I shaved off my beard

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:11 am

I shaved off my beard, moustache, sideburns and etc for Halloween. That will be it for the costume and believe me it's scary enough......

I've done this once before in the last 30 years. Almost all of my adult life I have had a beard. In my 20's truth be told I think I looked cuter without it but I hated shaving, liked the effect and statement it made, and couldn't see the point of removing the hair God gave me on a daily basis anyway.

However now I find I look a lot better with a beard than without it. Age does things to us...........

Of course I had to give myself a little fashion show and try on about a dozen dresses and other outfits to see how I looked. Probably better than I do as a guy. I imagine if I figured out how to do makeup to accent my eyes and hide the beard shadow I could look like an okay woman in her 40's. Maybe in her 50's. I know a lot of cute women in their 50s actually.

Facial coloration is a bit strange but I guess that's to be expected after shaving for the first time in a decade.

My plan is to take some pictures and start growing everything back tomorrow. I really don't like this clean shaven thing very much. I'm not sure how men cope with it generally to tell the truth.

Merinda · Post by **Merinda** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:09 pm

I grew a beard in my early 20's and it looked totally discusting , I looked like a garden gnomb.

I really don't like this clean shaven thing very much. I'm not sure how men cope with it generally to tell the truth.

I'm not a real man

Lydia · Post by **Lydia** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:41 pm

Me too, Merinda. I tried a mustache and looked like Dr. Fu Manchu. Been shaving ever since.

I have heard rumors that men shaving their faces is a form of vicarious self-castration. Think about it.

Lydia

Marlena Dahlstrom · Post by **Marlena Dahlstrom** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:59 am

Absaroka wrote:I really don't like this clean shaven thing very much. I'm not sure how men cope with it generally to tell the truth.

Like many other things it boils down to what you're used to. For me, I kind of like the ritual of shaving every morning. Sort of an affirmation of "manhood" if you will. (Since I consider myself omni-gendered I'm happy expressing both masculine and feminine aspects.)

Rikki · Post by **Rikki** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:22 am

"Omni-gendered", I like that!! If that means what I feel, "multi-gendered", that describes my psyche to a T. Being different things at different times makes life far more interesting.

Oh, and I too shaved my 26 year old beard when my CD'ing became active a few years ago, plus it was all white and I looked like Santa.

Frill-on, girls (and guys)!!

Rikki

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:38 am

Omni gendered. What a concept. I like it.

Both kids were horrified with my eldest looking twice to be sure it was me before she even got in the car when I picked her up from school. Her boyfirend was slightly aghast. The youngest tearfully asked did I think it might grow back by tomorrow and had trouble with me standing near her. My wife screamed when she saw me but after she got used to it said it didn't look too bad. Her final comment was that I just didn't look like me. This morning my eldest looked at me soon after getting up and said "Oh S--- I forgot you're scary now.

The past few years have been a bit rough, what with medical issues and other emotional stuff. I am left with the feeling that under the facial hair my face aged a lot in the last couple of years. The eldest daughter said I looked a bit like the evil emperor in Star Wars but I would say more of a cross between Boo Radley and David Bowie on a bad day. Funny thing is the skin is very good-after all it's been protected all these years.

I have to admit it's disturbing. I didn't look like this last time I did this which was in my mid forties. It feels like some scene in a movie where some guy on a desert island looks in the mirror for the first time in 10 years and is horrified at what he sees.

Absaroka

Terri(SO) · Post by **Terri(SO)** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:03 am

jeeze, I'm really intrigued now. Can we see before and afters?

Marlena Dahlstrom · Post by **Marlena Dahlstrom** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:25 am

Absaroka wrote:I have to admit it's disturbing. I didn't look like this last time I did this which was in my mid forties. It feels like some scene in a movie where some guy on a desert island looks in the mirror for the first time in 10 years and is horrified at what he sees.

Well give it time. For both yourself, your wife and especially your kids. 'Cuz after all you now don't look like the person they're used to seeing. But soon enough they're realize you're still you.

Terri(SO) · Post by **Terri(SO)** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:41 am

HHHmmm. Can we see a correlation to how women feel and react to the idea, and further the actual sight of their SO, the manly man they know, presented to them as a woman? If those close to you can react so strongly to the change of appearance, that is still well within cultural norms, its no wonder a wig, makeup and a dress would throw a person off kilter!

Rikki · Post by **Rikki** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:06 pm

It were my kids who had the hardest time looking at me without a beard. They had never seen my naked face.

Rikki (smooth-cheaked forever)

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:59 pm

Terri I think you are right on the money about folks being used to things. In particular I would expect the effect to be compounded because most men when they are dressed still look sort of like guys and the mixed cues are also disconcerting. And if they look like women, even more disconcerting. Worst of all according to Helen Boyd is if they look like a more attractive woman than their wife. So as we see there is not a good way to look in this circumstance.

My kids comments notwithstanding, two adults that I saw on my morning walk have voluntered that they think I look really nice this way. One a woman and another a gay man, both family friends. The gay man said I was devastatingly handsome this way and that I should take this as a sign that I will age well even as I thought it was proof that I had one foot in the grave already. So it gets more interesting.

I'd had the thought that if I liked how I looked clean shaven maybe I would try this again sometime and go to a CD event when everyone else was on vacation. However at this point I really don't think it would be worth it at all. I do not want to do this again. Do guys go to these events with beards and dresses or is that considered too odd? Truthfully I would probably be happy going dressed as a man just to sit and talk with folks f2f but I wouldn't want people to think I was tranny chasing.

As for the pictures Terri I have a stone age camera with film so there isn't anything to post on line. Sorry.

Absaroka

Absaroka

Bronny · Post by **Bronny** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:48 pm

i couldn't imagine being dressed and have a beard or moustache....just doesn't seem right. i used to have a huge zapata moustache which i think i hid behind. now i am smooth shaven everywhere. i am a really hairy guy as a guy so i shave everything off...takes ages...and yes i can hear you now...why don;t you wax??....well..being a total chicken heart has a lot to do with that. and alow tolerance to pain

Carol Ann · Post by **Carol Ann** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 3:03 pm

Gosh I can't even grow a 3 day beard, try to grow a moustache once and after 6 mo. my wife made me shave it off as it never really grew that much.

Alana · Post by **Alana** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:49 am

Absaroka,

You can get your film photos on cds and can then upload them. I too, have an old style film camera and I get a cd when I do my femme photo shoots. That's how I get my photos to the photo gallery.

Happy filming!

Alana

Anita · Post by **Anita** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:52 pm

Do guys go to these events with beards and dresses or is that considered too odd? Truthfully I would probably be happy going dressed as a man just to sit and talk with folks f2f but I wouldn't want people to think I was tranny chasing.

Hi Absaroka--
I don't see CDs with beards. I see drag queens with them, but very few.

You're right, you'd have a hard time avoiding a tranny chaser label if you come as a guy. There have been a few times when I had to facilitate the support group, and had no time to do even a quick change. It creates a strange dynamic, having a genetic male in the group.

As for the pictures Terri I have a stone age camera with film so there isn't anything to post on line

.

As Marlena points out, even Fred Flintstone can post picture these days, by getting a CD when they're developed. But I could understand you being a little shy about putting yourself out on the web, too.

Crossdressers-Haven.com

I shaved off my beard

I shaved off my beard

Re: I shaved off my beard