Does anyone feel less inclined these days to wear makeup and skirts or dresses due to the focus on femininity as what defines woman?

[Quietlyhere]

This is something I've noticed in myself. Never wore a lot of makeup but now, in an age of celebrating drag queens everywhere and defining women as those who are feminine, I am much more likely to be found in comfy trousers and t-shirts/jumpers, and no makeup. Still very much a woman.

Of course I'm not saying women should change, everyone should wear what they like as long as certain body parts are sufficiently covered up. Just an observation of my own choices shifting in this climate.

They are not dressing feminine they are dressing like sex workers and only fans modles
the two are not compatible they don’t dress like any women I have literally ever met

No, I like to wear dresses. They are comfortable. Sometimes they have pockets. They suit my shape.
Ill continue to wear them.
A man in a dress still looks like a man in a dress. He doesn’t look like a woman.

I'm an old school 1970s hairy legged trouser wearing angry feminist. Which started out as a political statement against the patriarchy so I understand where you are coming from.

Similar but different:

I'm a short-haired woman. I don't do the girly/feminine stuff. I don't wear dresses.

I do wear some "men's" articles. they're not men's, they're mine. And I do actually wear a little makeup (after years of people telling how dreadful my normal face looks 🙄).

And about a year ago people seemed to suddenly have difficulty interacting with me. I was complimented by a colleague who called me "dapper". People seemed to hesitate, look at me funny. As if they'd discovered gender identity and were wondering if I was an enby or identified as trans.

Until then I've just been me. Not particularly girly but not particularly butch either. No one read me as male (not since I was a young teen, certainly). I'm obviously female.

I am actually quite cross that someone else's stupid ideology has affected how people interact with me.

Especially since, as you say, I can wear 'men's' clothing and still be 100% woman.

It's tiresome.

@Thatgirl1981 is your image on the left a sex worker type one too? Just out of interest as it’s the type of outfit I would wear.

I have not let myself go, no. I have always been into dresses/dressing well, makeup and hair done etc. I still have long blonde hair at hitting 50, still wear dresses to show off my legs which are actually my best asset even though I am not exactly tall. I dress for ME though. Not my partner, not my kids, not my job and not society. For me. And nothing will change that.

"I have not let myself go, no"

Well this is the other side of the shit sandwich. The idea that not wearing dresses and make up is letting yourself go.

No to the question. But only because I've never done those things anyway so it's not changed a thing. I've always gone for the looks like a sack of spuds pulled through a hedge backwards look!

No it is not. Not all people have to be the same. Some of us like makeup and some of us do not. I like to look a certain way and if I do not look that way for myself I feel I am letting part of myself go.

No I haven't changed. I haven't ever been interested in wearing makeup, wearing skirts/dresses, heels, handbags etc. I have cut my hair shorter but that was because I got swimming regularly and I couldn't be arsed with longer hair any more (not that I did anything with it before other than a permanent pony tail.

I understand your resistance to "womanhood" being reduced to a performance though. Even though it was never one I excelled at.

I don't see this as "letting myself go" as per the previous comment though. Recently I'm looking after my body wrt to food, exercise and sleep better than I ever did before.

I just don't have the time or inclination for the trappings of femininity. I'm too busy being an adult human female.

I don't think I've hugely changed how I dress but I'm more conscious of what I do about performing femininity now. I feel a bit worse about participating in any of it but I still do some - hair removal, hair dye etc. It's like being a teenager and worrying that people think that I think I'm attractive.

No the image on the right is a drag queen

I actually have the dress of the left in green I was trying to point out what drag queens and these men coz playing as women we’re are not feminine their sexual male fantasy of how a woman should dress

Tbh I think that's a bit sad. Completely GC but think you need to reassess. I have never ever let men or society dictate what I wear and I will not start now.
I never have followed fashion unless I want to. Was what was called a Tom boy (hate the term) when everyone else was in high heels and blue eyeshadow. Now wear what I want
I most certainly wouldn't let anyone else make me change what I wear. Don't let anyone rule you in this way.

Yes, I know what you mean.

The other day too I was horrified watching an ITV children’s advertisement of little girls with certain doll sets: the little girls and the dolls and toys all looked like a kind of ‘drag’ to me.

Mysteriousgirl2 · Yesterday 22:34
@Thatgirl1981 is your image on the left a sex worker type one too? Just out of interest as it’s the type of outfit I would wear.

No, I think the point she was making is that the one the left is just a dress for a woman.

But on the right is a dress for a drag version of woman.

I’m unconsciously a bit of a tomboy. I just have my own style and am feminine in my own way. I cut my hair quite short recently and I prefer it for now. But I don’t think it’s because I’m deliberately trying to do anything. It’s almost a bit difficult to stick with just being me sometimes. A lot of women have the full works: eyebrows & nails at the salon, full make up and balayage. I think they look great, but I don’t have the patience for it all.

I wear exactly what I've always worn, dresses, trousers, crops. I love a bit of makeup and I get my roots and eye lashes dyed regularly. I have all sorts of skincare that I use regularly.

I do it all for me. I don't have to prove anything to anyone and I won't be changing my ways because some random people choose to live as the opposite sex.

I still enjoy ‘dressing up’ and wearing dresses and make up. But I also have down days where I dress totally for comfort (usually gym leggings and trainers and hoodie), no make up and don’t think about how I look at all.

Either way, I’m a woman. That’s the difference. I don’t need a costume to define what I am. It’s biological, innit!

Hmm, maybe slightly prompted me into another short hair phase; it's something I do every decade or so anyway. Never did makeup/heels/nails or any of that in the first place.
But also, no they can sod off I'm not going to conform religiously to opposite sex stereotypes any more than I'm going to conform religiously to femininity. If I feel like wearing a skirt in summer I will. The point is that stereotypes are crap and nobody should be defined by them.

I find this a really sad comment (genuinely)
Why be angry, hairy legged, no make up etc just as a fuck you to the patriarchy?!
I'm hairy legged and never wear make up as I could not give a shiny shit what others think. It's what I am comfortable with. No one else.

Your post is confusing.
Wear what you like. As long as you keep sufficiently covered up. (Ok, fair enough, but who gets their vag out or goes around topless in public usually? Unless you meant we should be covering up full stop)
What drag queens do or dont wear has no bearing on me and what I do.

Nope,I won't be erased as a woman.

I can count on my hands the number of times I've worn makeup, and I stopped shaving in my early 20s when I realised how stupid it all was.

I do like wearing dresses/skirts, though, but I think my fashion tastes differ somewhat from the dresses of drag queens and such like -- in that it actually exists.

No. I wear skirts & dresses because it's summer and they are much cooler. I also wear shorts, or jeans when chilly weather. I still wear makeup too when I want to.

Drag queens don't dress like women, they dress as stage caricatures, and are irrelevant to normal women going about their daily lives.

Maybe not you but most women don’t exist in a vacuum . Hence the white trainers and dress look or long hair or lip fillers for example.

“Wear what you like”normally means “wear something so others recognise you”. This is why trans women favour looking like sex workers and transmen favour anti style rather than channelling Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.