There are many things that ‘transfems’ say contribute to how well one can pass as female. A number of these factors have been compiled into online lists.
Medicalized gender transition is one thing. Getting a stranger to admire your feminine presence is quite another. Although genital mutilation is the most effective way in which boys can “present” as girls, there are many other factors that “transfems” say contribute to how well one can pass as female. Many of these factors have been compiled into lists on the internet labeled “transfem tips.”
Passing as a female “boils down to appearing and acting in a way that fits within the expectations of the context in which you are presenting yourself,” one Reddit guide says. Dressing too provocatively, even though you may want to give your new cleavage a spin, could be your downfall: After all, “Most women in public have been taught to dress to avoid the attention of creepy men and the condescending looks of other women alike while still appearing effortless.”
To avoid getting “clocked” as a biological male, the guide notes, men should observe women in common spaces in order to best fit in with their given demographic. Time and place matter, clothing-wise. If you’re running errands on a cold day, “sweatpants are normal” — “just look around you at the places you frequent and get style ideas from the women around you.” Women also dress in what is “deemed appropriate for their age, race, location, situation, etc.,” the guide says.
Look into push-up bras if “you are not gifted.” Having visible breasts is “massively feminizing” and can hide a “number of other deficiencies.” Cleavage alone is “enough for a lot of people to gender you correctly.” Women, also, are taught from a young age not to sit with their legs spread, so it’s best to avoid the “male leg cross thing” when possible. When idling in a line, men trying to be women should “consciously keep [their] legs closer together.” Women also never stand with their hands in their pockets on account of the generally relaxed feelings they are supposed to have. And although men have been conditioned “to not have relaxed wrists (thanks homophobia),” women on average must have far more relaxed wrists.
Be wary of full faces of makeup; makeup ages you, the “no makeup makeup look” is difficult to master, and mascara, lashes, or lash extensions can do wonders for men who’d like to mask their “natural canthal tilt” (the angle of one’s eyes). Practice conversation — “women in casual conversation rarely speak over other people talking or interrupt them,” and pitch your voice intentionally: “Picture the masculine and feminine differences in the simple phrase: ‘Hey! What’s up?!’ In the feminine version, pitch goes up with each word and the phrase is more like ‘Heyyy! What’ss up?!’ The vowel sounds are all longer and brighter and the pitch melodically sing-songs upwards.” If you lose your sing-songy pitch mid-conversation, girly filler words you can use to reset are “ummm, soooo, yeahh, and wellll.”
Extra Eskay on YouTube outlined his Transfem Guide. Thin eyebrows, he said, make a huge difference. So do hairstyles and clothes, because you can control your appearance through hair and clothes without surgical intervention. Medical tape, sports tape, and “tuck” kits can help mask one’s manliness when wearing bike shorts or leggings, Eskay said.
All it takes to be a woman are the above tidbits, conscious thigh-chafing every now and then, and walking 10–20 percent slower and more deliberately than men. Intel into these identified “feminine” traits seems almost as though it was gathered by an extraterrestrial who has studied women for decades, waiting to body-hop and masquerade as that which he is not. Women are beings with nice postures, free from stern looks, with well-shaped eyebrows, clothes that accentuate their hips, and an inability to carry heavy things “unless [they] have to.” Nothing less, and according to the tips, not much more.