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’m slightly build and not outrageously tall – somewhere around 178cm – 180cm, which is not at all overly tall for women in either Berlin (the original one in a Prussian swamp, not the many US copies) where i live, nor in Melbourne (Australia) where i come from. It certainly helps that i’m 55 and both female and male average height has risen starkly in my lifetime.
Being in Berlin – i.e. finding a transfemale friendly city – has helped me enormously. Even if i don’t pass here, very few people will think less of you. As soon as you take that pressure off yourself to pass, you’re so much more likely to do so, such is the cruel irony of our plight.
I seem to blend in pretty well aside from my voice and I feel psychological health, looking after yourself emotionally, is extremely important for movement. I’ve noticed myself blending in much more easily simply as a result of hormone therapy, simply because i am genetically XXY and therefore, until i began oestrogen therapy, i had no “sex” hormone levels worth speaking of, and probably i had been like that all my life. I put “sex” in quotes because testosterone / oestrogen / progesterone have a profound effect on all other kinds of brain hormones and lacks in these things can wreak havoc with mental health. There has to be a “lightness” (as in joy, not superficiality) in one’s being, and i feel what i wear helps a great deal. I adore my clothes and fabric and color has always had a profound effect on my mood, so i get a spring in my step from what i wear. If i am feeling self conscious about passing, i distract myself with joyful thoughts, and, at 55 with two sublimely beautiful children, i have plenty to draw on notwithstanding life’s bumps. I’m sure that has a positive effect on movement. Berlin fashions this Summer were big into flounces and frills, which i adore (i’m extremely unlikely to grow bigger than an AA or A cup, so i love layers and fabric adornments as a means of making that part of my body more interesting – something i learnt when i worked in fashion design 30 years ago).
Again, i can’t say enough about finding a “kind” city. Melbourne, my home, was pretty good by Australian standards, but i feel a welcome here in Berlin that i never felt in Australia. I remember once being in the bathroom here in Berlin, passing well whilst washing my hands, but i have a tendency to vocal ticks, which always come out in my original male voice. So i unwittingly outed myself next to another lady at the basins. She gave me a surprised look, and in our swapped glances, we both knew that the other had grasped the whole situation. I will never forget what happened next in my whole life: this stranger smiled at me, gently touched my arm and said kindly and sincerely how pretty she felt i looked. I immediately fell into a deep curtsy before her because i was so moved by her kindness and my gratitude therefor, which made her giggle uncontrollably and we both left the bathroom and had a lovely hour together sharing coffee.
She’s now a firm Berlin friend. She’ll know who she is if she reads this, so thank you my beautiful, kind friend, for that generosity i shall bear with me all my life.
I have the hip sway down….as far as eating women in my area aren’t as proper….I have watched women shove their faces full…..Just my take!
I take great care when Dining Out, not that I have Bad Table Manners, but little things like eating Slowly, bring the Spoon/Fork that last few inches up to your mouth rather than tilting your head to meet it.
Ordering Meals/Food that are in small portions or cuts.
Salads are in small pieces, rather than lifting a whole Hamburger to take a bite, Cut the Burger/Sandwiches in half to pick up.
Once with other gurls who were eating even slower than me, to keep eating with them, I broke my Potato Chips in half so we would all finish about the same time.
Oh and it good to share Dessert, share that Slice of Cake,…..real Girls are always watching their weight.
Not eating Dessert might make other at the Table Guilt or uncomfortable,….so share. The Wait Staff will bring two Forks…lol.
Hi girls, Being tall, it’s difficult walking like a girl but I try!!! I do other things that girls do and it does the job. It just blows my mind. Get the pun?
When I’m dressed en femme my stride now automatically gets narrower and shorter. And my shoulders pull back and down with my arms closer to my sides and I stand in a more feminine posture. A gg female cashier at my grocery store that I go to told me that I have a very sexy walk when dressed as a girl. She has told me that she wished that she had my walk and hip sway. This really made my day.
Very sexy looking girl.
please give your opinion if I am taking care in important aspects of my feminine image in avoiding some common mistakes as Poor posture , Stiff body , Taking up too much space
I’m 5’6” and about 150 lbs. I just watch how other women carry themselves when I am out and about. I try to emulate them. I take small steps and let my arms swing a bit. It seems to work. Here I am at Kohl’s the other day trying on some blouses. I’m 73 also, and it seems like with time, it’s much easier for me to blend in as a female now.
Love the advice thank you at 60 amd only two years of dressing i have a lot of man to get rid of lol
You look great Jaime! It’s all about confidence and feeling good about yourself! Have fun!
Sweetie did you make a typo? 73… for real sister? You look fab. Keep it up.
OMG I am so envious of you. I am 59 and just starting to make mives that can tip off anyone paying attention. I hate that I waited so long but still not able to be completely out. Not sure it would help my business. Congrats to you sweetie. Stay in touch luv hearing you are living the best gurl life you can live.
Thanks Vivian! It’s so fun living my dream! Now that I’m retired, I am able to live almost 24/7 now as a woman. I never have an issue when I am out and about. I’m always treated like a lady! I love it! Here I am the other day at Nordstrom’s!