What feminine items do you wear?

[JohnH]

I enjoy looking good with wearing lipstick.and.eye makeup along with nail varnish (polish). I put those items on even when when I wear a man's coat and tie outfit. And I like to wear floral dresses.
I DO express my masculinity by doing such things as climbing up on a roof to cut branches and limbs, and to replace shingles, and as we all know, sing second bass in my church choir.
It is truly unfortunate men are confined to a coffin sized space for allowed clothing and grooming conventions. Little boys are told by their well-meaning parents that "Boys don't do that". I believe that is a form of child abuse.

John

[jamie001]

I enjoy looking good with wearing lipstick.and.eye makeup along with nail varnish (polish). I put those items on even when when I wear a man's coat and tie outfit. And I like to wear floral dresses.
I DO express my masculinity by doing such things as climbing up on a roof to cut branches and limbs, and to replace shingles, and as we all know, sing second bass in my church choir.
It is truly unfortunate men are confined to a coffin sized space for allowed clothing and grooming conventions. Little boys are told by their well-meaning parents that "Boys don't do that". I believe that is a form of child abuse.

John

John,

I agree that is is a form of child abuse that only boys are subjected to. To your point there are also women climb up on the roof and do those types of chores. Therefore the chores are not really masculine or feminine. I believe that you have accepted the fact that you can be both masculine and feminine at the same time which is a really wonderful realization. I have demolished my Man-Box and burned my Man-Card many years ago. I align much better with women and have more meaningful conversations with them, however I am also able to have great conversations with highly intellectual men that have also evolved beyond the Man-Box.

The “boys don’t do that” conversation needs to stop, however it will never stop because Hollywood, video games, and other external stimuli are promoting the Man-Box culture multiple times on a daily basis. It is a sad state of affairs that began during the industrial revolution when men gave up wonderful clothing options for a subservient uniform style dress code, hence the suit and drab clothing were born.

[JohnH]

For all my feminine aspects I prefer to talk to my fellow men at church, even when I'm dressed en femme. And I don't think there are many women that sing second bass, down to C2, two ledger lines below the bass staff.
I saw on crossdressers.com a thread where members felt like they had to get counseling because they wanted to wear"feminine" clothes. When was the last time women had to get counseling to wear "masculine" clothes?
Mercifully I was not subject to that child abuse for boys when I was growing up.

John

[jamie001]

For all my feminine aspects I prefer to talk to my fellow men at church, even when I'm dressed en femme. And I don't think there are many women that sing second bass, down to C2, two ledger lines below the bass staff.
I saw on crossdressers.com a thread where members felt like they had to get counseling because they wanted to wear"feminine" clothes. When was the last time women had to get counseling to wear "masculine" clothes?
Mercifully I was not subject to that child abuse for boys when I was growing up.

John

John,

You were very lucky and one of the few for not being subjext to the child abuse for boys when you were growing up. You make a very good point regarding women never seeking conseling for wearing men’s clothing items. I believe that the reason for this is that they were raised with a “you can do anything” attitude and that also means that you can do anything that a man can do and that also includes wearing men’s clothing if you so choose. On the other hand, when boys wore their sister’s shoes to school, they got the shlt kicked out of them on the playground while the teachers looked the other way because sissy boys that wear girls clothing items deserve to be beaten for their choices. I for one accept the “Sissy” or “JaneGirl” label with pride. I am the opposite of a TomBoy.

Jamie

[Myopic Bookworm]

For all my feminine aspects I prefer to talk to my fellow men at church, even when I'm dressed en femme.

I'll talk to anyone, but I am conscious of feeling vaguely uncomfortable in all-male environments. It first struck me at a get-together for ex-pupils of my (all-male) school. In an all-male environment, I think I am subconsciously worried that the conversation will turn to something for which I am a complete outsider, such as cars or sport, or that I will be put on the spot to call out misogyny, or that I will be the target of "banter". As a stay-at-home father, I have had experience of being the only male in an all-female environment, and that is not always comfortable either (though at toddlers groups, I usually found it was the age gap not the gender gap that could make conversation awkward).

[jamie001]

For all my feminine aspects I prefer to talk to my fellow men at church, even when I'm dressed en femme.

I'll talk to anyone, but I am conscious of feeling vaguely uncomfortable in all-male environments. It first struck me at a get-together for ex-pupils of my (all-male) school. In an all-male environment, I think I am subconsciously worried that the conversation will turn to something for which I am a complete outsider, such as cars or sport, or that I will be put on the spot to call out misogyny, or that I will be the target of "banter". As a stay-at-home father, I have had experience of being the only male in an all-female environment, and that is not always comfortable either (though at toddlers groups, I usually found it was the age gap not the gender gap that could make conversation awkward).

Myopic,

I completely agree with everything that you stated in your post. I tend to avoid groups of men because the majority of them talk sports, cars, complain about their wives, boast about their bravado, and consume too much alcohol. On the other hand, most of my close friends are women and most of my wife’s close friends are men. I can relate to women and have much deeper conversations with them. The exception is highly intellectual open-minded men. I find that I can have good friendships with these types of men but they are difficult to find. There are many men here on the Cafe that are highly evolved in their thought processes and openness to new ideas. Conversely, I have almost nothing in common with men who live in the Man-Box and practice the Man-Code.

[Mouse]

I am afraid I have to live in the real world of men and some females. I have to turn up on building sites and set up a working relationship to get my designs put into the construction. A working knowledge of football, cars and popular culture is useful to converse about and show that I am a OK person. I also have to be on form with my technical knowledge to respond to other professionals. I have found that if you go in with confidence and the ability to take a bit of ribbing, then being a MIS can be a lot of fun and nothing to be scared of.

[jamie001]

I have found that if you go in with confidence and the ability to take a bit of ribbing, then being a MIS can be a lot of fun and nothing to be scared of.

Very good point!