Clothes, hair, and makeup are important aspects of your feminine image. But your body language and movements say more about you than you probably realize!
It doesn’t matter how good you look… If your walk and movements give off a masculine vibe (or worse, are exaggerated and unnatural), then you’re probably not making the impression you hoped for.
Do you want to learn how to walk more feminine? Here are 5 common MTF movement mistakes to avoid – and what to do instead.
1. Over-Exaggerated Hip Swinging
There’s nothing more alluring than the sexy sway of a woman’s hips as she walks. But you should never overdo this. In fact, if you are consciously swinging your hips, it’s probably too much.
A better approach is to simply put on a pair of high heels and walk naturally. Heels automatically cause your hips to sway. The key is to relax your body and go with the flow.
2. Stiff Body Movements
Stiff isn’t sexy. As I mentioned earlier, the secret to fluid, feminine movements is to relax your body.
Tense muscles translate to stiff, masculine body movements. Focus on relaxing your body instead. Do stretching exercises to help release built-up tension.
3. Poor Posture
Your posture is the foundation for your movements. Here are two posture mistakes to avoid:
- Slouching: If you’re tall, you might be tempted to slouch to downplay your height. Don’t. Slouching isn’t attractive and it definitely doesn’t make you look more feminine.
- Arching your back: On the other extreme, avoid exaggerating your posture by arching your back and sticking your butt out. While you might think this looks “sexy,” it actually looks silly.
The fix for both of these mistakes is to stand tall with natural, lifted posture. This makes you look confident and feminine.
4. Stocky Shoulder Movements
Men carry their weight in their upper bodies, while a woman’s center of gravity is in her hips. In men, this often translates into strong upper body movements.
As you can see in the video above, the hallmark of a masculine walk is “stocky” shoulder movements. Compare that to the graceful sway of the women’s hips.
To counteract this tendency:
- Keep your shoulders down and back. If you feel your shoulders coming forward, literally roll them back into place.
- Focus on keeping your shoulders still while relaxing the hips. This will help transfer the movement to your lower body.
- Keep your body weight neutral (or even slightly back) instead of leaning forward. This helps downplay the look of your shoulders.
5. Taking Up Too Much Space
There are many differences between male and female body language. One of the biggest differences is that men take up more space with their bodies while women tend to keep the space more closed.
How does this translate into movement?
- When men walk, they typically have a space between their arms and body, while a woman’s hands brush her hips.
- Men’s steps are longer and there’s often more space between the feet.
To correct this, rotate your elbows in so your arms stay closer to your body. Keep your feet closer together and take shorter steps when you walk.
Mastering your feminine walk
Now that you know the most common mistakes, here’s another example of a feminine walk to study and emulate. Notice the graceful posture, gently swinging hips, and relaxed body movements:
How feminine are YOUR body movements? Do you struggle with this or are you one of the lucky girls who are naturally graceful?
Please share in the comments below!
Love,
Lucille
P.S. Would you like to learn more advanced feminine movement strategies? My Stepping Out Secrets Program will show you how to master all the elements of a beautiful feminine image, including: moves, curves, fashion, beauty, voice, confidence, and more! Click here for all the details.
I have been doing yoga and the hip opening sets have helped me relax naturally and made all my body movements more fluid.I hear my yoga tape reciting head over heart- heart over pelvis – great posture is sexy. I recently discovered hula hooping and it has transformed my movements- my stiff hips are now so free -( I have added 5 minutes of nonstop hula hooping to my daily exercises )
Dear Lucille, I have noticed women & how there hips swing, I practice daily while sitting @ home having my legs crossed, (especially when I wear leggings, dress or slacks) as to “not taking up alot of space. The video helped & made me think & act like a lady. My Question: someone told me that a “scissor walk is passe’ and that I shouln’t walk that way? I picked it up watching “runway”models walking Kind of like that. Is this right or wrong? I broke myself of the habit and remind myself to keep my thumb tucked. I lost so much weight but I think my “butt” still looks Big. Wearing “darker colors” ie Black makes me look slimmer. I have a pair of white crop” I wear in the summer & I thought my behind looks & could pass as a Ladies bottom. Oh the “under belly Bulge” has dissappeared & I will still wear foundation garments to look “slimmer as well. Take Care Lucille Love what you do for us to become better Trans-ladies. Robin
That one video with girl wearing blue dress doesnt really show anything or enough movement but other doe’s thanks lucille>zena
No comprena,sorry.
That tip about cupping your hands while walking is fantastic. I need all the help I can get and eliminating that potential “tell” of the open hands is something I’m going to work on. Thank you for bringing so much practical knowledge all together on website! 🙂 – Donna
Naturally graceful but also studied female movement ever since I was a little alleged so-called boy. -;) I even remember being fascinated at like age three or four when I first saw my mother put on pantyhose and I thought “Hey, I want to do that!”
bonjour chère LUCILLE.
Je vous remercie pour vos fabuleuses conseils; vous nous rendez des services vitaux.
j’ai mis un peu de temps pour avoir une marche féminine douce; et j’y suis arrivée. Et à l’aide de vos conseils cela deviendra surement plus harmonieux.
moi j’ai toujours une sensation profonde au fond de moi, la sensation d’étre femme; c’est ce qui me donne instinctivement le gestuel féminin le long de mon corps.
Alors conseil à mes amies: sentez votre féminité, et n’essayez pas juste de ressembler à une femme. cela vous facilitera la tache.
Bon point. Je suis de la même façon: FEEL «votre» femme intérieure
Hello,
This check list does provide a lot of knowledge and useful info to being a woman. Sometimes I wonder if Lucille is not really a transwoman herself just because she knows may helpful things.
I have been practicing many of these movements, mannerisms and gestures myself during my life. I was first feminized when I was 6 in the 1950s which led to me living much of my life as a woman. I am considered a transwoman and shemale.
Now I live totally as a woman since I retired from working as a male and only have clothes made for a woman to wear in my wardrobe, no male clothing left at all. Plus I am legally married to a man via same sex marriage but I am the woman and wife in the marriage. Husband tells me that I am just like a GG and real woman. I now live as a woman full time 24/7’365 and pass as a woman in everyday life.
These are my takes of what I find good in this post.
1) Yes, walking in heels does create a natural sway in the hips and causes the butt to roll like a woman’s. Another thing that can be helpful is inserting something up the bottom like a dildo, butt plug or even a tampon. This can also can aid in reminding that one is a female and can help make you walk accordingly. Even though I do not need them for periods, I use do tampons frequently just for that mental thought of being a woman.
I have seen many drag queens over accentuate their female walk and try to swing their hips too much. This is a dead give away because the walk is exaggerated and unnatural.
When I first learned to walk like a woman I was taught to relax while walking in heels and try to keep my feet in a straight line, one foot directly in front of the other and try to glide. This puts a natural sway in the hips and roll in the buttocks. It has worked for me!
Years ago I used a VHS camera to record my walk and I would view the tape on a TV screen and use that as a tool to perfect and improve my womanly and girlish walk.
One does not want to appear as someone walking upstream or wading through mud.
2) Fluid movement is essential to appear as a woman. I practiced keeping my arms close to my body and raising them gracefully maybe bending my wrists as I did. Most women are graceful creatures so don’t swing your arms like a guy when you walk or move. Most have heard the term ‘limp wristed fag’ and that is because they over exaggerate. Don’t look like a man trying to be a woman but instead try to appear as a real and natural woman.
Be a watcher of women, not for sexual reasons but to learn what they do and consider it as going to school. Just do not make it obvious to the women you are viewing her or she might take it the wrong way. Use discretion!
Between my ages of 8 to 11 my mom had female roommates that had teenage daughters and I lived in female dominated households. I was the only male in the house and learned a lot just by watching the females. They did not know it but they were giving me lessons.That includes applying makeup.
3) I have watched how many women stand and sit. I try to copy them. I do sit or stand up straight and sit with my knees together or one leg crossed over the other.
I do have my own boobs and yes I do want to project them outward and I have been told I have a nice butt and I do want to display them. I can can display both in my profile if I stand straight.
4) Keeping your center of gravity down low in your pelvis and hips and stand up straight will prevent shoulder slouch. You do not want to appear like a masculine man preparing for a fight. If you are a tall girl then you are stuck with your height and maybe try wearing shorter heels like 2 or 1 inch or even flats with a flat sole. I do not want to be taller than the men I’m with and am 5’8″ naturally and I normally wear 3″ heels that makes me about 5’11” with shoes. My husband is 6’1″ so he is still taller than me even when I’m wearing heels and I do wear flat soles.
5) This is where keeping your arms close to your sides will help and I keep my hands in a half clenched position to make my hands look smaller.
I often wear one piece swimsuits and all my suits are a halter closing behind the neck because that makes my shoulders appear more narrow. When being a woman one has to be more compact and petite and not wide and spread out like a man.
All of Lucille’s tips are excellent and mine that I listed work for me!
Hi Julie Lisa! I’m Karen! I just wanted to say you seem to have the life that a lot of us girls are still searching for. You are one lucky gal! Thank you for those tips too!