Today is International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day... a global holiday celebrated annually to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. It is also a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights and violence and abuse against women (source: Wikipedia).

Doing my darndest to promote gender equality, admittedly from a different direction, how appropriate that today is also my birthday.  

Seventy-one years and counting. Lately, I have been feeling my age. My osteoarthritis has been a game changer. After five sessions of physical therapy, I see some improvement, but not enough to dare to go out en femme. 

At least, I still look a year or two younger than 71, so that thought improves my attitude. But I sure would like to be physically fit enough to go out en femme and flaunt those good looks! LOL

Although I am a little depressed, I am optimistic. So much so that I bought a new dress from Avon (see the Femulate Her slot below) that I plan to wear out real soon now.

Wish me luck!

Wearing Avon

Femulating in the 1943 film This Is The Army.
You can view this film containing femulators galore on YouTube.

Someday Funnies: She’s the Boss

Wearing Temperley London

Femulate reader Brenda shopping in Montreal.

Today is National Dress Day!

National Dress Day:
Don’t leave home without wearing one!

On National Dress Day March 6, we celebrate the most versatile and fun article of clothing there is — the dress! 

Fashion designer Ashley Lauren founded the day to help pay homage to dresses and the magical moments that happen when we wear them. “I remember the dresses I wore to my prom, first job interview, first date, competing in a pageant, my first red carpet event, the list goes on,” she says. “This is a fun day to cherish and celebrate those memories.”

Superficially Yours

In her post on Friday, Hannah McKnight wrote, “I would love to hear something you love about yourself, something that you love about who you are. I want to hear your shallowest, most superficial thoughts.”

Naturally, I could not resist such an invitation and I submitted the following as a comment to Hannah’s post.

I love carrying a designer handbag. Any thoughts about me being a guy are swept away by a bag hanging from my limp wrist.

Don’t know if I have Gynecomastia or not, but I do know that I have breasts that are large enough to fill a size 42B bra without inserts, pads or any other assistance. And when I slip on my bra, I love finding those two perky mounds on my chest (it never gets old).

Mom had shapely legs. When she worked in an office before she married, her nickname was “Legs.” Like mother, like daughter, I inherited my mother legs and a transman once dubbed me “Leggy.” I love being my mother’s daughter.

Of course, “Legs” loved high heels, always wore them when she went out and she owned a closet full. Again like mother, like daughter, I love high heels, always wear them when I go out and I own a closet full (over 100 pairs).

I love being a feminine man. When I am en homme, it can be a hindrance, but it works so well for me when I am en femme that I would not have it any other way.

Making up my face is something I always look forward to. I love the process, the tricks, the shortcuts and especially the results. After I do my makeup, slip on my wig and look in the mirror, it is always an aha moment! (Yes, I am a woman.)

Wearing Rene Ruiz

The always lovely Hannah McKnight

Someday Funnies

Wearing Cynthia Rowley

Erica, a long-time Femulate reader and femulator

Someday Funnies

Wearing New York and Company

Alice Sometimes

Switching Teams

Women are taking over.

My editor was a woman.* My supervisor was a woman.* My manager was a woman.* My Vice President is a woman.

In the not-too-distant past, men filled those positions. Now women are filling those roles and obsolescencing the men.

And it is happening everywhere in both the private and public sectors. Women are breaking through the glass ceiling and erecting new ceilings to keep men in a newfound place, i.e., reporting to women.

The women’s team is on a roll and is winning big time in the war between the sexes. If you don’t want to face the future as a second-class citizen, join the other team before it’s too late.

Crossdressing is one way to switch teams and begin fitting into the new woman’s world. And you don’t have to go full femme glam from the get-go. Instead, you can ease yourself into playing for the other team.

Start with a little makeup (lip gloss and mascara) and have your hair permed and highlighted.

Replace your T-shirt and boxers with sports bras and figure-shaping panties.

Buy a couple of pantsuits and maybe a pearl set. (While you are at the mall shopping for your new wardrobe, get your ears pierced, too.)

Knee-highs will do for now, but you must buy a pair of killer power pumps to show that you really mean business. Three-inch heels or higher will show the women that you are serious about playing on their team.

If you don’t have a manbag already, buy a designer pocketbook to carry your wallet, keys. cell phone, compact, makeup, etc. because women’s pants usually have no pockets, in case you didn’t know. (There are a lot more things you will learn playing on the women’s team.)

To show solidarity with your teammates, consider a name change. At a minimum, drop your “maiden name” and depending on whether you are married or single, use your wife or mother’s surname in its place. Also, again depending on whether you are married or single, start using “Mrs.” or “Ms.” as your courtesy title instead of “Mr.” You might even subtly feminize your first name, for example, change Rick to Ricki, Donald to Donni, Chris to Chrissy, etc.

Nothing will get you kicked off the team faster than bad bathroom etiquette, so be sure to put the toilet seat down after you use the lady’s room. Even better, get used to urinating in the seated position and give your feet a rest from wearing those killer pumps all day.

Those are the minimum requirements for playing successfully on women’s team. But be alert. If you see your old golfing buddy down the street going to work in a dress, then it is time to step it up, shave your legs and visit Lane Bryant for some additional wardrobe adjustments.

* - Before I retired.

Wearing Zuhair Murad

Femulate reader Mikki with a new “Baltimore Big” hairdo after seeing the Trocaderos,

Someday Funnies: An Easy Fix

Wearing ModCloth

Actor Jerry O'Connell femulating at DragCon 2017.

Flirting

In my book, if a guy flirts with you, then you are doing something right and are probably passing. It does not matter whether the flirter knows that you are cisgender or transgender, in the eyes of the flirter, you are good enough to eat and that’s all that counts.

Over the years, I have encountered a lot of flirters. They probably think that I am a penis-teaser because I never flirt back in response. After all I am married and faithful to my spouse. I am not looking for a romantic relationship outside my marriage, so, although I appreciate the occasional flirt (affirming my femininity), don’t thread on me because this girl is spoken for.

Wearing Rue La La

Femulating on the catwalk in the 1963 Austrian film Unsere Tollen Nichten (Our Amazing Nieces). You can view the film’s trailer on YouTube.

Someday Funnies

Wearing Boston Proper

I am a big fan of the original Law & Order television series, so I was thrilled that on February 24, new episodes began being broadcast after a 12-year hiatus. Most of the 2022 cast were new including Jeffrey Donovan, who plays Detective Frank Cosgrove. I enjoyed the reboot and about halfway through, I recognized Donovan, who femulated so spectacularly in the 1997 film Catherine’s Grove (photo above).

Eureka Drag!

In my late teens and early twenties, I would occasionally take the train into Manhattan and explore The City. During one of my explorations, I was taking in the huge display of magazines and newspapers on sale at the newsstand in Grand Central Terminal, when what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a magazine titled Drag.

Now, this was not the typical drag magazine I was used to seeing back home ― magazines that featured hemis, gassers, headers, blowers, mag wheels, Garlits, funny cars, Moon parts, etc. No, this drag magazine featured guys in gowns, boys in bras, men in minis, fellows in fishnets, males in marabou, etc.

Wow! I had found a magazine just for me!

I looked around me to see if anyone was looking at me looking at the magazine sitting on the rack. The coast was clear, so I reached for the magazine and flipped through it quickly to make sure it really was a magazine about trannies and not trannies. Satisfied, I handed it to the newsdealer and paid the exorbitant (for circa 1970) cover price of $3 (that's almost $22 in 2022 money).

As the newsdealer put the magazine in a brown paper bag and handed it to me, he gave me a dirty look. No fan of drag was he, but I did not care because I had in my hands something I hoped would expand my knowledge of the world that I seemed to be part of.

Drag never showed up on the local magazine racks, so I did not buy the magazine unless I was in NYC and could do so surreptitiously if I happened to have any company on those trips. As a result, I only acquired two or three issues of the magazine and cherished them until “The Great Purge of 1983,” when they went out to the trash with all my other girly paraphernalia.

Over the years, I saw clippings from Drag on various Internet places and I even saw complete issues for sale on eBay at exorbitant prices that I was unwilling to pay. But last week, Diana of Little Corner of the Nutmeg State fame, e-mailed me with some good news: complete issues of Drag were now available for downloading from Internet Archive.

So I plan to reverse “The Great Purge of 1983” and rebuild my collection of Drag.

Wearing Missoni

Femulators on stage in a 1984 Italian film titled Delitto al Blue Gay also known as Cop in Drag. Delitto al Blue Gay is jam-packed with femulators. You can view the film in its entirety on YouTube.

Someday Funnies: Shopping for “Her”

Wearing Bebe

Three’s Company all-male-cast, on stage circa 2016