Compliments
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 9:25 am
I have noted that I get more compliments the closer I get to presenting in a way that will cause people to think that I am trying to "affirm my gender". Now, as a rule, I am always wearing nearly 100% made-for-women clothing, but even within that, there are gradations. I never wear makeup and I never speak "in a voice". On occasion I will wear a pearly-beads necklace close around my neck, usually black, but I do that very sparingly because I don't find I look "right" with it in but a few different outfits. (It seems to balance them somehow.) I wear high-heels almost always, but they don't all scream "look, we are high heels". Stilettos are rare for me (though if I worked in an office they'd probably be every day). I shave when I want to and I keep the hair on my head very short to bald. I do usually carry a purse, but a plain one without any real bling to it. I don't wear feminine hats for the same reason I don't usually wear even a necklace. My legs and body are virtually hairless and I do wear pantyhose in the colder months. Even with the feminine wardrobe, people usually automatically use masculine means of address with me spontaneously. Rarely do I need to correct them.
I get compliments almost entirely from women I meet in the supermarket or elevators and such. The only compliments I get with any frequency from my male friends are when I have worn something that seems exceptionally well coordinated or something. These same male friends don't mind taking the piss out of me on occasion either, which I really appreciate. I don't want to be treated as-if I am going to melt, or as-if I need accommodations for just doing what I enjoy.
Women will say things like "oh, that is pretty" or "I like your shoes". I think they are mostly trying to be "gender affirming", but I can't really be sure because I have no experience of being a woman. Do women, female strangers, do this with each other normally? My wife says they can, but I still feel like it's a little extra.
I've had people (male and female) come up to me and thank me for my courage. I find that a bit annoying because I always have to take a second to realise what they are actually saying. It seems odd to me that people do that because what they are doing, really, is saying "I can still tell that you're a man, but good on you for trying." It's kind of like getting a "participation" ribbon, isn't it?
Sometimes I feel like life would be simpler if I just sported a beard at all times, but I really can't tolerate one for long, and when I shave I like to shave smooth enough that I can at least get an extra day out of it. None of it is really a problem. Once, this woman, a sales clerk, was trying to get my attention in a busy store and I didn't realise it because she was repeatedly calling out "ma'am" and getting louder. I gently let her know that I hadn't responded because she should have said "sir", and it was all fine. If that's the worse thing that's happened to you that month, your life is pretty good, I figure. But going forward I would hope that I train enough of the places I go to just go with what they see and not what they assume about what I am trying to do. I think this is a component of freedom for men. Women can go anywhere dressed as they like and they will be addressed in the familiar, conventional way. People will use their eyes to figure out their sex and apply the correspondingly gendered language. It's only men where they will have to wonder what to say, unless men continue keeping themselves in a tiny fashion box, which obviously a lot of us here don't want to do.
I generally enjoy a compliment but I would pay good money to figure out what is actually going on in the head of the person giving it. Someone says to me "oh that's a pretty dress" and I smile and say "thank you" but on the inside I am going "damn straight it is, that's why I wore it!"
I get compliments almost entirely from women I meet in the supermarket or elevators and such. The only compliments I get with any frequency from my male friends are when I have worn something that seems exceptionally well coordinated or something. These same male friends don't mind taking the piss out of me on occasion either, which I really appreciate. I don't want to be treated as-if I am going to melt, or as-if I need accommodations for just doing what I enjoy.
Women will say things like "oh, that is pretty" or "I like your shoes". I think they are mostly trying to be "gender affirming", but I can't really be sure because I have no experience of being a woman. Do women, female strangers, do this with each other normally? My wife says they can, but I still feel like it's a little extra.
I've had people (male and female) come up to me and thank me for my courage. I find that a bit annoying because I always have to take a second to realise what they are actually saying. It seems odd to me that people do that because what they are doing, really, is saying "I can still tell that you're a man, but good on you for trying." It's kind of like getting a "participation" ribbon, isn't it?
Sometimes I feel like life would be simpler if I just sported a beard at all times, but I really can't tolerate one for long, and when I shave I like to shave smooth enough that I can at least get an extra day out of it. None of it is really a problem. Once, this woman, a sales clerk, was trying to get my attention in a busy store and I didn't realise it because she was repeatedly calling out "ma'am" and getting louder. I gently let her know that I hadn't responded because she should have said "sir", and it was all fine. If that's the worse thing that's happened to you that month, your life is pretty good, I figure. But going forward I would hope that I train enough of the places I go to just go with what they see and not what they assume about what I am trying to do. I think this is a component of freedom for men. Women can go anywhere dressed as they like and they will be addressed in the familiar, conventional way. People will use their eyes to figure out their sex and apply the correspondingly gendered language. It's only men where they will have to wonder what to say, unless men continue keeping themselves in a tiny fashion box, which obviously a lot of us here don't want to do.
I generally enjoy a compliment but I would pay good money to figure out what is actually going on in the head of the person giving it. Someone says to me "oh that's a pretty dress" and I smile and say "thank you" but on the inside I am going "damn straight it is, that's why I wore it!"