So I've been thinking about this lately.  I never used to wear makeup, I always liked the look and creative potential of it, but I used to completely stay away it.  Along with anything else that I thought of as too feminine.  But recently I've been more comfortable expressing this side of myself.  I mean, if gender is a social construct then there's nothing inherently female about makeup, so it doesn't matter who wears it, right?  I like it and it doesn't make me any less of a man.
I know there are other transguys on here who like to wear makeup or are effeminate in other ways, but I'm wondering how many of you did this before you transitioned, or were you completely uncomfortable with it like I was?

Well, I'm pre-transitioning, and I avoid make-up/feminine things like the plague right now. For me, it has to do with the reaction I get whenever I do stuff like that that turns me off. I love my feminine qualities, but it doesn't exactly help my self-esteem for everyone to gasp when I enter wearing a dress and start praising me for "finally accepting that I'm a girl".   

So...yeah- avoid it like the plague. However, when I start to pass a bit more and get on T, then I probably will go back to wearing skirts and makeup because I really am a feminine guy.

But yea, Sylvester, I saw your pic with the makeup on the passing thread, and dude, you totally can work that makeup like a pro. I am amazed. 

Not a fan of the word "effeminate." I never was too feminine. Since I have the disadvantage of a very feminine body and am not read as male I tend to stay away from things that are read as feminine. I do enjoy skirts, I like crossdressing/gender play. I don't feel as if gender is strictly a social construct.

I've never really been into make-up, but I am definitely infinitely more feminine than I was pre-transition. It wasn't something I ever expected to happen, it just kind of did.... The gay man that had been trapped in there just pranced on out! I had definitely been overcompensating for being in a female body by trying to be as uber-masculine as I could possibly be. Now that being read as male is a non-issue for me, and I've come to terms with being gay, effeminacy feels completely natural to me.

Love the avatar, Atlas, I just started getting into Death Note.

After I transition, I'll probably look/act much more effeminate.  Right now I avoid wearing make up and skirts mainly because I'm not out to most people, and I don't want them to think I'm a girly girl when I'm really an effeminate guy.  Really I should just get over it and enjoy cross dressing while I still have the body, but it just doesn't happen very often.    

I'm not effeminate in the slightest, but I do love make-up at times, to dramatise my face/features. I'm not talking red lipstick and pink eyeshadow, but black eyeliner and mascara, maybe a purple or black lipstick or white powder to lighten my face. And as much as make-up is socially accepted as a feminine product, by todays standards these methods seem genderless.

But as it is, I avoid wearing the make-up that I love because I get comments like 'Oh, that eyeliner makes your eyes so bright', which is not in and of itself bad, except for when it is followed by something along the lines of, 'It makes you look so pretty, you should try and be girly more often.'

Not impressed by societies standards, but oppressed by them anyway. However, when I pass as male, that make-up is coming right back out! 

I guess that I'm pretty effeminate. I don't know how to apply makeup, but I like the effect it has on me (sometimes I'm in the mood for dressing up as a girl, but I think of it as doing drag/crossdressing). I'm a goth; not exactly the manliest macho-style possible. Makeup is also the only way for me to achieve the lovely cheekbones of Peter Murphy (goth icon). I also very much adore the "genderless" look of early goth style, it was all cheekbones, slender bodies wrapped in ripped-up tights and leather and lacy shirts and chains, huge and bizarre hair, black upon white. The guys and the girls looked similar, almost identical; nowadays, it seems the goth style has become more "divided".

I'm not really effeminate, I always hated makeup and form fitting clothing.  However, I do have a thing for effeminate men.   Cute, skinny boys who wear makeup and tight pants are just plain hot to me.    I know there's a lot of emphasis in gay dating on the importance of being 'straight-acting', but there's always some dudes who love the girly boys too.  Hell, even some women find them attractive, not that they'd typically be interested, but I have known a few to like girls.   There's no point in acting like something you aren't, if you're not the super masculine type you shouldn't fake it, that's just another closet, you know?

I am not really that effeminate in terms of dress...I prefer very traditional men's clothes. And I despise makeup, I resent every single day I had to apply it as a teen girl.

However. I do have rather feminine mannerisms. Some I hate...some I am a wee bit attached to. Communicating with women has become very easy for me, and that's something I don't wanna lose.

i actually use make-up the way i learned it from a "masculinizing make-up" tutorial on youtube and i pass really well that way. i look very pale and fragile in winter so i look more ambiguous without the make-up which includes a bronzer.....
i love kohl and eyeliner but that would definitely kill my passing - i have big blue eyes that allmost pop out of my head as it is, using eyeliner makes me look like  a japanese doll:(

QuoteI also very much adore the "genderless" look of early goth style, it was all cheekbones, slender bodies wrapped in ripped-up tights and leather and lacy shirts and chains, huge and bizarre hair, black upon white. The guys and the girls looked similar, almost identical

God, you and me both. I think so many of the singers back then were godly-hot.

I'd love to be able to still wear fishnets and eyeliner, but since I'm still fat I don't think it'd work. I've never seen feminine fat guys, unfortunately. Makes me worry about my hair as well, because there's not way in hell I'm changing the only physical thing that makes me happy, but I'm worried it's giving me away. I just need to lose more weight... a lot more.

To be honest, I'm not really sure.  I don't see myself as overly masculine or feminine (aside from clothing preference, I prefer masculine clothes).  I do avoid certain things and overcompensate a bit in an effort to be seen as "not feminine/not a girl," but I'm not sure how much that would change after transition.  I feel better about doing feminine things if I pretend that others see me as an effeminate gay guy and not a girl, so I like to think that post transition I wouldn't feel the need to overcompensate to be seen as male.

Yes, yes, definitely. Although I think most people around me are totally oblivious to the fact that I'm about 70% gay, leading me to believe most of my mannerisms and such are decidedly male. Eyeliner tends to make me look completely androgynous nowadays... or it did before I got my last haircut. Now I think I might pull it off and still look male, but hard to say. I like it anyway, I especially like looking like I'm a really androgynous guy, and before I just looked like a butch girl.

Before transition.... rarely. I wore eyeliner only 2 or 3 times before transition, and concealer a few times when my undereye circles made me look like a vampire otherwise. I started wearing eyeliner semi-regularly when I came out and I was around my boyfriend a lot, who wore eyeliner 24/7. I had to be in the right mood, otherwise I'd get really dysphoric - especially since I'd know I wouldn't pass that way.

You look like one of those slim gothy/punkish type of guys who can rock the makeup. And since you might be going for that sort of style, you might want to look up Archetype Cosmetics if it's still around. Several years ago I ordered some of her makeup, which is hand made by some chick. The colors are unbelievable! But I really don't wear makeup and never have. I just fell victim to the shiny colors.    But the odd thing with me, and why I never got into any aspect of trying to look feminine is because I have always passed as a guy without trying. From the time I was a toddler to the current day even with my big boobs, I still get "sir" and "buddy" all the time. But the real problem was when I was younger, in my very early teens, I got jumped by groups of adult men a few times and beat up for being a "->-bleeped-<-" because they thought I was a boy trying to look like a girl. So the whole girl thing just never worked for me. 

i know what you mean by not being the traditional view of male. I don't really see myself as macho, not the slightest bit tough but i never liked wearing make up or girls clothes, i guess that makes me kind of gender neutral in that aspect, very in between effeminate and not effeminate or knowing and accepting there are regular guy stuff i do, act, always HATED really tight forming clothes and still wouldn't wear them but i don't wear stuff that hangs off either. but i have a few mannerisms I've stopped trying to make myself not do anymore that are usually what only girls do like that limp wristed thing or the way i lean my head in my hands, sometimes finding that my legs are crossed. i find myself doing those and it doesn't make me mad anymore it's actually quite amusing since i realized I'm gay. like oh that's why! not to offend anyone, I'm well aware there are straight guys that act the same way, just saying for me that's what made me stop trying to act like some perfect male image.

Quote from: Jake84 on March 10, 2011, 09:51:21 AM
I'm not really effeminate, I always hated makeup and form fitting clothing. However, I do have a thing for effeminate men.   Cute, skinny boys who wear makeup and tight pants are just plain hot to me.    I know there's a lot of emphasis in gay dating on the importance of being 'straight-acting', but there's always some dudes who love the girly boys too.  Hell, even some women find them attractive, not that they'd typically be interested, but I have known a few to like girls.   There's no point in acting like something you aren't, if you're not the super masculine type you shouldn't fake it, that's just another closet, you know?

agreed, agreed with the whole point to what you said but especially the highlighted one lol.

I've realised that pre-transition I was a manly girl, now I am a rather girly guy. It's very strange to me because I was so masculine when I lived as a woman and now people pin me as being feminine. I don't wear make up, tight clothes, or talk with an upward inflection.

I apparently dress "gangster" or appear masculine, though it's my mannerisms that get people (who don't know I am trans) calling me "gay", "girly", and even the... well... f word. They mean it in a "poking fun" sort of way even though I find it offensive I shrug it off otherwise they say "I'm too sensitive" or I should "get the sand out of my vagina".

It's made me realise that even thought I felt like a man my whole life it is one thing to identify as a male and another to interact socially as a male when people have no idea that I've transitioned into one.

I just wish I could act the way I always have without getting called names. :/

Jay - this is the story of my life and will likely be worse when I pass.

Everyone was always saying I was such a masculine girl, total butch, "looks like a man", blah blah. Now that I tell them I'm male they're like "but you're so feminine! And so pretty!"

Grrr make up your goddamn minds.

Yeah some people like to think they understand you better than you do.

When I came out when people seemed shocked I just said "well, who didn't see this coming?" I actually found on FB someone's status who I went to high school with was "can't believe a girl I went to high school with is now becoming a man" and someone else who I knew commented "so she finally did it?"

The worst is my mom saying I had Barbie dolls as a child, I was like no ->-bleeped-<- you bought them for me.

Oddly enough to my knowledge no one has every called me butch or referred to me as a lesbian in the past. I did get "tom boy" a lot by family (everyone else who didn't know me as a kid just thought I was a boy). I always looked really awkward in all female clothes ... like I was dressing in drag or something. I look back on pictures and it seems plainly apparent how awkward it was. Now, there actually are some female clothes in my closet (granted, all of it is mostly androgynous) but I'm ok with that. Does that make me effeminate? Not really. I'm not macho either. I'm probably quite a blend by this point. I kinda just do whatever now. I probably don't have too many girly-girl mannerisms.

You want to really see me go girly though? Put me around a spider. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I've actually done the total girly scream and the little dance that goes with it.

Quote from: insideontheoutside on March 12, 2011, 11:42:40 PM
You want to really see me go girly though? Put me around a spider. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I've actually done the total girly scream and the little dance that goes with it.

Hahah I'm like that with ear wigs. I've had sooo many bad experiences with them, my bathroom at my parents was infested with them and it's developed into a major phobia. Hahah I also don't like the spiders with the giant asses that are probably carrying 5942399848 baby monsters. I also scream girly and dance away from it.