I have been thinking about the gender recognition system in our brains. It must be that we collect a certain amount of hints and the do the recognition quickly and automatically. And at the same time we "forgive" the details that do not fit into the whole picture. If we then must redefine the gender for some sudden additional reason, for example a deep voice, the already "forgiven" details pop out again and we see the whole person in a different light.

Laura

Another interesting topic comes to my mind: the female and male version of the same basic face. We meet that sometimes with brothers and sisters, or fathers and daughters. And there you cannot say that the girl looks masculine, because she has her father´s face. Cause she has got THE FEMALE VERSION of the face. The same thing can happen in transsexuals´before and after pics.
We often tend to see every line that we still have in our face from the old life as "male", even though that is not so. But our relatives, who have learned to know us as males, see us continuously as males.

Laura

Laura,
On the face recognition topic, i think it has something to do with all the years our parents have known us. I mean they nurse us from when we are born and watch every feature of us grow, ieersonality, body and facial changes, so when those of you or us are transitiong, our parents hold on to memorys stored in there brains of who we used to be.
In there own minds we will always be who they raised so they will constantly know us as male's......i think that is right......love JJ xx

Yes Sandra...

And from what you notice that people perceive you as female? There are not many hints, maybe you know more. If MEN look shortly at you and WOMEN don´t, you pass. Because if there was something wrong about you, they would both look at you. If MEN let you go first, you pass and if WOMEN let you go first, you pass as well. Women would not let a man or a freak go first.
Somebody said that the best sign of passing is that you don´t awake any kind of attention, you just "melt" into the crowd.

Laura

Okay Sandra...

That´s my everyday test in a bus full of women. If I read right their uninterested faces I pass just fine.

Laura