Femininity is so often denigrated nowadays. It takes a strong, confident woman to openly enjoy your own femininity.
Hey, I don't mind a bit if women want to wear pants. More power to them. From many women's point of view, they were forced into wearing dresses against their will as girls, so to wear pants is an expression of liberation and self-empowerment. Some individuals are girly, some aren't.
Personally, my own journey has left me with different feelings. Pants feel uncomfortable to me. Jeans worst of all. The fabric feels too rough and heavy, too hot in summer but not warm enough in winter. The hard bits, where the seams and rivets are, actually hurt me if pressure is there. When I started wearing women's jeans, the added lycra was an improvement, but not enough. Frankly, I wore jeans not because I wanted to, but because of all the social pressure-- in the present day, in casual situations, like on Casual Friday at work, or on weekends, if you wear dress-up clothes instead of jeans it marks you as weird. Before I transitioned, I wore jeans just because of the social pressure not to be thought weird. Jeans are the orthodoxy of our day and I feared the stigma of being a heretic dissenter. It was already hard enough being gender-variant.
I feel so much more comfortable in skirts and dresses. I mostly wear long flowing skirts. I like that look. Long skirts trap warmer air near your legs in winter, and allow fresh air to circulate around your legs refreshingly in summer. The cold doesn't bother me when I wear long skirts and tights. In fact, the combination is warmer for me than jeans. Even if it's subzero, I feel more comfortable in a long flannel skirt with leggings underneath than I would in jeans. As for casual weekend looks, I have a long flowing circle skirt made of soft cotton that looks just like denim and is very comfortable, the perfect compromise.
Another consideration is being read as female vs. being clocked. Many people tell me that wearing skirts is a good way to get clocked, and that to be accepted as a "real woman" you have to wear pants. Well, no doubt that works for some individuals. But it does not work for me. No matter how well I otherwise presented female, wearing pants almost always got me called "sir." Skirts and dresses get me called "ma'am," and allow me to live and be accepted in the world as female. Believe it or not. Each individual's needs are different and unique.
Part of it is age. I'm a mature woman now. When I was in college, I wore absolutely nothing but jeans year in, year out. It would never have occurred to me to wear anything else. I imagine if I had transitioned at college age, I would have been an exclusively jeans-clad young woman too. But at my age, skirts and dresses work well for me. I can't pretend to be a young kid, I prefer to dress my age.
Way I look at it is: Women have a choice whether to wear pants or skirts. I was never allowed a choice in this matter before. I loathed being forced into uncomfortable pants. Now that I'm living fully as a woman, I am finally exercising my freedom of choice--by wearing skirts. And it feels good. I hope each of you can feel free to do what feels good for you as an individual too.
