Gender Ambiguity in Advertising

"See those two hot blonds in Jean Paul Gaultier's new ad? Surprise! It's not two ladies."

Read and see more on The Huffington Post.

Feminization of Male Fashions

Last week, androgynous fashion model Andrej Pejic walked the runway in a men's fashion show wearing an outfit that included a belted fur dress, high heel pumps, stockings, jewelry, makeup, and a Veronica Lake peek-a-boo hairdo.

In case you missed it, I'll repeat it: he was modeling this decidedly "feminine" outfit in a MEN'S fashion show!

What's going on here?

Does this mean we will soon find dresses and high heel pumps on sale at our favorite men's boutique?

Or is this just another anomaly in the fashion world, which is chock full of anomalies?

During the past few years, fashion designers have been pushing the envelope in the men's fashion arena by showing skirts and dresses for males.

In the more distant past (the last half of the 20th Century), showing masculine skirts and dresses grabbed headlines, but few customers.

Things have changed and males are buying and wearing skirts and dresses today. Not a lot, but a few. You likely will not see a guy in a skirt on the streets of Podunk, but visit some place more cosmopolitan like New York City and you will occasionally see a male wearing a masculine skirted garment.

Masculine skirts and dresses are one thing, but the outfit that Andrej Pejic modeled last week was a horse of a different gender; the only thing masculine about it was the fact that a male was modeling it.

Does this very "feminine" male outfit mean that designers have pushed the envelope so hard that has broken wide open?

It depends.

The designer breaking the envelope is Jean Paul Gaultier, and he has been playing with traditional gender roles in his shows like forever. So it is no surprise that Gaultier would show the "feminine" outfit that Andrej Pejic modeled.

Was Gaultier seriously proffering total feminization for males or was he playing gender games again using a very pretty androgynous model?

Maybe a little bit of both.

Anyway, I promise to keep doing my part.

More or Less Womanly

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Becoming Is In the Eye Of the Beholder

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Andrej Pejic Femulates in Men's Fashion Show

Paris — Androgynous fashion model Andrej Pejic walked the runway yesterday in Jean Paul Gaultier's men's fashion show wearing a dress, heels, and other accoutrements usually associated with females.

Amazing! Isn't this a great time to be a femulator!

German Tootsie

Hansi e-mailed me that a German version of the film Tootsie is in the works. The name of the film is Rubbeldiekatz and stars Matthias Schweighöfers in the role made famous by Dustin Hoffman in 1982.

Hansi wrote that some weeks ago, she read in the news that Schweighöfers started training to walk in heels and during the 'Fashion Week AW 2011/12' in Berlin, he showed up femulated to film some scenes during that event.

The accompanying photo is the actor as he appeared at Fashion Week. You can find more photos here.

In my humble opinion, I much prefer Schweighöfers' femulation to Dustin Hoffman's.

To Do: One Down, Ten To Go

I have already accomplished one of the eleven items on my January 1st To Do List: get rid of my back fat

I learned how at Fantasia Fair back in October when I attended the "Essence of Style: Image Consulting" workshop run by Hera Navassardian. During the workshop Q&A, I asked how to get rid of back fat.

One of Hera's assistants, who also femulates on occasion, explained how she does it: she hides it using shapewear.

I made a mental note.

I recalled the mental note when I tried on the Victoria's Secret sweater dress I bought myself for Christmas. It fit like a glove and revealed my back fat.

Coincidentally, the new Avon catalog was selling a Bali shapewear camisole that let you wear your own bra, while claiming that it "Flattens tummy, smoothes back… solves dilemmas."

I ordered an XL in black.

When it arrived, I thought I was going to need a bigger cami, but it stretched to fit and worked as advertised: my back fat was gone!

I am going to order a second one in beige.

Does that make me ‘Charlotte Sr.’?

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Facebook Now Sharing Your Address and Phone Number

Updated Below

I just deleted my Facebook account after reading this article on Salon, which revealed that Facebook is now sharing my home address and telephone number with third party developers.

"In a platform upgrade on Friday, Facebook announced that these 'new user object fields' were free game for anyone and even gave detailed instructions on how to access users' addresses and phone numbers."

That was the last straw.

Although I had over a thousand Facebook "friends," I rarely used the service, so deleting my account was not a big sacrifice.

By the way, Facebook makes it easy to deactivate your account, which will temporarily hide your information until you reactivate it, but they make it more difficult to permanently delete your account.

So, here is a short-cut for permanently deleting your account: log in to your Facebook account, paste the following URL into your browser:

http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account

and follow the subsequent directions.

UPDATE: After reading some of your comments, I reconsidered. Luckily, my account deletion did not take affect yet (it can take up to 14 days), so I reactivated my account and made my personal information as impersonal as possible.

Laddies First

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Top Chinese Femulators

You must check out Helen Boyd's blog today for the top ten femulators in China.

All I can say is, "Wow!"

"She" Should Know

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

A Red Letter Sweater Day

Last night, the temperature was down to 11°F in my neighborhood and down to 5°F where I work. The forecast was that the temperature would rise to about 20°F today, so I decided to wear my warmest sweater to work.

A red ribbed turtleneck is the warmest sweater I own. I bought on clearance in the women's department at the Gap.

I am unsure whether the sweater looks that feminine. It is like the one in the photo to the right except that my sweater is a brighter shade of red.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I received a compliment ("Nice sweater") at work this morning... from a guy!

Dear Stana: What About Long Nails in Boy Mode?

Dear Stana,

I absolutely love your blog and visit it several times a week. I really appreciate the time you put into making your page worth a look and keeping it updated. Those comics are hysterical!

Now I must ask, as much as you are out and about and somewhat "open" at work, would you share your opinion on guys with long nails?

I do wear my nails long, and they have been getting longer as I've been getting braver. Today, in a meeting with two females, the more masculine one called me on it. She said "you need to clip your nails, why are they so long?"

I told her they were to claw her eyes out. The other girl remarked she must really know me well to make that kind of comment.

My employer prides itself on embracing diversity and I have little care for what "the company" would say, but it's individuals like this that make me stop and think about what I am doing. I feel sure more people have noticed, but have respectfully withheld comment.

I do love having long nails to polish on the weekend when I have more time to femulate. Do you have any thoughts?

Keep up the great work!

Robyn

Hi Robyn,

Thank you for the kind words!

I wear false pre-glued stick-on nails (Kiss brand) mainly because I never got the hang of polishing my own nails under the gun. However, for six or eight months a few years ago, I did grow my own nails out to a feminine length.

I never worried about what my co-workers thought about my nails. If one asked about my nails, I would point-blankly respond that my nails are long because I dress as a woman on weekends.

Either they thought I was joking and laughed at my response or they didn't know what to think. In either case, I never was asked twice by the same person.

As long as you keep your nails neat and clean, no one should have any complaints about them. I am a little surprised that your co-worker said that about your nails. She had a lot of nerve!

I say, you go, girl and wear your long nails and the public be darned!

Best Wishes,

Stana

Need advice concerning femulation or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is stana-stana at sbcglobal.net.

Google Knows

When I was a kid, my parents kept me in line by reminding me that Santa Claus knew everything I did, good or bad, and would reward me accordingly on December 25th.

I stopped believing that story a few years ago, but I recently discovered that Google knows.

This morning, I used Google to look up something related to ham radio. Google came back with a list of website links and I clicked on one that looked promising.

Immediately, that ham radio website appeared in my browser, but I was taken aback by the banner advertisement displayed at the top of the web page.

It was an “Ads by Google” Saks Fifth Avenue' advertisement (see above) for a pair of Christian Louboutin glitter-covered peep-toed platform pumps with a 5-1/2-inch stiletto heel for only $795!

After trying unsuccessfully to come up with a ham radio application for the shoes, I realized that Google knows that I am a femulator and is gearing its advertisements toward Stana!

As a result, I plan to be a good girl this year and hope that Google will reward me with a $795 pair of high heels on December 25th.

First I Look At the Purse

Maybe it's just me. Maybe it has something to do with the environment or the era in which I grew up. But in my mind, a purse, clutch, handbag, pocketbook, etc., is the defining part of an outfit that indicates that you really mean business with regards to presenting femininely.

I can wear a wig, dress, heels, full makeup, earrings, necklace, bracelet, pantyhose, tampon, bra, girdle, panties, etc., but until I add a purse to my outfit, only then do I feel that I am really femulating.

Without a purse, a guy in a dress still has a lot of freedom, especially in his upper body, to move and motion in a manly manner. Hand him a purse and that is a mare of a different color. She now has to move and motion differently; she must consider her purse at all times and move accordingly.

"Moving accordingly" means moving like a lady, that is, she must carry herself like other lady's who are carting a bag.

While you are at it, carry a nice bag. A designer bag is to die for and shows the other girls that you are really concerned about your feminine appearance.

A designer bag does not have to bust your budget; the consignment shops are full of like-new designer bags at cut-rate prices.

So, get a nice bag and carry yourself and the bag like a lady.

And happy femulating!

---

Here are a couple of how-to's on the topic of carrying handbags:

• Couture Allure Vintage Fashion

• it's all in the bag

A Twin Set

(A parody of The New Yorker cartoon.)

Excellent Femulation at Womanless Beauty Review

I wish there were more photos of this "womanless beauty review" because the only available photo displays an excellent level of femulation. Anyway, this one was part of the Relay for Life event in Okolona, MS, that took place in May 2010.

Sonia and Me

I was very moved by the Sonia Burgess story (mentioned in yesterday's post here). In many ways, her story is my story.

 

Sonia lived full-time as a woman except at work, where she presented as a male.

I try to live as a woman as much as possible. The exceptions are at work and my life with my wife.

 

Where Sonia worked as a male, "the existence of her alter ego was something of an open secret."

After wearing convincing female costumes to our workplace Halloween parties, I believe that some of my co-workers suspect that something is up.

 

"Sonia was open about her lifestyle to anyone who asked, but she also had separate groups of friends: those who knew her as David and those who knew her exclusively as Sonia."

That describes me to a T (pun intended).

 

Sonia "was growing her hair out and she was certainly discussing some facial surgery and a boob job, but I don't think she was going to go for genital surgery. I don't think she thought it was worth it. It was enough for her to be perceived as female. She didn't see the need to go through such a radical procedure. Partly, this was because Burgess seemed to feel little friction between his (sic) two gender identities."

Same here. If I was full-time, I would grow my hair out and permanently remove the unwanted hair, but I would have no interest in surgery. I feel no friction between my gender identities' As I've mentioned before, I am a woman with a male body and that's alright by me.

Life and Death of David Sonia Burgess

"Last October, detectives were called to investigate the death of a woman under a London tube train. But as they traced her final moments, they discovered that she was, in fact, David Burgess, one of the most brilliant immigration lawyers of his generation. Here, Burgess's family and friends tell, for the first time, the complicated story of the loving father, brilliant colleague, sensitive woman and courageous person they knew."

Thank you, Gwen for alerting me about this story that appears in today's Guardian The Observer. You can read the rest of it here.

I so identify with Sonia! I wish I knew her before she died.