A Passing Tip for CDs
Pippa Middleton has the arms wrapped but she's drawing attention by looking angry.
While we often go on about how it’s important to be who you want to be and dress how you want to dress without worrying so much about passing, from time to time we bring you hints on how to blend in as a woman. You may not actually be passing — as in convincing everyone who sees you that you were born female — but we hope these tips will make people accept you as a feminine person, even if they think you’re male.
Today’s tip is best utilized in slightly chilly weather: the kind of weather that requires a light sweater or jacket. If you have been out and about on such a day, or evening, you may notice that many women walk with their arms wrapped around their torso just below their breasts. This is particularly true if it is a bit windy. If you stop to think about it you will realize that the skin on a woman’s breasts, unlike the skin on your breast prosthesis, is sensitive to the cold air. That leads women to shield their bosoms from the cold air by doing the arm wrap thing.
You may have perfected your feminine walk, swaying the hips a bit (don’t over do it!) staying loose, and moving your hands freely, not holding them stiffly at your sides, but if you stride along in chilly weather in a light sweater or jacket with your breasts proudly leading the way people will subconsciously wonder why you aren’t reacting to the cold air flowing over your pulchritude. They may assume you are having a hot flash, or that you are just one of those people who finds cold air bracing and healthy. (What’s wrong with those people?) Whatever they think you will have broken the first sacred rule of passing — don’t draw too much attention to yourself. As long as you are one woman in the crowd who is acting more or less like all the others you won’t get that second, closer examination that makes them say to themselves, “It’s one of them chick dudes.” (I actually heard a toll taker at the Lincoln Tunnel say that.)
Practice the arms around the torso walk and the next time there is a chill in the air put on a light sweater and boldly walk the street as if your breasts need protecting from the elements so they don’t get colder than a polar bear’s nose. Good luck passing!
Category: Transgender How To, Transgender Opinion
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Yes, walking with arms folded to protect one’s breasts in chilly weather makes sense. But what about the purse? Pippa is shown without one. Should it be a shoulder bag with a long strap that is contained by the folded arms? Seems to me a purse with a shorter strap would look funny dangling from wrapped arms.
Elaine M.
The shoulder bag works but you can also use a shorter length strap and clench the bag to your body under one arm. Some bags can dangle from you elbow and not look bad. A clutch can be held in one hand. I just saw a woman tonight doing the arm wrap to keep warm!