How can I pass as a man?

Question

I am a 19-year-old girl with really long hair and feminine facial features.
I don't wear makeup and I usually wear guy's pants and death metal t-shirts. However, I'd like to take it a step further... I want people to actually believe that I am male. I want people to refer to me as "he". I'd settle for passing as a short 15-year-old boy with long hair. How can I go about doing this?

Not to get better pay, not for dress-up, not for gender reassignment. I feel androgynous, and I want to see if I can easily switch between genders.

Lolz, I don't want to "perp" on girls, I just don't think I could pass as any older than that. I'm also not emo.

Answer 1

1) Bind your breasts. Depending on size, you can do this with a very tight sports bra, a sports bra wrapped with duct tape for more compression (just don't get it on your skin- youch!), or a chest Ace bandage, found at most local drugstores.

2) Put on facial hair. Honestly, if you want to be taken as male but have feminine facial features, facial hair, along with breasts, is one of the few determiners of gender for most people. Get some spirit gum (online or at a costume shop, maybe a drugstore or craftstore; look around), cut off a half-inch or so of your hair (just a bit will do), chop it very fine, and start applying. You can find more about how to apply realistic-looking facial hair here:

http://www.dantedifranco.com/HowToHairStubble.htm

3) Learn to carry yourself like a guy. Just observe men for a real lesson, but the basics are to approach space as though you own it. Men consistently take up more space than women. Let your arms swing (not comically, though!) wide when you walk, when you sit or stand, try to project big, rather than pull in. Stand up straight, have good posture, and keep yourself "tight"- no floppy limbs or hands, which are considered feminine. Optimally, you don't use your hands while talking much.

4) Don't smile. Sadly, a woman's smile usually enhances her feminine features. To look more male, a straight, sober face is usually best. Of course, you can still look friendly and non-serial killer without smiling (hopefully!).

Some good resources:

http://www.spacefem.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22924

http://doctorz.wordpress.com/2006/11/27/passing-as-male-without-testosterone/

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Drag-Kinging-Dante-DiFranco/dp/1932852751/ref=sr_1_1/104-6747574-6088722?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174358977&sr=1-1

http://www.dieseldome.com/guide.html

www.dantedifranco.com/

Good luck on the whole androgyny experiment!

Answer 2

Do you mean for dress-up play or for a real life gender reassignment? If you live in a city, you could see if there is a theatre arts company, and see if the make up man would show you what to do.

Answer 3

Ok, let me get this straight...you are 19 F, but would like to look like a 15 year old boy. Why? Are you planning on perping on 15 year old girls and boys? If I were you I would watch it b/c if it were my little girl or boy you were perping on I would make sure you go to prison.

Answer 4

You could work on making your voice sound low pitch if that already isn't the case. You might also want to bind any visible breasts. As for anything else, I'm not really sure about, but you could look up FTM (female to male) information.

Answer 5

Bind your breasts, don't brush your hair very well, and try not to make direct eye contact too often (so people don't look too closely at your facial features). fidget with your clothes, and use a somewhat lowered voice. That might work.

Answer 6

Bind your breasts and act more masculine. Use baggy clothes to hide your figure. That might be enough. From what I read binding can cause damage to the breast tissue over time though. Good luck and have fun!

Answer 7

You haven't told us enough.

The problem areas are

Breasts -- you've got to get rid of every trace of breasts
Facial, leg and body hair -- if you've plenty of that you may just do it. Shave your face in any case.
Voice -- pitch your voice lower

You're going to have a problem with toilets!

Answer 8

go to laura playground there is a nice chat room that will help with the info you want but what you are doing should be good enough

Answer 9

cut your hair, wear a hat,
bind your breasts by using masking tape over a bra or buy a breast binding devise.

keep dressing like a guy, like your doing.

Answer 10

Underworks.com makes great binders if you have larger breasts. Cutting your hair or putting it ina beanie or something?