Did you know that your body language makes up more than half of the impression you make on others?
That’s a big part of your feminine image as a crossdresser or transgender woman!
Body language comes down to four key elements: your posture, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to develop bad body language habits that can undermine a poised and polished appearance.
In this blog post, I’ll share 27 MTF body language mistakes to avoid when presenting yourself as a woman.
27 MTF Body Language Mistakes to Avoid for a Flawless Feminine Image
1. Slouching
2. Constantly checking your phone (this is a biggie!)
3. Biting your nails
4. Rummaging through your purse
5. Crossing your arms
6. Fidgeting
7. Shaking your leg or tapping your fingers
8. Not smiling
9. Scanning the room while speaking with somebody
10. Talking too much with your hands
11. Exaggerated nodding
12. Examining your teeth or face in public
13. Applying makeup in public (other than a quick swipe of lipstick)
14. Resting your chin on your hands and elbows
15. Sitting with your legs apart
16. Clanging your silverware
17. Avoiding eye contact
18. Eye contact that is too intense
19. A weak handshake
20. Clenching your fists
21. Standing too close to people
22. Chewing loudly
23. Talking while you eat
24. Eating or drinking too fast
25. Bending towards your food instead of bringing the food to your mouth
26. Leaning forward too much
27. Leaning back too much
Phew, that’s quite a list, isn’t it? Some of these might seem obvious, but let’s be real – we’ve all witnessed these behaviors in public!
Are you making any of these mistakes? If so, don’t feel bad. (I’ve had to work on some of these myself!) Instead, resolve to improve them.
For fun, do a “body language study” the next time you’re out in public. Notice the subtle actions that enhance or detract from people’s images.
Can you think of any other habits that should be added to this list?
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please share in the comments below.
Love,
Lucille
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As someone who lives full time as a woman, it’s very important to interact with other women. Over time I’ve learned to accept myself, relax, smile and for the most part I practice the listed suggestions on body language. Attitude is everything.
These are great suggestions, and most apply equally to either gender, even true hermaphrodites. You could say manners matter, and deferential behavior in ladies and gentlemen is a sign of social awareness and caring about others’ opinions. Thank you for this advice. p.s.[the carrying angle of elbows at the sides is a key clue to ID gender, esp. if ambiguous, as in Turner’s syndrome xo, with or without mosaicism].
Keeping your legs close especially at the knees… a nice leg cross over at the knees is sp feminine IMAO
je suis sortie en femme hier , et j’ai fait de mon mieux , le portable a sonner trois fois et je l’est couper . je n’est pas croiser les jambes , et manger des frites .doucement . j’ai bus avec une paille sans faire de bruit , j’était avec une autre personne assise sur un tabouret ,, j’ai passer une bonne soirée .ma tenue est simple jupe , avec un haut a manche longue et bottes .quel dommage jen’est pas faite de photo .
I find that when i presents a female, my attitude and state of mind takes care of most of these things. I go out more and more as a female, and over the years have become very confident in my feminine side. I don’t think “ will i pass” or will someone stare. I am who I am and i’m very happy!
Wow! Nice comprehensive list! There is always more that could be added, but that was impressive! Thank You, Lucille.
I’m pleased that I passed on most of them. I especially like to smile. But my table behavior could be more feminine. I think I might chew too loudly; it’s not easy to tell. I do eat too fast, and I am clumsy enough to often lean forward when taking a bite. On the last two, I really appreciate Julia’s advice to eat more slowly, and to take smaller bites that can be managed more easily. Now if I can just remember to follow it!
I’ve mentioned this before, but one nearly universal masculine walk characteristic is letting shoulders sway from side to side. Women almost never do. It is due to weight distribution and balance. If you avoid the shoulder sway, you will be much less likely to give yourself away. An added benefit is that balance will then require your hips to sway instead. Neato! Loddy-doddy, everybody.
One mistake I often see in trans women is walking with arms widely appart, instead of being kept close to the body. That’s a natural male behavior that have to be corrected with trans women. Also, some women tend to have a long arms swing when they walk. Arm swing must be limited to the forearm, and not be to extended. Just a subtil movement is enough. I hope you understand what I mean.
Agree, and I keep my elbows close to or brushing my upper body. I tuck my thumb slightly between the next two fingers to avoid an open-hands look and to help keep the hands more compact in appearance. Keep the hands mostly with the wrists facing forwardish, and of course extending the wrist out a bit every so often is feminine. Carrying a purse in the crook of your arm makes this a natural position for the forearms and wrists. Taking shorter, more frequent steps helps too. With a knee-length skirt, it’s easier to do that than with a short skirt or shorts. I don’t always walk with one foot directly in front of the other as if I’m on a runway but closer to that kind of stride than keeping the feet shoulder-width apart.
I agree. But, like Joe wrote, I think it’s a muscular development thing instead of a masculine behavior. Before hrt, the only way my arms could stay close to my body was to hold them down using other muscles and therefore didn’t appear natural. Now my arms are held closer to my body without effort.
Many men have a large upper body and biceps which force the arms away from the body. It is difficult to correct for this without constant monitoring. I will do better!
Totally right about the lipstick, this comes off easily while eating, but I wear lip stain to keep from having to reapply, works like a charm!