Male like me

[bubosquared]

(If you catch the reference in the entry title, you'll get a cookie.)

So after the England-Prtugal match, we went to Linz', and I was ordered to pick a "character", someone to be, as a bloke. I had to pick a name first, and I I figured I'd best pick one with an "ee" sound, because I'm already used to reacting to any name ending in "ee" (Sofie -- pronounced "Sofee", as well as "Gie"/"Gee", my dad's name.) So I settled on "Lee", also because I do kinda like the name. Then I picked a personality to go with it, based on questions from Linz: Eighteenish, student (IT), straight, likes heavy metal and punk.

So, here's 'Lee':

and, for reference, me:

, afterwards, in the same clothes.

All in all, it's been a truly bizarre experience, to be honest. The most bizarre thing was that I was feeling a lot less weird about it than I thought I would've. We went to get some chips, first, and that was bloody weird and uncomfortable. Then we went to a women-only bar (yeah, I know), and by the time we got out of there, I was my character. I didn't have to remember to not swing my hips, or to hang my arms along my body rather than stuff them in my pockets, or to walk into a room like I owned the place; it all came natural. Even the dancing, which I'd dreaded, as my normal way of dancing is all hips, went brilliant.

It was also rather odd to see how different life is on the "other side". Women looked away as soon as I made eye contact. People stepped aside for me as I walked from the back of the club to the bar. (Nobody talked to my chest!)

Afterwards, Linz gave me feedback, and said I did really, really well for a first timer, especially since I'd had next to no theory, either. He slipped up more than I did, calling me "Sofie" and looking at me oddly when I did something that wasn't me, but "Lee".

Edit: He also said I had some definitive gay vibes about me, as "Lee". The irony of this doesn't escape me, no. And I need to work on my voice, because I have a squeaky speaking voice.

I had fun. I'm definitely doing this again.

Edit: Thought I'd share my first reaction to my "new body": "Dude! I can see my feet!" Yeah, Sometimes it's nice to not have those things limit my view.

Comments

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

in my admittedly amateur opinion, you make a fantastic king.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Thanks. *^____^*

[bishounengirl.livejournal.com]

Why can't /I/ have a friend who can cross-dress me properly so I look like a guy of legal age instead of a jailbait high school kid? I'm nearly boobless anyway.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

See, now I'm thinking the world really needs an online crossdressing workshop thingie ...

[asilvahalo.livejournal.com]

That would be wonderful. I'd love to try it, even though I'm quite femmy.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna suggest this to Linz. I am.

[bishounengirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the post title is a reference to the book Black Like Me. I like fresh-baked dark chocolate chip with pecans. ^_-

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

*hands you a cookie*

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Dammit, you got to it first :)

Really cool experiment, though. You look very convincing as a guy.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

And look! I referred to two different people as 'you' in one post! The second line, of course, is directed to femgeek.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[rsadelle]

My goodness. "Lee" looks exactly like one of my brother's male ex-best friends whose mother is one of my mother's best friends. I think it's the attitude as well as the shape of your face.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Is that a good thing. :)

Also, the really weird thing is that "Lee" looks less like my brother than I do. I'd expected to look a LOT like Rob. Huh.

[rsadelle]

Well, it means you're convincing. My mother was also astounded by the resemblance. The guy "Lee" looks like, by the way, is from a Muslim family with an appropriately Middle Eastern name and works in a Japanese restaurant, so he's now Sjarif the Sufi Sushi Chef.

You're right that "Lee" doesn't really look like either of your brothers.

[mydarkstar.livejournal.com]

Aww, man, judging by the picture, you do awesome drag. Not Fair! I used to have a fascination with the idea of dressing as a man, too, but, while I already have fairly masculine body language, my face is way too girly to really pull it off. Plus it would severely hinder my ability to dance, since I would have to go from "goth chick backwards-walking, with hand-swirly belly-danceresque accents" to "industrial dude chicken stomp," which always makes me feel silly.

Then again, some anonymous guy told me my boyfriend would have to be gay to think I was sexy, so hmm. Out of curiousity, what did you use to bind your breasts?

Actually, "Lee" looks kind of like Johnny Depp. Freaky.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

my face is way too girly to really pull it off.

Seriously? You'd be surprised. I've seen before and after pictures of the workshops Linz did in Germany, and there were some really girly women there.

Plus it would severely hinder my ability to dance, since I would have to go from "goth chick backwards-walking, with hand-swirly belly-danceresque accents" to "industrial dude chicken stomp," which always makes me feel silly.

This is true. Although, as "Lee", it didn't feel silly at all. And for some BIZARRE reason, as me, I can't do these hip-hop jumps and skips, but I can as "Lee". Go figure.

Out of curiousity, what did you use to bind your breasts?

You know those elastic bandages? A really wide one of those. If you get one wide enough, you don't really have to tape much, just three small pieces to keep it in place.

Actually, "Lee" looks kind of like Johnny Depp. Freaky.

... That is freaky, man!

[pelicanzed.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been wanting to dress as a man for a few years - less so, recently, but I'd still like to pull off the Androgynous Gothic Business Person look. (Ooh, pull it off, kinky.) But yeah, I have the female face and figure and voice (except when I have a cold) *and* I'm only 5'2".

You (Twi), though. I showed Bryn the picture of you in vinyl with the sword, and he said you looked like a bloke in it.

(And Melle, yeah, "Lee" is really convincing. Glad you had fun.)

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think Linz is about your height, and (s)he completely pulls it off. The thing is, you can actually get away with a fair bit of physical "oddness" as long as you've got the attitude right, and the beard, because people simply don't think it's possible, you know? They looked at me, saw a guy, and anything I had wrong (like having "chest muscles" but really skinny arms" was just written of as "oddness".

Re:

[pelicanzed.livejournal.com]

Good point. And since I wear platform boots fit for either gender (though they look more masculine than feminine), I guess my shortness wouldn't be instantly noticeable anyway.

I don't know if I've got the attitude - I'm not much of an actress (actor?) - but I might talk to the LGBT society about this (I know of at least two transexuals in it) and see what they can do for me. Thanks for the inspiration.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're very welcome. :)

[katari.livejournal.com]

**gapes** Wow. That's. I want to do this!

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

You should! It's fun! ^_^

[dramaturgy.livejournal.com]

Sweet. Looks like fun. ::grin::

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

It was! And thanks. :)

[someidiothasice.livejournal.com]

...okay. is it wrong for me to think you look really sexy like that? cause. you do.

::licks lee::

damn. i wanna try doing this, but alas. have no friends who do things like that, and. grrrr, it sounds like fun!

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks. ^_^ You should try! I can give you tips!

[birdsflying]

Wow. The transformation is amazing. I'd love to try that, have the walk already, and the fairly deepish voice. It would be interesting.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

You should try! It's a lot of fun!

[kitsune13.livejournal.com]

Dude, you make a hot guy.

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Why, thank you. *thwirl*

:jealous:

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

oh, *so* unfair. I'd love to be able to pull that off. My brother can do the reverse, as can my cousins - put makeup on those boys and they become pretty sparkly girls, quite convincing ones.

Me? Face, no problem. (considering how much my family looks alike) It's the figure. As several people can attest, (ask Meg) I have hourglass figure. Waist proportionate to hips that cannot be hidden as tits can. :g: not to mention that my method of dancing is 'shake your booty'. Hmm. :looks at boybands' mode of dancing: dammit. Need some way of hiding the hips.

Re: :jealous:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's not that hard to hide hips. Get a pair of trousers a size or two too big, and wear them low on your hips. My hips are about eight inches wider than my waist, and it worked for me! :)

[some-stars.livejournal.com]

you make a hot guy--though I have to admit your hips as a girl make my brain go FZZTT POP--and oh my god I wanna do this. Can one bind D-cup breasts without extreme pain?

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Mine are a C-cup. Pain doesn't really come into it, it's mostly just uncomfortable because you can't breathe with your chest. (Thanks to four years of jazz ballet and four years of music school, I breathe with my stomach, but only when I don't allow myself to think about it.)

You'll look a bit weird if your arms aren't really muscled, but you should do okay.

[safti]

Dude, Melle, you look like Eminem. And Johnny Depp. Their lovechild. Yeeees. *is on crack*

Re:

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Eeek! My coworker mentioned the Eminem thing as well. WTF?