Someday Funnies: Men at Work

Wearing Bebe

Circa 1960, dancer and choreographer Sal Angelica poses with professional femulator Howard.

Naturally Brained Woman

Natured or Nurtured?

I have written about the “nature or nurture question” here before, that is, whether we are born transgender (the nature argument) or our upbringing and environment causes us to be transgender (the nurture argument).

I am not a doctor, although I play a nurse on occasion, so I have no professional credentials to support my opinion. But I subscribe to the nature argument because that’s how I see my life playing out so far.

From the get-go, I was a feminine being. The fact that I had a male body did not dissuade me from being feminine, often to my detriment. Male peers derided and bullied me, while I socialized better with females ― not because they considered me dating material, but because I was just like one of the girls.

With regards to the transgender Wachowski sisters, an interesting article “There May Be a Biological Reason the Wachowski Siblings Are Both Transgendered,” supports the nature argument. One point that the article mentions is that the brains of transwomen resemble the brains of cisgender women, while the brains of transmen resemble the brains of cisgender men.

My mother was my role model, so that seems to support the nurture argument, However, was my mother my role model because my father was an absentee parent or because it was normal for a feminine soul to follow in the footsteps of her female parent? (A side note: My sister was viewing some photos she took a few days ago and remarked how very much I resembled my mother in the photos. I was in boy mode in the photos.)

We’ll probably never know for sure what made us trans. Perhaps it is a combination of nature and nurture.

Wearing Venus

Kay, Yvonne, and Julie attending the 1986 Chicago Be-All.

Someday Funnies

Wearing Joie

A flock of femulators from the 1930’s

Monday, Monday

Getting Better All the Time Dept.

After nine sessions of physical therapy, I am starting to think that getting back to normal is a possibility. There are a few things that still need work, but I felt so good by Friday that I resumed my daily walks in the woods. I only walked 0.57 miles and it took me twice as long as normal, but it’s a start and I hope to be back in my stilettos real soon now. 

I also lost 10 pounds during the past month. Basically, I stopped eating in between meals because getting up out of a chair is still difficult – so difficult that I rather remain seated rather than get up to get a snack! I did not intend to lose 10 pounds and I now weigh less than I ever have as an adult.

Not a Civilian Dept.

I don’t have to tell you that if you are a repeat femulator, the civilians will catch on and assume you are trans-something. For example, five consecutive Halloweens at work en femme and most of my co-workers knew that something was up and no one was surprised when I finally came out.

So I suspect that when a young man participates in his school’s womanless beauty pageant on three occasions that he might not be a civilian. Such is the case of a three-time pageant contestant who you can find on Pinterest (photos above).

Browsing Pinterest last week, I discovered yet another appearance of the same young man! This latest discovery (below) fills the timeline between the second and third photos above. 

So that’s four womanless beauty pageants he participated in that we know of.

And so it goes!

Wearing Elisabetta Franchi

A 1960’s femulator enjoying a makeover at a beauty salon.

Someday Funnies

Wearing StyleWe

Femulating ballerinas, circa 1950

Say “Cheese”

How many crossdressers does it take to change a light bulb?

Three – One to climb the ladder to change the bulb, one to hold the ladder and one to photograph the event.

Whenever I am out en femme, I bug people – friends, acquaintances and strangers alike to take my photo. My excuse is “to feed the blog.”

You readers want to see photos of girls like us out doing things in public, so my reason for getting photographed is legitimate. But that is only part of it; there are other reasons.

I like to see how I look in the photograph. Does the outfit I put together look good together or did I err grievously in my fashion judgment?

Do I pass as a woman? At least, if I pass in the photograph that increases my chances of passing in public.

And when I am not en femme, I like to have a photo on hand of myself en femme to remind me of the good days. That is why I had a photo on my desk at work of myself en femme.

(It is funny how nobody ever commented about the photo on my desk at work. Frequently, visitors to my cubicle would look over my shoulder at that photo, which sat on the desk behind me, but no one ever said a word. I wish I could have read their minds.)

Wearing Rue La La

Glenn Tryon (left) femulating in the 1925 film Madame Sans Jane.

Someday Funnies

Wearing Boston Proper

Sydney Chaplin femulating in the 1926 film Oh! What a Nurse!

One Regret

One regret I have is that I did not come out of the closet sooner.

For about 60 years, I have explored the other side of the gender divide, but I have only been out of the closet for about 15 years.

During the first 40 years, my female presentation was limited to home, support group meetings and transgender conventions, which were all closets in one way or another. In my mind, I stepped out of the closet when I began doing outreach and flying solo in public as a woman. 

Once I was out of the closet, I realized that I should have gotten out sooner... much sooner. It was so wonderful to live as a woman and it was so much easier than I ever imagined. 

That's what kept me in the closet ― I thought it would be too hard, if not impossible to navigate society as a woman because I was too tall and that would give me away. But I was so wrong. Either I passed successfully as a woman or our society has become so nonchalant about dudes who dress like ladies, that no one minded me being their presence. Ether way, it was a win-win situation.

“Youth is wasted on the young” was so apropos in my case. I should have exited the closet and experienced the world as a woman much sooner. 

So I urge anyone who is on the fence to get off the fence. Sitting on the fence is not very comfortable, whereas living as a woman is the most comfortable place in the world to be.

Wearing Elbis NY

Femulators celebrating Carnival in Rio de Janeiro in 1913.

Someday Funnies

Wearing Chicwish

A bride femulation, circa 1935. This photo along with the Femulator photo, “Femulating in 1930,” that appeared here Saturday came from an auction house offering, described as follows: A rare album with more than 150 exceptional photographs, all featuring highly stylized and elegant men crossdressing. The album primarily features a male couple, who are dressed in exquisite outfits, including evening gowns with elaborate accessories, a wedding gown (including a marriage scene with one figure in a suit), and fanciful costumes, and are posing in front of cleverly designed backdrops (such as shimmering hanging textiles, artfully arranged corners of rooms, and a screen decorated in stars). The album features a number of sittings and combinations of figures, hinting at the both the delight and seriousness with which each tableaux was designed and executed. The resulting photographs are well composed and printed. Both the scope and early date (1930-41) of this album add to its rarity--our research has not uncovered an early body of work that similarly documents a committed investigation of form and identity.

Worshipping as Women

Responding to my Whose Saree Now? post, Priya reminded me of the Kottankulangara Festival, an annual Hindu festival in Kerala, India, where over 5,000 men and boys irrespective of their religious faith dress as women and girls. The festival takes place at the Kottankulangara Devi temple at Chavara, Kerala, which is sacred to the goddess Bhagavathy. 

Every year this festival is celebrated on the 10th and 11th day of Meenam (mid-March). On the festival day, thousand of devotees visit the Temple to seek the blessings of the Goddess Bhagavathy. The men dress up in the female attire of their choice. Some wear Set sari, Pattu sari, half sari or even dance costumes.

While some of the devotees are dressed up by their female family members, there are a number of beauticians, makeup artists and clothiers around the temple, who charge between $6 and $26 for decking out the faithful. 

Priya sent me links to the following articles about the festival:

• The Kerala temple where thousands of men dress up like women every year
  
  
• At this Kerala temple, thousands of men dress up as women to get deity's blessings
  
  
• Worshipping as women: Check out this unique Kerala festival for men

And YouTube has a slew of videos related to the festival. This video, in particular, provides a sample of the excellent quality of the femulations by the festival attendees.

In India, the general public’s tolerance (or lack thereof) of crossdressing is about the same as in the USA. So I found it interesting that attendance at this festival en femme is so acceptable among the civilians. I guess the festival’s acceptance is due to its religious aspect. Even young boys are encouraged to crossdress when religion is involved!

And so it goes!

Wearing Mayloz

Men worshipping as women at India’s Kottankulangara Festival