Trans-gender support and information hub

Voice and movement, these are things other people will notice, and make a determination on, besides your face, even from a distance the way you move will ping you as a man to others, with it not matching you clothing, especially if you are in a skirt or heels.

Things to do, and not do.
Walk with your elbows tucked in against your side, not the manly roll of Lino under each arm pit, you will have to watch that because it will be something that’s second nature to from before your transition began, as will most of the movement things. Don’t then put your lower arm tight against your side, with your palms facing in, and fingers pointing straight down (soldier alert) Or put your hands with your palms facing the ground, (camp gay man). Relax your arms from the elbow let them angle just a little away from your body and a little to the front, with your hands relaxed but pulled up just a little out of line with your forearm. Exaggerate these positions and you will start to look a bit of a drag queen.

Society has programmed peoples minds to expect to see a person move in a certain way based on gender, some people are challenging this, ( thank goodness ) but I think most trans women just want to blend in with the general female population to the more feminine end of the female movement scale, which society has in it head, and leave the societal challenging to women, and anyone else with the inclination to do so. It’s not so easy to challenge society when you know that you are to most peoples mind “in drag” and not wanting to be seen as such, even if they don’t see that looking at you, you may still feel that way, because you know whats under your clothing. Maybe one day people can all just do their own thing, without judgment from others; we can hope.

Walking; keep your feet no more than a shoe width apart, and take small steps, one shoe length is OK, but don’t go smaller or with you feet side by side, like a geisha, men tend to walk with a wider foot placement, and longer stride, compared to that annoying stereo type for women. Once you have had your surgery or gained a good bit of confidence, you will be able to feel ok the move away from stereo types of movement and appearance, and settle into something which feels more comfortable, or stay as you have been. Every woman makes that determination, about how she wants to looks, what she wears, how she moves, etc. A trans woman unless super brave will not likely feel able to be her own woman in such things, for fear of drawing unwanted negative attention.

You can try to learn that hip sway and roll that woman can do so easily, with their wider hips. I will try to explain how, but I’m not sure if I can put it into words in a good enough way to make it useful. As you take each step let your weight settle to the side, sort of throw your hip, as opposed to the stomping action which men do at the masculine end of male movement. Again don’t over do it. Once you feel you have that down, try swinging your hip forward a little on each step, then combine the two when you feel able to do. You are looking for more of a smooth glide of a walk, in opposition to that male stomp. Not all women walk like that, but it will add to you overall presentation.

It may all feel like you are acting at first, but it soon becomes second nature, as I said it’s up to you if or when you let it slip part or all the way back to when you were a man. Indeed some trans woman are so confident that they don’t even both trying to imitate stereo typical behavioural, movement, or even speech norms for a woman. It’s much easier for a woman to dress and move more like the male stereo type, and has been for a long time. It’s men who get looked at the wrong way, for wearing a dress. If you were born with more female facial features, and body shape, then you will have a much easier time of it, than if you are 6’ 4’ with a body like rugby player. But it can still be done.

There are other things like the hand flick which comes with a tut, and standing poses, head flicks with long hair, but men with long hair do that anyways. And the female flirty stuff, like shoe hanging, and twirls a strand or two of hair. You can google feminine movement classes and get u tube videos by women teaching women to be super feminine.

Heeled ankle boots are great to learn to walk in heels with, as they support your ankle, wearing heels helps a lot with the hip sway. But if you are quite tall, they are going to make you look even taller. It’s down to what sort of look you want to go for, you can wear flats, or even trainers with a skirt of dress if you do pass, especially if you are young. But there are lots of looks with skinny jeans, or trousers, and a top, or sweater, etc. If you want some ideas on finding your look, just go on the online women’s clothes sites. You will find it easier to get shoes on line. I bought my first few outfits online, but now I pick up some great stuff in the supermarkets, and charity shops, not massively good quality, but cheap, especially the end lines, on the sales racks… Never tried the boot sale type site for second hand but that’s an option.

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