when you start feeling masculine what activities or clothing or anything that remids you that your a woman.  at my job i have to wear ugly gender nutral scrubs and stuggle to maintain my feminity in my head.  what heps you when it feels like to much

I wear eyeliner and mascara every day and thongs under my scrubs too and women socks

My little (very sensitive after 6 mo of low-dose medication) nipples keep me going with smile whenever I cannot do or wear anything feminine

Quote from: natalie.ashlyne on June 20, 2017, 09:48:12 PM
I wear eyeliner and mascara every day and thongs under my scrubs too and women socks

+1 on the makeup.  My scrubs may be charcoal grey ( ), but my eyelids are champagne pink and light brown.

You could always give your opinion about something to a guy. It should only take a couple of minutes for him to start mansplaining and talking down to you to remind you you are just a female.
Julia

being girly... makes me feel feminine... the whole, dress, makeup, heels, doing my hair thing.. I am very girly girl..

thinking about something that really stands out for me, that makes me feel extra feminine, two things..

1. wearing black pantyhose on freshly shaven legs
2. Wearing sexy lacy lingerie, especially a lacy g-string.

I wear bra, pantyhose & nail polish every day.

When I feel ugly or masculine, Make up helps alot, wear nice clothes too :')
But yea make up really helps, the act of putting it on is almost therapeutic

Seems to be a lot of things missing in the discussion of femininity here.  What about...

...getting paid less for the same work?
...being interrupted and corrected by a guy who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about?
...waking up an hour earlier and going to be an hour later?

If it's just about silky clothes, you don't need to change your gender for that.  Just go to the store.

Quote from: rmaddy on June 21, 2017, 02:04:54 PM
Seems to be a lot of things missing in the discussion of femininity here.  What about...

...getting paid less for the same work?
...being interrupted and corrected by a guy who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about?
...waking up an hour earlier and going to be an hour later?

If it's just about silky clothes, you don't need to change your gender for that.  Just go to the store.

Well the op was more asking about stuff that made you feel feminine, weither in times of need (because you're down on yourself) or just in general.
What you mentioned isn't really things that make you feel feminine, these things are more just things that remind us of the sexism in the world.

The clothing and makeup rituals help, of course, but there can be reminders buried in there that break from femme back to dysphoria.  That seems to happen less often over time, fortunately.  Once I'm all together I'm fine.

I feel the most feminine when I'm with other women, chatting, dining, or even simply sitting in an audience together (as at "The Vagina Monologues"  ).  The social aspects very much reinforce the medical stuff and gender presentation.  What would we call this? Gender acceptance? 

Being out in public and seen as a woman has a similar effect, particularly when I trigger affirmative responses, the checkout and smile from another woman, or the male chivalry responses (opening or holding a door, offering a seat on transit...).

As Alice1234 notes, being in androgynous wear like scrubs does nothing for us.  I agree that underdressing can help, and whatever we can get away with in presentation, groomed nails, mascara and other eye goodies, can all help a little bit.

One thing that's nice is being complemented on my nails, as just happened about an hour ago at a customer.  I've had several compliments from women, since I started wearing nail polish.

Quote from: rmaddy on June 21, 2017, 02:04:54 PM
If it's just about silky clothes, you don't need to change your gender for that.  Just go to the store.

Try wearing a pink silk blouse as a male.

Women are written off for a lot of reasons and expressing femininity is in fact one of them.

For a couple of decades now, never once passing, when I have felt low or stressed , the lingerie drawer or makeup kit has been exactly my goto.

Yes anyone can go for a femme affect, and that affect can see a trans woman discounted by her cis gender sisters every bit as much as either a cis or trans woman may be written off by males.

Learning that expressing femininity is the way I express power was an important step in my transition and not a lesson that was easily won.

Quote from: Julia1996 on June 21, 2017, 06:45:27 AM
You could always give your opinion about something to a guy. It should only take a couple of minutes for him to start mansplaining and talking down to you to remind you you are just a female.
Julia

LOL...Now that's funny, Julia!........................................  and true

*agree with @rachel_christina

Thanks for X'plaining it, though, @rmaddy!

--
"You do realize, this means you get to do character creation & the newbie zone all over again? "

I'm not angry any more. I love doing make up and I hate to act my age. I finally have an opportunity to support others on the treadmill I was on for 64 years.

I feel feminine when wearing a bikini (in private). Also, I feel feminine when guys who knew me before in 'him' mode, treat me differently now.
Monica

I do enjoy the makeup, lingerie and fun clothes. But I agree with Michelle, interacting with other women makes me feel whole and complete quicker than anything else, especially if it includes heart and life stuff that seems to primarily live in women's lives.

Yes Michelle, a good point I never thought of, since I have been living as a girl full time now (except for work) :@, my cousins here have really been great and I feel totally normal. I'm treated the same as them, as an other woman :3

I having real trouble relating to how Western TG seem to refect their constant fear of not passing not feeling feminine enough. Our biggest change is our mind, how we percieve the world, and our empathy emerging from its dark dungeons. Feeling female, male or whatever is simply being yourself. We are the 3rd gender we will at times feel male thats ok. I guess its hard for me to understand what mental stress my western sisters face in passing, discrimination, feeling male at times. Its natural here in Bangkok no one cares and in the end you dont care either.