I really think it has to do with hair, in our (US) society women are "supposed" to have long hair. I've had little kids ask me if I was a boy or a girl when I was at the pool wearing a swimsuit.
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I really think it has to do with hair, in our (US) society women are "supposed" to have long hair. I've had little kids ask me if I was a boy or a girl when I was at the pool wearing a swimsuit.
It's weird, but when I was heavier and did all my shopping in the women's department I got "sirred" quite a lot. Now that I'm so thin that I end up wearing boy's clothes much of the time, I don't. (Boy's shorts have usable pockets, women's size 0/2 generally don't). Still have wide shoulders and narrow hips and short hair, and sometimes wear training bras, as it's awfully hard to find AA cups elsewhere. You'd think I'd get "sirred" more now, wouldn't your?
She sure does, doesn't she? :p:D :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by salsabike
White women, anyway. A lot of Black women cut their hair very closely (maybe more fashionable a couple of years back than it is now) and still look quite feminine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
But yeah - hair in combination with features goes a long way I think. There was a head-and-shoulders picture of someone in our local paper yesterday. Prominent jaw, high cheekbones, and gelled straight hair about an inch, inch and a half long. The name was kind of androgynous and the story didn't use any pronouns or gender-identifying words. I thought it was a man until another story today said it was a woman.
Can't say what I might've thought if I'd seen the rest of her body, though.
Dunno what to make of it.
Even dressed in a military(ish) suit with a sash and medals with a beard (a good fake beard, stuck on in bits) and a fresh boy's haircut, I couldn't even get anyone to think I was a guy. Not even the kids at school. Not strangers, not anyone.
I once got a speeding ticket driving back to PA from a weekend in Ontario. I had been at a family wedding and had nice long, well painted fingernails. My hair was very long and "girly" and permed (shut up, that was the fashion then!) :)
I drove away and glanced at the ticket and saw that sex of driver was marked MALE. I asked my federal judge sibling if that was grounds to get out of the ticket - hey, wasn't me driving, clearly I'm not a male! He didn't think so.
Once when my niece was little we were at the mall and someone saw her (with her very short pixie haircut) and said - oh what a cute little (short pause) person! We just laughed as she totally looked like a little boy.
I had an older woman in Alabama actually grab me by the arm to pull me out of the women's restroom, she said "young man, you are in the wrong place!!!". I gently pulled my arm out of her grasp, cupped my breasts (which were at the same level as her nose), and said "ma'am, I am a woman". Her reply??? "well with that hair, who could tell". :rolleyes:
Pax, the hair thing is getting to me. Women in this day and age often have really short hair. Where are these people coming from???
But yeah, have you seen the breasts on some guys (bleah) !!!
I was bald for so long as an infant that my mom had my ears pierced to distinguish that I was a girl. I guess even dressing me in pink wasn't enough (though, from photos, I pretty much ran around in a diaper & t-shirt for a year or two, so it's no wonder people were confused).Quote:
Originally Posted by Possegal
I had a pixie cut once. It looked bad enough on me, but I got really tired of people referring to me as a guy that I won't do it again. I don't have much of a figure (or cheekbones) though, so I wasn't too surprised by it. I actually pondered auditioning for an all-male drum corps to see how long til I was caught.
I've never had it happen to me. My hair is very short and has been for years. But I am only 4'11'' so I default to woman I guess. Plus, I tend towards round.
Who knows what triggers these mistakes. It seems weird to me.
Yeah, the hair thing really surprises me, too. I often have super short hair (like less than an inch short) and while I do make a point of trying to remember to wear earrings when my hair is that short, no one has ever mistook me for a guy.
Maybe there is a regional difference, perhaps? Thinking back, I'm sure that super short hair on a woman would probably have been entirely too modern for most of the people I knew when I lived in the Poconos...so maybe it somewhat depends on where you live?
Giggle . . . giggle - snort!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Muirenn
I was given a 'senior' discount last week at a fast food restaurant, at least I didn't get called 'sir' that day too.
Knot... I'm sorry this happened to you. Some people are just idiots. Only buy that stuff from the cosmetics counter if you want. Not because it's suppose to be more womanly.
Though I'm feminine looking, I've always been a Tom-Boy at heart. Mother Nature gave me a little bit too much testoterone in the womb. It's usually how I view things, or what I say, that makes people go... :eek: ...whoa, I can't believe a woman would say/do that. Sometimes it feels like a lot work trying to sugar coat things and pretend to be something you're not in life. Most of the time I just don't... only when I feel like I really have to:rolleyes:.
Well, that would 'splain it, wouldn't it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Muirenn
Oh, no, I love make-up! (I'm especially fond of lipstick.) Don't worry, I don't buy stuff I don't truly want.Quote:
Originally Posted by Miranda
I'm also one heck of a tomboy, but even as a little kid I was the kind of tomboy who wore skirts.
Maybe the salesclerk had a point - maybe it's my height and broad shoulders. I try to be amused by it, but after 30 years of being mistaken it does tend to grind on the soul.
I totally get the dismay transgendered people feel - being identified as the gender you *know* is wrong for you really, really, really sucks!
Me too!!! All the time! At least 2-5 times a month.
I'm 5'8", 145 lbs, I don't even own make up, and my earrings are the same ones that have been in my ears for almost 3 years. (little hoops) My hair is about 1" long if that. 34D, tan. ***-kicker.
I think it has something to do with intelligence. For real. It happens here in Hawaii ALL THE TIME. Rarely on the mainland. Go figure.
'splains a lot of things :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by malkin
I'm not saying this applies to you Knotted, but I can usually tell male from female by the way the person moves. Doesn't matter about heights, shoulders, hips, lips, cheekbones or clothes. Even the most beautiful transgendered men dressed as women, with beautifully done hair and makeup, with "femininely" shaped bodies cannot confuse me once I see how they move. I cannot describe it but there is "something" that tells me male from female.
Knott, your curves alone scream female and I don't agree with your self assessment that you are not pretty. The people who think you're a dude need their vision checked.
dear crankin, thank you.