Or, the four things I would do if I woke up one morning as a man for the day.
1. Grow a magnificent set of whiskers
Obviously, this wouldn't actually be the first thing I did. But when I had stopped shrieking and running into walls while pointing at my groin and noticed the note and square of mint chocolate that the Sex Change Goblins had left on my pillow explaining what they'd done and when they would be back to collect their, er, junk, this would be the second thing. Currently I favour a thick, perky kind of handlebar with curling ends that I could twiddle at women on the street, but I also wouldn't be adverse to an amusing set of gigantic mutton chops (or what my mother calls buggers' grips) under the right circumstances. I know ordinarily that such a splendid feat of facial husbandry would take several months to perfect, but given the unusual situation I am sure the Goblins wouldn't mind pulling a few more strings for me.
2. Have a fight
I feel the need to be clear here; under no circumstances whatsoever would I allow myself to turn into one of those desperately annoying men who have seen Fight Club seventy three times and masturbate furiously over its alternative anarchist philosophy of male liberation while at the same time keeping their sofa wrapped in plastic and not allowing anyone to disrupt their CD filing system. Nonetheless, I would like to see what my new body could do and in a choice between senseless violence and something really stupid and excessively physical like, I don't know, jogging, I'll take the overblown machismo. Although if this adventure is likely to leave me with less teeth, blood or limbs than I started the day with I might not be so keen. I might be a man, but I wouldn't like to find out that I still fight like I do (eyes closed, hands flapping around a bit in front of me) at a crucial moment. Actually, forget the fight, I'd just like to see if with more strength at my disposal it is at all possible to punch someone and have them fly back into a handy pile of cardboard boxes / off a petrol tanker hurtling down the M4 / into a display of knock-off Slovakian tequila while waving a flaming torch.
3. Strut about for a bit in a fabulous suit
A breathtakingly expensive, fabulous crafted black pinstripe number. With absolutely no nineteen-year-old-estate-agent black shirt or comedy tie. It is often the case that people brought up in a strict, Marks & Spencer golfing jumper kind of household get their kicks from imagining the objects of their desire in cheap red nylon peephole bras. I, who would have no problems with my beaus wearing fishnet stockings if they felt like it - well, it saves me the bother of having to - can be turned giddy at the extremities by a man in a beautifully fitting suit. Wearing such a mystical totem of male power could unlock all manner of previously peculiar behaviour for me, too. I might get on the tube and sit for a bit with my legs wide open (others have told me that when men do that they're attempting show off something far less impressive than their amazing gusset stitching, but I can't believe them). I might take a large book about war into the toilet with me and finally become enlightened as to the attraction of reading in that less than salubrious environment. Either way I'd probably end up admiring myself in some mirrored office building for a little longer than was seemly which would inevitably lead me to wanting to
4. Have sex
Obviously. However, I foresee logistical difficulties. Am I still a woman but with a man's body? Or am I a man right down to the DNA? Not that I'd care which gender this led me to favour, but I suspect it would influence my feelings towards the mechanics of actually finding someone to have sex with. Unless of course I'd been made that kind of pestilent oaf whose favoured way of impressing people into sleeping with them is to tell them all the details of their incredibly expensive trainers, in which case I'd just throw myself under the nearest fast-moving object and spare society the pain. But never having had to chat anyone up in my life I'd be reluctant to start now, although I feel it would be pushing matters a little to ask the Goblins to please leave Gary Oldman and/or Tilda Swinton on the bed and by the way, close the door on your way out, would you? Oh, and can Tilda be wearing what she was in Constantine? Thanks.
This post was brought to you by the number 4, the letters A and M and the phrase Jesus H Poledancing Christ, I have to get up in three hours.
How about joining a country band?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XePepJvvcjY
posted by JG : 6 August 2007
Oh classy, very classy.
For a moment there, I thought I'd been Snaped...
posted by Jack : 6 August 2007
For a moment there, I was tempted to comment that not only is this post obviously about me, but also that this sounds just like me on an average day. All four items. Oh yes.
Except that, delusion aside, this post is quite obviously not about me. Nor do I qualify for any of those items, being clean-shaven, cowardly, shabbily-dressed and, um ... anyway, that's enough about me. Nice weather we're having.
posted by An Unreliable Witness : 6 August 2007
I would pee. Of course. Standing up. And whistling. And then shake off, repeatedly with a stupid satisfied grin on my face as if I had accomplished something truly great.
posted by bohémienne : 6 August 2007
I've given the matter some thought and haven't been able to come up with 4 things I'd do if I woke up as a woman for the day. I suspect all I would want to do is sit naked in front of a mirror and squeeze my breasts all day...
sadly, I'll just have to content myself with the 2 or 3 minutes I spent giggling like a school girl while reading your post instead.
posted by edvard moonke : 7 August 2007
And also do the monkey spanking? (As well as the sex. I am greedy.)
posted by MIss T : 7 August 2007
I sense a mildly mocking tone in section 3 towards my war-book collection. You have your own bathroom, what does it matter how long I spend in mine?
posted by D : 7 August 2007
i think i'd like to walk around topless in public on a sunny day - because we females certainly can't without being arrested, unless on a beach, of course.
posted by zed : 7 August 2007
If I were a man for a day I would have cock fights with aggressive Neanderthals.
But thankfully I am just a humble sheep.
posted by andre : 8 August 2007
Wear a string vest?
posted by Ariel : 9 August 2007
Hmm, although a good subject to write about I couldn't really think of much to contribute. I wondered what I would do if I were a woman and beyond trying to achieve multiple orgasm I couldn't think of much else to do. I suppose were I a woman for more than a day i.e. the rest of my life I would make sure to undertake a few things. Oh and when imagining being a woman I see myself as Amazonian, at least 6ft and proportionate in all the right places. If this were the case I would be sure to:
Always wear, sexy underwear, no matter how impractical. Including stockings and suspenders. Just making that effort marks you out from the rest of the women.
Shave all hair off (you know where). Remove leg hair daily. There should be no such thing as a day off from this
Wear little make-up. There is nothing worse than too much make-up (I'd go as far as sans makeup).
Always walk with a straight back, head held high looking straight ahead. Seriously, good posture is super sexy. The way you carry yourself says much about the 'mentals'.
Show interest but never enough. That is exciting and makes (me at least) us so much more eager to please. The thrill of the chase should never end. We men are like dogs. Show us some interest and we'll be forever trying to please.
Those few pointers but stand you in good stead I'd say.
posted by tobias : 11 August 2007
Stockings and suspenders?
A pre-approved amount of make up?
DAILY hair removal?
Sexy posture?
A correctly formulated level of interest?
I'd ask for a show of hands from the women here as to which of us find the idea of the kind of man that would demand all that an unappealing mixture of creepily pathetic and utterly repulsive, but I fear I'd frighten you off with all our hairy armpits.
I think I'll stick to distinguishing myself from other women in ways that don't involve my choice in hosiery or pre-pubescence of my you-know-where, if its all the same.
posted by Jack : 11 August 2007
I was just thinking that even one day of trying to stick to that insane regimen might be enough to show Tobias why women don't like doing it!
"So, Toby, what'd you get up to on your day as a woman?"
"Uh, not much, by the time I got out of the house it was lunchtime... met a nice bloke, but I think I overdid the hard-to-get thing, so he went away, and then when I stood up I laddered my stocking. Do you have a paracetomol? My back is killing me."
I read an article somewhere about testosterone injections for men with HIV, and the description of how the injection makes you feel - the effects of pure, fresh testosterone coursing round your system - made me think it would be a great thing to experience.
posted by Ms Baroque : 11 August 2007
Golly, I've been writing for some time on this blog and not been acknowledged and yet I post this and ( ( B O O M ) ) 'Jack' and friends suddenly hava an opinion of my writing.
Sorry, I'll stick to the banal next time...
posted by tobias : 11 August 2007
Hi Tobias,
I've left you an answer over at my place too. As I said there, I thought my comment was relatively lighthearted! A rueful commentary on how it sometimes feels to me, all the depilation and body lotion and cleanse-tone-moisturise and holding your stomach in and which bra to wear with which top, and going to the hairdressers, and that's before you even think about your nails! I'm a person who broke her foot once, running for a bus in kitten heels, on cobbles. I still wear the shoes sometimes but I've totally given up running for buses.
All best
posted by Ms Baroque : 12 August 2007
Golly, I've been writing for some time on this blog and not been acknowledged and yet I post this and ( ( B O O M ) ) 'Jack' and friends suddenly have an opinion of my writing.
I'm just showing interest but not enough.
posted by Jack : 12 August 2007