The things they make us do

[Helen_Highwater]

So today I've got what goes in my diary as "HA" time, Home Alone. So as you might image It's on with bra, forms, blouse, skirt, hose, heels and a wig. Nothing that unusual you might say and that would be true but while making myself a bite of lunch, green salad with some cold meat, I realised that my new bob wig was altering my actions.

Tilting my head forward to prep the salad my wig fell into my line of sight. So one side gets hooked behind an ear, the other I tilt my head slightly to one side so the hair falls away from my face and I can see clearly what I'm doing. Hair slips from behind ear so a head shake is called for before readjusting.

Now we've all seen GG's exhibiting similar behaviours and it highlighted for me how things, such as long nails, which have been discussed many times, effect how we use our hands and how a hairstyle can almost force you into adopting femme mannerisms. They lead you into certain behaviours.

Things we've perhaps thought of as being learned over the years by GG's are in fact dictated by what you're wearing and we do automatically in response to those things. Put me in heels and I stand with my ankles together. It's more comfortable.

And perhaps, the devil is in the detail. Hooking hair behind an ear can be done in a way that says ham fisted male or done in such as way as to say cares about appearance.

I've known that how I carry myself, my mannerisms change when I dress and I've always thought it was down to some subliminal internal switch or is it in response to the physical changes dressing brings? In truth I think it's a bit of both. Things that are dictated to me and things that lived learned over the years but something like a new wig can trigger a new learning.

[Veronica Lacey]

Those are fine observations, Helen.

I experience similar personal adjustments with wearing longer skirts while traversing stairs (holding the skirt above tripping level), crouching down to retrieve something from the floor, removing an earring while using the phone, keeping knees a little more together when sitting, even adjusting bra straps that occasionally slip. There still remains the "male shift" which would likely be difficult to do subtly while out and about. There must be so many more such instances, yes?

I suppose there's a graceful way of tending to these wardrobe nuances and a more utilitarian way. As I am always home when dressed I am not too concerned but should I ever choose to walkabout then your observations and sense of awareness will certainly come to mind.

[Stephanie47]

Adjusting the straps of a bra or full slip
Smoothing the rear of a skirt of a dress when sitting
When getting into the driver's seat of a car sitting down first and then rotating body; not feet first
Crossing legs at the knees and not at the ankles
Keeping knees together rather than a man spread when sitting
And the list goes on

My personal favorite when watching women are the times when a woman, totally without conscious thought, will adjust her thigh high hosiery by sliding her hands under her dress and yanking them up. I've done too, but at home. When out of the home I wear a garter girdle to keep them up.

[Cheryl T]

Hooking my hair behind my ear has become automatic when doing certain things. It's funny that I also always carry a few simple barrettes for those times when my ear just isn't enough.
There are lots of things that are now second nature. Smoothing my skirt when I sit, how my hands lay when not in use. It's amazing how we learn these actions over time and they become second nature.

[kimdl93]

After being this as long as we have, such adaptations do become second nature.

[DeeDee67]

I noticed certain things I do have changed as well. Sliding my skirt or night gown, the I touch things when my nails are painted, how I fold or cross my legs. My wife said I could use a little work on my walk and holding my hips a certain way lol... I noticed today as both my wife and I lounged around in our night gowns that I actually folded my legs up on the couch just as she does and we started playing footsies. I'm getting better with makeup and curling my hair. Now I always carry 2 extra hair ties on my finger and they look like rings. But I believe some comes naturally and some is learned.

[Debbie Denier]

It?s a totally automatic reaction and adjustment.Mannerisms and behaviour change accordingly.

[JulieC]

My wife said I could use a little work on my walk ...

I've found this to be an EXCELLENT tool to help with how I walk: https://www.biomotionlab.ca/html5-bml-walker/

[nancy58]

I have noticed how a woman wearing an unbuttoned sweater will occasionally pull the sweater forward, reducing the amount of exposure, almost like a nervous tic. Even my therapist does it. I cannot, however, remember any time when my wife has done it. And I have wondered whether this is some reaction to the presence of a male interlocutor (for I have never noticed while en femme, but I have scarcely ever had the opportunity to converse with a GG while I am dressed that way), or whether they do it when males are not present. When I am dressed up, I have sometimes had the impulse to do the same thing.