Fear Not

By Paula Gaikowski

Paula on a train in London

I step toward the mirror; there she is “Paula.” A huge smile flashes across my face, a joyfulness takes over, a sense of relief. I primp in the mirror then pack my purse, credit cards, license, cash and room key. I primp in the mirror again. My nails! I forgot my nails. It takes a few minutes, but they’re pretty, a press-on French manicure – just the right feminine detail. 

I check my purse again. I’m nervous; there’s a bit of trepidation as I stand in front of the door. Faintly I hear his voice pulling me back. I stand there frozen. I open the door and step out and take a few steps. Filled with fear, I run back to the safety of the hotel room.

I go back out. This time I make it to the car. Oh gosh, as much as I want to, I can’t do this and I run back to the room. I spend the rest of the night doing my makeup and trying on different outfits. Next time I tell myself, next time.

I didn’t bust out of my and Dockers and into a skirt and heels without a struggle. This butterfly spent a lot of time as a caterpillar emerging. I spent most of the 90’s doing just what I described above and it wasn’t until 2006 that I started going out and about on a regular basis as a woman.

I was fearful of many things, but mostly it was a matter of self-acceptance. I gave myself permission to be transgender. Sounds simple, even silly, however, I finally realized that it was okay if I didn’t pass. I’ve grown a lot over the years. I no longer see my dressing as a woman as a problem to be solved. I am not doing anything wrong. I’ve cast off society’s condemnation of being transgender and realized that I am a good person and that part of my personality and character involves being transgender. 

Attributes I see missing in many men, such as nurturing, kindness, compassion and cooperation are parts of my personality that I believe come from my feminine side. When I am in public, if somebody realizes that I was a transgender woman that is okay because I am. That made a big difference in my frame of mind and allowed me to walk out the door.

As we all know, the fears we had were unfounded. Some of us went out and passed some of the time, but if we didn’t pass, we were still treated with respect and politeness.

Still many of us struggle with that bit of apprehension when leaving the refuge of our home or hotel room. After two years of pandemic imposed exile, I find myself acting like I did back in the 90’s. Gazing at that door with trepidation and pondering “what if, oh no!” 

So I came up with a little psychological ploy to overcome my doubts, fears and worries. One of the hurdles I had to get over was that I thought of myself as a man going out into the world dressed as a woman. Although I live as man most of the time, deep down I am a woman and for reasons too complex and drawn-out to list here, I live as a man.

Before going out, I check myself over making sure my look is complete. I take several minutes and begin meditating. This is a very peaceful time. After getting dressed and transforming myself, I feel so feminine, harmonious and euphoric. 

I imagine myself as a transgender woman who transitioned many years ago. I live as woman every day now, I tell myself. There is no reason to fear because I wear these clothes and makeup every day. I am Mrs. Paula Gaikowski, a married woman with a loving husband and family. I have a successful career as a woman. This is who I really am and who I was meant to be, so go forth without fear or worry and enjoy being my true self.

When I walk out that door that’s how I see myself. t works for me; maybe it will help you, too. 

Wearing Venus

Femulating on Hungarian television’s Éretlenek

Someday Funnies: Moving Forward

Wearing Joie

Unknown femulating gentle man

Someday Funnies

The Ever-Expanding Wardrobe

I bought two Zesica dresses for my wife for her recent birthday. After unwrapping the dresses, she was very pleased with my choices. 

Then she asked me if I had purchased any for myself. I said, “No.”

The dresses I bought my wife were very nice – better than I expected, so I visited Amazon and ordered two dresses for myself.

Wearing Ted Baker

Femulator Nikki

Someday Funnies

Wearing Waimari

Angus T. Jones femulating in a 2008 episode of television's Two and a Half Men.

Slipping Slip Sales

By Paula Gaikowski

Last century, in the 1980’s, my wife called me in a panic. She had left the house in such a hurry that she forgot to wear a slip under the dress she wore that day! Fortunately, she was able to telephone a friend who brought one of her own to work and saved the day. 

That’s how important a slip was in a woman’s wardrobe at one time. Some of us here at Femulate might remember our mothers or sisters rushing around the house in a slip getting ready for work or church – another layer of femininity that most of us noticed and eventually sought out. One of my most lasting memories is probably Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 move Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Secretly, many of us wanted to be her slinking around in that slip.

Slips serve various purposes. 

• They help a dress or skirt hang properly, especially when static cling might otherwise cause the dress to wrap around the wearer's legs. 
• They protect the skin from chafing against coarse fabrics such as wool; conversely, if the outer garment is made of fine fabric, a slip protects it from perspiration. 
• Slips may be worn for warmth, especially if the dress or skirt is lightweight and thin. 
• In very warm or humid climates, a slip made entirely from cotton may be desired. 
• Slips are often worn to prevent the see-through of intimate undergarments such as panties or bras. 
• Slips may also be used to prevent a silhouette of the legs showing through clothing when standing in front of a bright light source.

The decline of the slip coincidentally coincides with the decline of pantyhose. There was a changing of the guard in the mid-90’s. Women became managers and gained control over dress codes and fashion choices in business. Female executives began to realize that there was no compelling reason why she or her colleagues had to spend $50 to $100 a month on pantyhose or wear them when it was hot and humid. 

The same thing happened with slips as women started to define the dress codes in business, the need to spend extra money on a garment that was thought old fashioned and too hot in the summer was tossed aside. Products like Spanx, Shape Slips Slip Shorts, etc. helped smooth out bumps and panty lines and replaced slips. 

I have several slips in my wardrobe: a nude and black half-slip and a beautiful pastel pink with lace trim full slip. They are a delight to wear and add a layer femininity and with it, joy to the process of getting dressed. I welcome the layer of warmth they provide during the cold New England winters. I’ve also joined the modern girls and have a selection of Spanx-like garments that I love.

Slips still have a place in modern women’s wardrobe, although they now are reserved for special occasions. Many women still proclaim the glamour and sexiness of wearing a garment designed to look pretty and feminine.  I couldn’t agree more.

Wearing Venus

Alistair Sim (center) and other femulators in the 1957 British film Blue Murder at St. Trinian's.

E-Mail Subscriptions Not Working

A number of readers have written to me that their e-mail subscription to this blog are no longer working. My guess is that all e-mail subscriptions to Femulate are affected. 

Something is amiss and I am looking into it. In the meantime, access the blog through your web browser using www.femulate.org

Someday Funnies

Source: Rue La La

Patrick Livesey (right) femulates on the Australian stage in Gone Girls (Source: Caty).

Does Facebook have anti-trans biases?

By Vince Kayser

Our website (http://mytransgenderdate.com/) is currently experiencing a problem with Facebook, which begs the question “Does Facebook have anti-trans biases?” We wrote an article on it here: https://mytransgenderdate.com/blog/2022/07/does-facebook-have-anti-trans-biases

To summarize that article, we have been experiencing abusive and intrusive reviews by Facebook to the point of harassment. They have banned our pages and our admins for no reason. We also found out that we aren’t the only ones experiencing this. There are also other trans/LGBT sites that have been victims of Facebook.

Your Femulate editor is another person who experienced Facebook’s anti-trans bias. You can read all about it here, but in a nutshell, Facebook banned me from using their service because I used my femme name.

Wearing Venus

Femulating en masse

Someday Funnies

Five-foot-ten Savannah Guthrie 

 

She wears the pants

What’s Up, Patient?

I shave everything I can reach from the neck down. 

In the past, I did not shave if I had an upcoming doctor’s appointment because I did not want a doctor asking me about my shaved body parts.

Some time ago, I stopped worrying and now I see my doctors in a shaved body. No one in the doctor’s office ever questioned me about it. Even when I had varicose vein surgery and had to display my shaved legs to the doctor, nurses and technicians on the day of surgery and during three follow-up visits, no one said a word about my shaved legs. 

Who knows what was said, if anything, behind my back? 

But after all my recent doctor visits, it dawned on me that no one has ever broached the subject. Maybe the Hippocratic Oath precludes it – I dunno, but it has never been an issue.

For that matter, few civilians have ever mentioned my hairlessness. I only recall it happening when I dressed for Halloween en femme and someone remarked that I shaved my legs!

And so it goes.

Wearing Giambattista Valli

Grayson Perry (left)

Someday Funnies

Wearing Cynthia Rowley

Bobby Kimber, professional femulator and ventriloquist