Someday Funnies

Wearing Ann Taylor

French Femulate reader Mike/Virginia
I welcome all Femulate readers to submit Before and After photos for publication on the blog.
Just send your photos to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net

Someday Funnies

Wearing Nine West

Lena, an Australian lady
I welcome all Femulate readers to submit Before and After photos for publication on the blog.
Just send your photos to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net

Throwback Thursday: Reflections of a Booth Babe

I posted the following after my 2010 trip to the Dayton Hamvention in which for the first timed, I was en femme 24 hours a day during the three day event. 

One week ago, I was on my journey en femme attending the world's largest ham radio convention in Dayton, Ohio. I have had a few days to reflect on my experience and have some thoughts to share.

You readers have posted comments and sent e-mails congratulating me on my trip to Dayton. I thank you all for your congratulatory words.

“Courage” is the oft-repeated word you used in those comments and e-mails. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, courage is the “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.”

Wow – that is stuff that makes someone a hero! I sure did not feel courageous in Dayton, nor did I feel like a hero (or heroine). I was just trying to be the real me.

All my life, I struggled trying to be the real me. While I patently rejected most of what it meant to be a male, I still presented as a male and as a result, I was an incongruous being, that is, I was a woman dressed like a man (or a girl dressed like a boy).

Although I did not know it at the time, I began crossdressing in my teens to correct that incongruity. I discovered that my new “hobby” was such a good fit that I crossdressed at every opportunity, initially in the home closet, but later in other closets beyond the home, for example, support group meetings, support group outings, crossdresser conventions, Fantasia Fair – all larger closets, but closets nonetheless.

While I was hanging out in those closets, I also took a few steps out of the closet and got a taste of being the real me in the real world. That experience was so addictive that I wanted to do it more often. Eventually, whenever I had the opportunity to be the real me, I chose to do it in the real world rather than in a closet, no matter its size.

If there was any courage on my part, I had it when I took those first few steps out of the closet into the real world. After that, my forays into the real world were fueled by the exhilaration that I knew awaited me when I was the real me in the real world. I did not need courage to do that; I just needed the opportunities to do that. My trip to Dayton was one of those opportunities.

I look forward to all the opportunities that present themselves in the future. I assure you I will use those opportunities to be the real me and it will not take courage to do so.

Wearing Boston Proper

Michelle

Someday Funnies: Ageless?

Wearing Cynthia Rowley

Paul David James becomes Cathy Marie James
I welcome all Femulate readers to submit Before and After photos for publication on the blog.
Just send your photos to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net

Someday Funnies

Wearing Self Portrait

Peter Outerbridge femulating in the 1999 Canadian film Better Than Chocolate.

A Monday Mix

Diverse Dress Code

The image below accompanied a recent Wall Street Journal report about the diverse dress codes of various airlines that now permit flight crews to wear male or female uniforms without regard to birth gender. 

“I used to be one of those people that would walk through work with my head down, just keeping to myself, and when I wear the dress, it makes me feel more confident.”

Tyler Curry, a JetBlue in-flight crew member

No Longer a Civilian

A week ago, I wrote here, “Womanless events bring out the curious among us (including myself) who wonder if any of the participants belong to our team.”

Simon wrote back about a student who participated in a womanless pageant about ten years ago. On Facebook, the student says she had a wonderful time as a pageant contestant and admits now that she should have realized then who she really was. Better late than never – last year, she announced that she was transgender.

I do not want to out her, so I will not mention her name, but her image dressed en femme for the pageant appeared on many trans-related websites and you may have seen it. By the way, she is very pretty – then and now.

My Health

I went to my primary doctor for my annual checkup last week. He gave me a “clean bill of health” and my blood work results showed no abnormalities.

Five months after total knee replacement surgery, my knee is nearly 100% back to normal. There is no pain, the dead spots are shrinking and the long red scar is being replaced with normal flesh tone skin.

I am a happy 72-year-old camper, although I have never gone camping.

Wearing Alexia Admor

Barbra Anne
World War II reenactment in the AM and dressing pretty in the PM
I welcome all Femulate readers to submit Before and After photos for publication on the blog.
Just send your photos to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net

Someday Funnies

Wearing J. Crew

Friends en femme

Someday Funnies

Wearing New York & Company

Femulate reader Nick/Lily
I welcome all Femulate readers to submit Before and After photos for publication on the blog.
Just send your photos to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net

Casa Susanna Reviewed

I watched Casa Susanna on PBS Tuesday night. Caveat emptor: I have read no reviews about the documentary, so my review, which follows, has not been influenced by anyone else's review.

I hated the soundtrack. Most of the music sounded like it came from a funeral home. The music gave the whole documentary a dark feeling. I did not recognize most of the tunes – they might have been classics as far as I know, but I wish they had used some music that was more uplifting. 

The stories told by the two trans women were interesting, but not that unusual if you have been reading trans bios like I have been reading for the past 60 years. 

I wish they had interviewed a crossdresser, who had not undergone a sex change; her perspective would probably be different than the post-ops.

I found the stories told by the civilians much more interesting. You don't often get the perspective of a civilian who is related to a trans person and I could listen to their stories all day long.

From one of the civilians, author Darryl Radnor’s daughter, I learned that Radnor was a regular guest at Casa Susanna. Radnor’s book, A Year Among the Girls, had given me the erroneous impression that she was not that involved – more of an observer, rather than an active participant. By the way, wouldn’t this be an excellent time to republish Radnor’s book, which is impossible to find anywhere. I know I would purchase a copy (lost my copy in the Great Purge of 1983).

I already knew most of the facts concerning Casa Susanna, as well as its predecessor, the Chevalier D'Eon resort, so nothing new there. But the documentary was a little misleading because most of the filming was done at the D'Eon resort site, not Casa Susanna, and that fact was not mentioned until late in the documentary. (I knew something was amiss because I was familiar with what Casa looked like and I did not recognize it when they concentrated on the resort site during much of the documentary.)

Overall, the documentary was very good especially for anyone who does not know much about Casa Susanna. And it would be a good educational tool for civilians who do not have a clue about crossdressing, something that you might suggest that your family watch in order to get to know you a little better.

Wearing New York & Company

Femulate reader Laura
I welcome all Femulate readers to submit Before and After photos for publication on the blog.
Just send your photos to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net

Someday Funnies

Wearing Ann Taylor

Arthur Riscoe femulating on the London stage in One Wild Oat in 1948.