Mannerisms

[Epicenity]

I have terrible mannerisms or bad habits that I wish to change about myself that I have carried over. I want to appear fem as that has been my goal from the start, not *overly fem* though. Although, I still have problems with the mannerisms. I need to watch YouTube vids on how to walk, pathetic, right.

Anyway, what is your opinion about it all with your own life or pass some advice.

[Storage and Disposal]

What kind of mannerisms?

[Epicenity]

Lol forgot to clarify. I meant generally walking, talking, etc. I always cross my legs and stuff but I walk like a guy simetimes. I never know if I need to move my hips or if my feet need to do this, or shoulders need to do that. It's just hard to do all these things.

[lillerina]

From what I understand, guys tend to walk like their bodies are anchored at the shoulders and girls tend to walk like their bodies are anchored at the hips. Could you experiment maybe with mentally moving your centre a little more downwards, try to feel like you're heaviest around the hips/lower belly area, and see how that affects how you move?

[Epicenity]

Goshi hate my shoulders. I have the smallest hips though, I'd have to lie to my brain lol but thanks, will try that and get back to you.

[anonymousrabbit]

Speaking of hips, it's interesting, but because of the wider hip base most women have, they have a different motion to their hips when they walk than people with a narrower hip base. It's been described as a "hip swing", but I'd say it's better characterized as a "tilting through parallel" as the weight bearing limb switches. People with a narrower hip base can learn to replicate that motion, but it doesn't happen automatically like it does with people with a wider hip base.

[rowan]

Do you dance? I bet some latin dance like rumba could teach you how to work the hips a bit, even if you're not looking to learn to dance. At least I remember working on that a lot when I was trying to rumba, even more than some of the other ones like cha cha etc.

[Sonic#]

^ There are probably a lot of dances that would help. In Greek folk dancing, women learned to sway their pelvis forward and backward in a controlled manner. I had to learn to move differently too, emphasizing leg and shoulder/back strength. Funnily enough, the latter was somewhat difficult to learn too.

[monk]

I second or third the dance recommendation but not for being "fem" so much as to just add grace to whatever your normal movement is. Wanting to change some of your mannerisms is fine if that's what you want, but don't let any one mannerism that is hard to change hang you up or stress you, because you also happen to be just fine the way you are.
One way to change the way you walk towards the female end of the spectrum is to get some high heels and practice walking with them. I recommend starting with a wider heel vs. a stiletto.

[rowan]

ugh I cannot walk in high heels, especially stilettos.

*falls over*

[monk]

neither can I, but then again, I'm not trying to change my walk. and danger aside heels do focus your walking style in a feminine direction.

[Rainbow Dolphins]

I think that's good advice, but please don't wear heels all the time, because that's how I got tendonitis in my knees.

[Butterfly North]

If you walk with one foot directly ahead of the other (imagine you're on a tightrope) there is some incredible hip swinging. It looks totally ridiculous. But the general message is that the distance your feet are from the invisible line does affect the movement of your hips. So maybe try that.

[Epicenity]

Oh gosh. I don't even own a pair of heels at all. But maybe I should now, seems like it would make a great difference.

[MsLeah93]

My best advice I could give is to not worry about being a certain way. It's best to just be yourself. I am naturally feminine in most areas, but I don't try to force it. I don't really make an effort to be feminine, because it doesn't really matter.