Crossing Your Legs

[Guest AshleyRF]

As a MTF I am always looking at ways to make myself appear more feminine without completely coming out to everyone. One of the ways is how I cross my legs. I have always just put one leg on top of the other (typical male syle) until recently. I have started to copy that of a woman and put one leg drapped over the other. It really is more comfortable and makes me feel a little more feminine at the same time. I am slowly progressing but each little step is making me more and more comfortable with myself. I am interested if anyone has ever thought about how they cross their legs and if it is a feminine thing.

Love,

Sarah F

Interesting fact.... You actually would never see a "proper" lady sitting that way because it smooshes your thighs together causing them to look larger than they are. The way a "proper" woman would sit is of course with one knees together and one foreleg right behind one calf and always sit straight with no slouching.....

But that is only a "proper" woman. We all know that most real world women sit just like you are talking about so, yeah, by all means, sit like that.

Hugs

Ash

[Guest viv]

Sarah,,,,Ive really been trying to **drape**one leg over the other.

I feel as though I may dislocate something ,,,its so uncomfortable.

Is it cos of whats there at the moment or maybe muscle /flexability.

Do you think it would be easier if I did the splits to get more pliable

?????. I dunno,,,this has me discomflimoxxed ,,viv

[Guest Maelee]

It really takes practice to get your legs used to it but once you do it is not so bad....although I have found that after about 15 minutes I have to uncross my legs or switch which leg goes over which. My legs start to feel like they are going numb otherwise. Is that something anyone else has problems with?

A few questions though:

Does anyone have trouble crossing their legs under a table or even try? I am 6 foot 2 inches and I can not get my legs crossed under any tables that I have tried. If I do I end up with my legs having to stick out in front of me and it looks worse that way then if I just keep my knees together and ankles crossed.

Also, has anyone heard about crossing the legs leading to spider vein formation? I cann't remember where but I saw that someplace and I have noticed what I think are spider veins around my ankles. (A number of dark blue blood vessels that look like they are just under the skin??)

Also, about the muscle mass loss....very big time noticeable for me after 7 months HRT. Still stuck working construction and it is really painful trying to lift things. As Donna Jean said, I used to carry a sheet of plywood and the last time I had to was 3 months ago and I had to drag it along the floor holding up one end. But I am so glad my arms are getting slimmer, I used to have huge forearms and I could never find a feminine watch or bracelets that fit me. Now I have a beautiful watch and as long as the bracelet has a clasp (still have big hands, never will change that) I have found a lot that fit.

Love and *hugs*

Mae

[Guest angie]

I still seem to have too much muscle on my calves to slip them behind each other as described.

It will come with time. They've both been girls so long they've forgotten this part.

Hugs,

Becky

Wrong again Becky,

I am an avid bicycle rider,who owns a high dollar mountain bike I love to push to extremes.

Runner's, power walker's and cyclist's all tend to have very large calf muscles.

I taught myself how to sit like this before transition,while still very large and hard muscled.

It takes patience and lots of practice.Your legs all ready hang touching to the ankle's...

Now it is slightly turning the foot on the floor to the inside,then slipping the top of your foot behind

the Achillies tendon at the toes,with the foot relaxed,pointing downward.

Just be patient with yourself,it will come.

Hugs,

Angie

[Guest angie]

It really takes practice to get your legs used to it but once you do it is not so bad....although I have found that after about 15 minutes I have to uncross my legs or switch which leg goes over which. My legs start to feel like they are going numb otherwise. Is that something anyone else has problems with?

This is common,and am sure natural women have to change legs as well,I know I do.

I mean,you are supposed to be comfortable,not have to just deal with a leg going numb,should we?

A few questions though:

Does anyone have trouble crossing their legs under a table or even try? I am 6 foot 2 inches and I can not get my legs crossed under any tables that I have tried. If I do I end up with my legs having to stick out in front of me and it looks worse that way then if I just keep my knees together and ankles crossed.

It is best to just tuck your legs back and under the chair,then cross you feet at the ankle.

The knee,even on a short girl,tends to hit the table top other wise.

Angie

[Guest BeckyTG]

Wrong again Becky,

I am an avid bicycle rider,who owns a high dollar mountain bike I love to push to extremes.

Runner's, power walker's and cyclist's all tend to have very large calf muscles.

I taught myself how to sit like this before transition,while still very large and hard muscled.

It takes patience and lots of practice.Your legs all ready hang touching to the ankle's...

Now it is slightly turning the foot on the floor to the inside,then slipping the top of your foot behind

the Achillies tendon at the toes,with the foot relaxed,pointing downward.

Just be patient with yourself,it will come.

Hugs,

Angie

Well, you showed me, Angie!

Once you said to put my toes behind the Achilles tendon, that did the trick. It isn't that hard. I was trying to get the top of my arch behind my calf muscle. Good heavens.

And--after doing that for a little while, when I pull it back out parallel, my legs really drape nice and close together. Wow, do I look girlie now.

Thanks for all the little lessons, big Sister. Yer gonna turn me into a proper woman, yet.

So, can I go play outside, now? (I gotta get outside before she sees what I did to her lipstick... Ooooh, she's gonna kill me....)

Hugs,

Becky

[Guest angie]

Silly Girl...lol

[Guest Donna Jean]

A few questions though:

Does anyone have trouble crossing their legs under a table or even try? I am 6 foot 2 inches and I can not get my legs crossed under any tables that I have tried. If I do I end up with my legs having to stick out in front of me and it looks worse that way then if I just keep my knees together and ankles crossed.

Love and *hugs*

Mae

Maelee........

I sit with my legs crossed at my desk at work and when one starts to get numb I push myself back in my chair away from my desk...re-cross the legs...then pull my chair back to my desk...

I'm 5'7" and I can't cross them under the desk!

HUGGS!

Donna Jean

[Guest Sotha]

Oh, isn't this a fun topic! I've actually always been able to double-cross my legs, but then again, I have very little muscle and am rather flexible. In fact, when I went to see a physical therapist for my scoliosis, he said that I'm too flexible, and that I need to tone my muscles to support my flexibility. Who would have guessed!

This also reminds of a particular incident I had back in freshman year (that's two years ago). We were doing a project where we would design and present an amusement park ride to people who actually work in the industry, and we had to do two practice presentations in the week leading up to the real one (how they baby you in high school!). Anyway, we were all sitting around a conference table of sorts, and I was just sitting properly (politely, courteously, whatever). Kaitlyn, one of the more observant members of my group, noticed how I was sitting and exclaimed, "Robert, you're sitting like a girl!" I hadn't been thinking about how I was sitting or anything like that; I was just sitting. And no matter what I did, I couldn't find a satisfactorily masculine position to sit in; she eventually gave up on trying to make me sit like the guy I was supposed to be. I guess it turns out I've never actually known how to sit like a guy!

[Guest sarah f]

Brenda, I just might have to go find some slip on shoes so that I can show of my smooth legs. That would be interesting in the least.

Viv, it really does take practice. At first it was a little akward but after a while and leaving them crossed, it becomes easier. Just keep trying and you will get there.

Love,

Sarah f

[Guest angie]

Oh, isn't this a fun topic! I've actually always been able to double-cross my legs, but then again, I have very little muscle and am rather flexible. In fact, when I went to see a physical therapist for my scoliosis, he said that I'm too flexible, and that I need to tone my muscles to support my flexibility. Who would have guessed!

When I was a kid,my sibs would always get on me for sitting like a girl.

It took years of drilling myself to break the habit and learn how to sit like a guy.

Well,that and my dad beating me for my naturally girly ways that he hated.

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

As a MTF I am always looking at ways to make myself appear more feminine without completely coming out to everyone. One of the ways is how I cross my legs. I have always just put one leg on top of the other (typical male syle) until recently. I have started to copy that of a woman and put one leg drapped over the other. It really is more comfortable and makes me feel a little more feminine at the same time. I am slowly progressing but each little step is making me more and more comfortable with myself. I am interested if anyone has ever thought about how they cross their legs and if it is a feminine thing.

Love,

Sarah F

It can be difficult for some men to cross their legs in a feminine fashion with out getting quite uncomfortable; I dont mean embarrassed although that may be part of it. Before we transition and have our testicles shrunk by the hormones and blockers there is, for many of us, just too much down there for us to not pinch something. After 6.5 month on hormones and blockers mine have shrunk to the point that it no longer hurts to do that.

[Guest angie]

My kids asked me once if I ever sit (normal),

normal being like a man.I told them this is how

I sit all the time,I even can't sit or cross my legs

like a guy anymore.This was when they were still

in the grieving stages,trying to get the man to resurface

by using anger.Thank goodness that part is long past.

Angie

[Guest Sotha]

When I was a kid,my sibs would always get on me for sitting like a girl.

It took years of drilling myself to break the habit and learn how to sit like a guy.

Well,that and my dad beating me for my naturally girly ways that he hated.

Yes, luckily for me. No one gave me much trouble for my innately feminine behaviours when they are brought to light. They've just thought me weirder for it. Actually, the one thing I did forcibly make more masculine (and I wish I hadn't) was my regular talking voice, which I turned into this monotoned drawl that has given me much more trouble than its worth in its being boring and exceedingly quiet.

Although, now that I think about it, I never actually took the time to make my vocal mannerisms really masculine, I just lowered my pitch until it became "natural" because if I raise my pitch up to where I'm assuming it should be, people think me homosexual or something like that (especially on the phone; I've been mistaken for my mother many times).

Sorry if that was a bit off topic

Kat

[Guest AshleyRF]

Yes, luckily for me. No one gave me much trouble for my innately feminine behaviours when they are brought to light. They've just thought me weirder for it. Actually, the one thing I did forcibly make more masculine (and I wish I hadn't) was my regular talking voice, which I turned into this monotoned drawl that has given me much more trouble than its worth in its being boring and exceedingly quiet.

Although, now that I think about it, I never actually took the time to make my vocal mannerisms really masculine, I just lowered my pitch until it became "natural" because if I raise my pitch up to where I'm assuming it should be, people think me homosexual or something like that (especially on the phone; I've been mistaken for my mother many times).

Sorry if that was a bit off topic

Kat

My voice never dropped either and I also use to force a deeper voice. It didn't do any altering of my natural voice thankfully.

[Guest angie]

Although, now that I think about it, I never actually took the time to make my vocal mannerisms really masculine, I just lowered my pitch until it became "natural" because if I raise my pitch up to where I'm assuming it should be, people think me homosexual or something like that (especially on the phone; I've been mistaken for my mother many times).

Kat

Hon,I was a vocalist with a powerful voice,able to sing the full range and really project it.

And is the only thing I miss,my singing.Once I find what is wrong with my vocal chords,

may hap it will come back,but this time in the female pitch I was so close to achieving

when it just went away.It's hard to communicate when you can barely speak above a whisper.

Ang