The Sound of Music... Again!

By Norah Blucher

Okay so perhaps I’m not always the most creative with titles as I’ve used this one before, but in a slightly different context when I went to the symphony. It did however elicit quite a reaction from longtime Femulate reader Elise who has an adoration for the film by the same name and all things alpine complete with dirndls. I must admit I’ve since bought the movie, but have yet to watch it. However when I had the opportunity to have a real life Sound of Music experience I could not let Elise down and jumped at the chance! Sort of.

Some Like It Hot!

I’d long read how many femulators go into hibernation in the summer and even Stana did so in her early days. I started going out last fall and figured I would do the same, but as the seasons passed and summer approached I abandoned all intentions of the sort and resigned to just deal with it as stepping out as female had just become my default state in many ways.

And oh my did I get a lot of bloody practice for sure! My first summer out and about as a woman was one of the hottest I ever remember in New England and right at the start the air conditioner in my car decided it had sung its last song. And it was in this situation I found myself heading home from a sweltering trip to Vermont. It had been a fab trip for sure and I recently wrote about my dinner cruise on the same trip, but now it was time to head home.

It was on this trip I came to adore the travel skirt a staple which would serve me well throughout the sweltering summer. I’m not sure if travel skirt is the proper name, but it is what I came to call the cool simple flowy wrinkle-resistant skirts used by so many women while traveling or on holiday. You can roll them in a ball in your suitcase and they unpack with nary a wrinkle to speak of.

The largely water-resistant makeup routine I adopted while skiing also served me well, though this time the water was from me and not the weather lol. I also returned to my longer hair again as the wefted cap of that one was a right bit cooler especially when tied up off my neck with a clip.

And so hoping for the best I set out from Burlington hoping, I would make it home before the turkey popper popped and my goose was cooked.

The Hills Are Alive!

I drove in my oven toward Stowe where I planned to visit the Von Trapp House of The Sound of Music fame. If you recall, the Von Trapp family eventually fled the Nazis and settled in the rather alpine setting of the mountains of northern Vermont. And though I do think it is much newer than the original Von Trapp house, a brewery nearby also bears their name as well.

It was a very pretty drive for sure along back country roads through the verdant Vermont hills, but by the time I reached the Von Trapp brewery, I was afraid my makeup may have melted off and I was just ready to get out of the rolling oven I was calling a car. I checked my makeup and though it did not look the most smashing, it was still holding up better than I expected so I made my way inside.

To my dismay, I discovered they had all the doors open as the brewery had no air conditioning! Ugh! Many places in the northern tier of New England can still be found without air conditioning as it is not often needed, but today was certainly a day it was. Anyway, as the hostess seated me, I noticed many others were in my predicament, too.

Not that the brewery was terribly crowded midday during the week, but as I sipped a soda and awaited my schnitzel and spaetzle, I scanned the room and outside patio and saw every other woman was not exactly the picture of beauty when it is 95 degrees out and none of them were letting it bother them and neither was I! Though I was not looking exactly my best, no one seemed to take notice of me either.

The food was absolutely delicious and even though I was at a brewery I did not try any beer. It was much too hot for any alcohol and I’m more of a wine or gin girl anyway. I still had to drive as well, but not before taking a peek at the actual brewery!

I perused the gift shop before departing, but sadly dirndls were not to be had. So back into the oven it was for the short trip to the lodge.

Von Trapp Family Lodge

I’d been all over Vermont over a decade ago, but had not ventured to the Von Trapp Family Lodge and it was rather impressive. It truly looked like something out the Alps and I half expected Julie Andrews to come outside and start twirling around.

That was not to be however, but they did have a lot of hiking biking and other sorts of outdoor activities at the site and some crazy fools were even doing them in the blasted heat of the day. I decided upon something more my speed for a hot summer day and browsed the air-conditioned gift shop and even tried on a summer dress which I ended up not getting as it just did not look good on me.

Overall I found people most friendly and either I was passing or no one gave a hoot what I was.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Norah’s roadtrip in tomorrow’s post. In the meantime, if you’ve any questions or comments, please write in the comments below or you can email Norah at nblucher at-sign proton dot me.

Wearing Boston Proper

Lee Bennett femulating in the 1946 film Scared to Death. I started watching this film on TCM because it was a rare Bela Lugosi flick – rare in that it was in color (almost all of the other films Lugosi appeared in were in black and white). I had no idea that the film had a femulation, which occurred in the last few minutes of the film. When the film ended, I rewound the film to the femulation scene and took some shots with my iPhone. 

Are Younger Women More Open To Crossdressers?

Emma Davies commented on Sunday’s “The ‘Extra Hour of Sleep’ Post” as follows:

The last two funnies did make me wonder of the experiences of others. I have found that younger women are becoming more open to my dressing nowadays. Are others feeling that they are seeing similar ? Has (social) media coverage affected attitudes? Just a thought. 

Before I expressed my thoughts on the question, I asked AI, “Are younger women becoming more open to men who crossdress nowadays?”

Here is AI’s response:

Given the existing evidence, I think it’s plausible that younger women as a group are somewhat more open to men who cross-dress than older women, for the following reasons:

1. Because younger women tend to embrace less rigid gender norms, they may be more receptive to non-traditional gender expression in partners.
2. The increasing visibility of gender non-normative dress, plus cultural shifts around masculinity and femininity, likely lower the stigma surrounding men wearing “feminine” clothing or cross-gender style.
3. Anecdotal accounts (though not rigorous) suggest that women often express positive or curious responses to male cross-dressers.

However — and this is key — becoming more open does not mean broad acceptance across all younger women, or that dating/relationship dynamics automatically shift. Individual attitudes will vary a lot based on culture, region, background, personal values, religious or community norms, and the context (casual vs committed relationship).

I am no expert, but my experience being out en femme for several years confirms reason 3. In general, women my age (the Boomers) are usually not thrilled with my crossdressing, while younger women are usually “positive or curious.”

The Boomers

A long-time family friend ended our friendship when she found out that I crossdressed. (She never saw me crossdressed; she just heard about it.)

Another close friend, who is very LGBT+ friendly, is not a fan. (She only saw me dressed on a couple of Halloweens.)

An in-law thought I was mentally ill. (She never saw me dressed.)

Another in-law socialized with me en femme, but she was always very uncomfortable when she did.

And so it goes with most female Boomers.

The Youngsters

The 20-, 30- and 40-something women at work were very supportive. As one remarked to me, she always looked forward to see how I looked en femme and I “never disappointed.”

When shopping en femme, young saleswoman in general are friendlier than older saleswomen although admittedly they are in it for the money. 

The times I went out en femme with my daughter, I was her “aunt” unless we encountered one of her friends and then she introduced me as her father. After the shock wore off, her friends were always friendly with me and treated me as one of the girls. (Even her guy friends were OK with “Aunty.”)

So my personal anecdotal evidence agrees with AI’s reason number 3. How about you?

Wearing Boston Proper

Thomas Kuc and Benjamin Flores, Jr. femulating on television’s Game Shakers.

Stuff 94: Coming to Terms with Terms

By J.J. Atwell

Terms?

Terms can be helpful when describing ourselves or others. But terms can also turn into horrible traps. Some terms are benign. Like him or her. Others are loaded with mostly negative connotations. I’m actually going to avoid some of those terms in this installment, but I’m sure you can think of some on your own. 

Try not to be offensive. Your terms are your choice. It seems to me that there are many terms we adopt when referring to our femme self. Notice I said “we.” I’m sure that each of us has a preferred term that they use when describing what we do.

My Terms

I generally refer to myself as a CD, short for crossdresser. To me it accurately describes what I do. When I was first starting out, the commonly used term was transvestite (TV), which is basically the Latin term for the same thing. However, in my mind the term transvestite has mostly negative connotations. Perhaps not in your mind. 

I love the term that Stana has coined, femulate. It’s so descriptive!! We are doing our best to emulate females. Being new it hasn’t yet acquired the negative baggage that some terms have over the years so that’s also a plus. However, since it is new it’s not in general use when describing our community. 

How about TG (transgender) or TS (transsexual)? Two fairly technical/medical terms that get tossed around generally to designate those of us who actually seek to transition from male-to-female in real life. At least that’s how I look at it, but please continue reading below.

For those of you that follow my writing, I’m curious as to what term you would prefer? I just had a discussion about this with one of the other members of my local group and she said she prefers TG to describe her. No, she is not going to transition. She just believes that TG is a nicer term than CD. So, there is another point about how terms we use can be misunderstood by others. Whatever you do, please respect the other person’s preferred terms. 

Drag queen is another popular term to describe men dressing as women. To my mind, this describes someone who is an entertainer. They often dress “over the top” when performing to attract attention. Many drag queens do present as believable females, but it seems it’s always with a wink and a nod. If you’re a drag queen, go ahead and wear that badge proudly while you enjoy your presentation. If you’re a CD who likes to emulate the drag queens when you go out then by all means, go ahead and own it!

Is Your Name A Term?

Long time readers of Stuff will recall in Stuff 22, back on December 11, 2023, I talked about how we pick out our nom de femme. I attempted to make a point about how we sometimes use different names for the same thing. Like that old English poet wrote about the smell of roses. Sadly, it seems that today what we call things can be divisive. What is a rose to some people can be skunk cabbage to others. 

But can our femme name be considered a term? I suppose it can be. Especially a name like Sheila (in Australia, that name is used for any woman) or Cissy/Sissy which some women use to denote a family relationship. And Missy would be another instance where a name would also be considered a term. I’m sure you can think of others too.

So, why do we care? Well, actually I don’t. I’m happy to use whatever terms you prefer and hope you’ll do the same. Once again, I’m just trying to get you, dear reader, to think outside the box. It’s fun!!!

I’ll Be Back

Thank you for reading my term paper! I’ll be finding more Stuff to write about. I welcome comments and suggestions here on Stana’s page or by email at Jenn6nov at-sign gmail dot com.

Wearing Shein

Alan Sues femulating on television’s Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.