Results of 15 Years of Research on "Passing"

[sometimes_miss]

The point is that perhaps passing is some idealistic image of what a woman looks like.

Nope, not many FAB women look anything like what an 'idealized' image of a woman looks like. But it's very clear to the world around them, that they are, indeed, FAB females, even if they're not what would be considered by most to be 'ideal'.

I have seen some women, middle aged and older, that I have to look at for awhile to tell what sex they are.

But that's just it; there's something about them that ticks off the 'what exactly am I seeing here' in our minds, and then the FAB questionable person eventually passes all the other clues, and gets identified as a FAB woman, while WE wind up failing one of those clues and get identified as the males that we actually are as well. That's not passing. OR blending. Even if we want to think it is; others know what we are. Even if you've been 'missed', or 'Yes, mam'ed, it will often just be a courtesy by someone who does not want to offend you, and obviously recognizes that you're trying to appear as a woman, and will then fake surprise when you tell them that you're not actually a woman, all to avoid hurting your feelings. And then you think that you pass.

And of course, the best one:

Heh, passing?.. Go to your next door neighbour and ask for directions. That's passing.
- Lydianne.

Now THAT'S right on the money!