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| Mount Olive College, TN, 1988 |
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| Stetson University, Deland, FL, 1984 |
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| Stetson University, Deland, FL, 1986 |
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| Stetson University, Deland, FL, 1986 |
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| Stetson University, Deland, FL, 1986 |
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| Stetson University, Deland, FL, 1986 |
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| William Carey College, Hattiesburg, MS, 1982 |
The Art Newspaper interviewed Grayson on Friday. Here is the link.
Thank you, Anonymous, for alerting me about the interview
Since I look, walk, talk, and behave exactly like a woman, the expected answer is "men," so when I say I prefer women, the audience is thrown for a loop .
Your mileage may vary, but most of the transfolks I do outreach with are attracted to their same gender, that is, the male-to-female transfolks prefer women and the female-to-male transfolks prefer men. When they changed genders, their sexuality did not change; they were still attracted to the sex they preferred before transition (which affirms the proposition that sex and gender are separate issues).
On the other hand, I know transfolks who not only change genders, but also change teams after they transition, that is, transwomen who preferred men and transmen who preferred women.
But most of the transfolks I know personally do not change teams (again, your mileage may vary). I admit that I know more crossdressers than transsexuals, still, most of the transsexuals I know personally did not change teams either.
Getting back to me (isn't it always about "me"): I prefer women... always did. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but sex with a man never interested me.
However, I have never had sex when en femme. My spouse will have nothing to do with me when I am en femme and since I am committed to my marriage, I have never sought sex outside of it.
But don't think it has not crossed my mind.
Sex en femme with a woman is very attractive, but that is a moot point because I have never encountered a woman who seemed "that" interested in my femulated self.
On the other hand, sex en femme with a man would be a piece of cake. I have encountered numerous men interested in my femulated self. Some were "tran admirers," some were not. In either case, I rejected their advances because I was a good girl, faithful to my spouse to the end.
But since my spouse will have nothing to do with my femulated self, does that give me license to seek sex outside the marriage when I am en femme? Should I give into the advances of those guys who desire me? And if I did give in, should I have sex like other woman (if you know what I mean)?
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| Sascha Brastoff |
During the recession, male workers were hit harder than their female counterparts. And during the recovery, females have been more successful at finding jobs than males. In fact, the rate of unemployment among males has worsened during the recovery, while females have made great gains. It is the positive job growth of the females that is responsible for bringing down the unemployment rate from its peak of 10% in October 2009.
That being the state of the nation's work environment, the administration is laying out plans to feminize unemployed male workers in order to make them more attractive candidates for the jobs that are out there.
In her announcement about the new program, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis stated, "Let me make this clear: we are not urging males to have sex reassignment surgery, but we are suggesting that unemployed males seriously consider crossdressing on a full-time basis in order to get jobs."
In addition to putting unemployed males back to work as women, the economy will be stimulated by a surge in the retail sales of women's products and services by the new full-time "women." This surge will also create new employment opportunities in the retail sector.
“It’s a win-win situation!” Solis suggested, “The guys who become gals will be shopping their hearts out for a new wardrobe. Sales will boom and retailers will have to hire new salespeople to handle the demand. So why not hire guys to be their new salesgirls?”
Solis estimates that 7 to 8 million males can be feminized and employed during the next six months and that the success of this program will stimulate an additional 14 to 16 million males to be feminized over the following year. This will bring the unemployment rate down to about 5.5%.
Women are encouraged to help feminize their unemployed males and they will be assisted by a new government pamphlet titled "Transform Your Male to Female for a Better America." The Labor Deportment will also establish Feminization Training Facilities (FTFs) in 73 cities throughout the US, which will offer a free one-week course for male-to-female trainees.
Visit the Deportment of Labor's website for more information.
Janie's thoughts were provoked by something she read elsewhere proposing that crossdressing was a compulsion on par with pornography.
I recommend reading what Janie has written and then read what moved her to write what she did.
***
After all is said and done, if crossdressing is a compulsion, what is its root cause?
I will admit that I am probably "compulsive" about crossing genders. It is always on my mind and has always been on my mind as long as I can remember.
From what I can tell, I am the same person en homme or en femme. I don't intentionally act butch when en homme and I don't intentionally act feminine when en femme. I am what I am either en homme or en femme. But when I am en femme, I feel comfortable, natural, and happy.
So, I guess I am compulsive about being happy, feeling natural, and being comfortable in my own skin.
Is there anything wrong with that?
***
On a lighter note, Femulate reader Shannon made me smile by e-mailing a link to Sunday's installment of Sherman's Lagoon.
I hope it will make you smile, too.
Like father, like daughter --- we both love high heels and her heel collection is catching up with mine!
I wish all my readers a Very Femulating Valentine’s Day!
The zipper’s pull tab was tiny and hard to grip and no one else was home to help me.
I had this problem in the past with another dress and rigged up a “zipper helper” to do the job. So it was time to get out my zipper helper again.
My zipper helper is simply a piece of string and a big safety pin.
I attach the safety pin to the zipper pull tab, loop the string through the closed safety pin, and pull the thread up to close the zipper.
I see now that they sell zipper helpers online and here are instructions to build your own.
So, keep on zippin'.
As I wrote Monday, things have been very hectic around here lately; so much so that I missed Femulate's fifth birthday, which was Monday.
So belated Happy Birthday to the blog!
I love the ABC situation comedy Modern Family. The writing is smart and the show is hilarious. And last night's episode had a transgender subplot.
At about 15 minutes into the episode, teenage sisters Haley and Alex are bickering, which is their usual wont. Younger brother Luke intervenes by saying that his big sisters should not fight.
The sisters stop fighting, Luke leaves the room, and one sister remarks to the other that their little sister, Betty Luke, has not been around in awhile.
"I'll get the bra and tennis balls and you get the lipstick," says Haley.
The scene ends with Luke complaining loudly.
The episode continues with other sub-plots, but at the very end of the show as the credits roll, there is a commotion in the living room. Parents Claire and Phil enter the living room to see what was the matter.
The sisters are flittering around brother Luke, who is now en femme.
Claire complains, "You girls are in trouble… for not cleaning up the mess you made."
The sisters leave the room and Claire and Phil approach Luke with a camera in hand to take photos of Betty Luke. Claire mentions that there was something wrong with the previous Betty Luke photos.
Phil says, "Betty Luke, it's nice to see you again."
The above quotations are from memory, so don't hold me to them, but they are a good approximation of what was said. The episode ("Me? Jealous?") is now viewable here.
Casa Susanna was basically a bed and breakfast for crossdressers located in the Catskills of New York State during the 1960s.
It was operated by a husband and wife, he, a crossdresser named Susanna and she, a famed wig maker from NYC named Marie. Before Casa Susanna, they ran a similar establishment, the Chevalier D’Eon Resort, which was also in the Catskills.
Chevalier D’Eon Resort was the site of the adventures of Darrell Raynor, as documented in his 1968 book A Year Among the Girls.
Raynor’s book was the first book I ever encountered on the subject of crossdressing. At the time, I was a teenager and it took three trips to the store before I got up the nerve to buy the book. I will never forget the smirk on the face of the saleswoman, who rang up my purchase. I wanted to hide under a rock, but instead I took the book home and read it from cover-to-cover that night.
The book was such an eye-opener for a young tran like me. Back then there was next to no information available on the subject unless you frequented the right (wrong) bookstores or received mail wrapped in plain brown paper. So, I was amazed that there were adults dressing up and socializing as women!
Raynor never mentioned the name of the CD B&B he wrote about, nor did he mention exactly where it was located, but he gave a few clues and my guess was that it was located in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. I was very surprised to learn decades later that the CD B&B was just a short trek across the state line smack dab in an area where I worked for a six-week stint way back when.
During my six-week stay in Upstate New York, I visited the local lingerie shop and was fitted for a classic all-in-one by the older woman who ran the shop and knew her business. After the fitting, she was proud of her handiwork and commented that I had a great figure.
I was running a one-person quick-print shop and next door was a dress shop also run by an older woman. After six weeks, we became friendly, but I did not take advantage of our friendship and ask to try on her wares because I was worried that the guy I worked for might find out.
But I digress.
I filed Raynor's CD B&B in the back of mind. I came back to mind in 2005, when the book titled Casa Susanna came to be.
According to Amazon, "Some time ago, while at a New York flea market, inveterate collectors Michael Hurst and Robert Swope discovered a large body of snapshots: album after aged album of well-preserved images, taken roughly between the mid-50s and mid-60s, depicting a group of cross-dressers united around a place called Casa Susanna, a rather large and charmingly banal Victorian-style house in small-town New Jersey [sic]. The inhabitants, visitors, guests, and hosts used it as a weekend headquarters for a regular 'girl’s life.' Someone—probably 'Susanna' or the matriarch—nailed a wonder board on a tree proclaiming it 'Casa Susanna,' and thus a Queendom was born.
"Through these wonderfully intimate shots—perhaps never intended to see the light of day outside the sanctum of the 'house'—Susanna and her gorgeous friends styled era-specific fashion shows and dress-up Christmas and tea parties. As gloriously primped as these documentary snaps are, it is in the more private and intimate life at Casa Susanna, where the girls sweep the front porch, cook, knit, play Scrabble, relax at the nearby lake and, of course, dress for the occasion, that the stunning insight to a very private club becomes nothing less than brilliant and awe inspiring in its pre-glam, pre-drag-pose ordinariness and nascent preening and posturing in new identities. It is not glamour for the stage but for each other, like other women who dress up to spend time with friends, flaunting their own sense of style. There is an evident pleasure of being here, at Casa Susanna, that is a liberation, a simplification of the conflicts inherent in a double life."
For more information about Casa Susanna, I invite you to read Zagria's blog post on the topic, which was the source of some of the history mentioned above.
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| 2007 IE Club's Miss Eng'g Contestant |
Femulate proudly presents the excellent femulations from the 2007 edition of the The Miss Eng'g (Engineering) womanless beauty pageant at the College of Engineering, University of Philippines-Diliman.
Again, thank you, Oak for the links.
A relative took up permanent residence in a convalescent home and my wife and I are her only living responsible relatives. (There are two other living relatives, but one is residing in the same convalescent home and the other is totally irresponsible.) As a result, my wife and I spent the last two weekends emptying my relative's apartment.
When we weren't dealing with that, we were catching up with other matters that were neglected while we were dealing with that. As a result, the blog took a hit the past two weekends in case you didn't notice.
I promise to return to our normally scheduled programming ASAP. Meanwhile, I leave you with this item from Daily Makeover: 10 Ways to Look Instantly Sexier!
Dear Stana.
Even though I pass very well and I get flattering comments from both guys and other T-girls, this is only when I am at a T-girl club. Outside of the club, I always 'know' that I am not a natural female and this reflects in my looking nervous; in turn, the lack of confidence then makes me more easy to read!
I also go for a glamorous look, which once again, is great at a T-girl club, but natural girls don't wear heels and a glamorous dress to buy a quart of milk. But without the glamorous additions, I feel less female and more drab and therefore, more easily read. I also hate looking dowdy as a girl as the fun (to me anyway) is dressing up and looking 'sparkly' and glamorous. Else wise, I might as well stay a boy!
I know this is all due to confidence, but it would be lovely to just be Emma and go out to lunch without all the worry. If you have any ideas to reduce the anxiety then that would be great.
Regards,
Emma
***
Dear Emma,
Been there, done that, and still doing that!
I don't dress glamouously unless the occasion calls for it, but I do dress very nicely (heels, dress, jewelry, makeup, etc.) when I go out. As a result, I sometimes am overdressed for the venue in which I find myself.
Like you, I worried that overdressing was a dead giveaway that I was a tran. So I avoided going places when I was overdressed, which in effect, kept me out of a lot of places.
Six years ago, I was dressed to the nines (very sparkly) to attend a Christmas party. On the way to the party, I realized that I forgot to buy munchies for the party (all the attendees were supposed to bring some food or drink to share).
There was a Stop & Shop in the neighborhood where I could buy something. I was way overdressed for Stop & Shop, but I convinced myself that I had a perfect excuse for being overdressed. Also, I recalled in the past seeing other overdressed women in Stop & Shop while (I assumed) they were on their way to or from a wedding or graduation or some other dressy event (or maybe they were trans, too).
Although my confidence was shaky, my mind was set and I went into Stop & Shop, picked out some baked goods, paid the cashier, and was out the door without an issue. No one paid any special attention to me, no one pointed at me, no one laughed at me. It was all so anti-climactic.
That episode did wonders for my confidence. After that I stopped worrying about being "overdressed." I go where I please and if I think about it, I just tell myself that I am an appropriately dressed office girl running an errand for the boss or somesuch excuse.
You say, "you pass very well," so that just makes it easier.
So just do it --- after a few forays out in the real world, you will be amazed how confident and comfortable you will feel.
You go, girl!
Stana
***
Need advice concerning
femulation, 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.
You have a fabulous figure and I recall you mentioning in the past that you wear shapewear to achieve those curves.
Recently, I have been thinking about adding shapewear to my femulation repertoire and I wonder "Do you wear panties under your shapewear?"
Love Your Blog,
Daisy
***
Dear Daisy,
I wear panties under my shapewear, although the shapewear manufacturers' claim that panties are not necessary "because they all make shapewear with a cotton crotch or an accessible crotch."
That being said, I wear panties to help manage my boy parts down under. I tuck and the panties help keep the tucked parts in place.
I have had less success maintaining tucks wearing shapewear without panties, although your mileage may vary.
I hope that helps!
Stana
***
Need advice concerning femulation, 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.
