en femme.
But now, I'm jealous. Now I want to be an “actor,” too!
