I recommend Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent for anyone who likes stories about this sort of experience. I thought it was a really great look at how people perceive men, from a cross-dressing woman’s point of view.

I also think it’s interesting the issue of where the centre of gravity is located, and the affect this has on perceived masculinity and feminity..

The one sport that I love a lot, football (international sport of the round ball variety), your centre of gravity is important, especially so that you don’t fall when passing, receiving, defending, etc.
When you watch the professionals play, they all lower their centre of gravity, especially when defending and receiving the ball (think Marta, Messi, Melissa Barbieri, Nasri, etc)..

The issue of centre of gravity, and it’s lowering, doesn’t seem to be an issue especially for the male players and their perceived masculinity.

(Leaving aside the issue of whether women who play sport are “considered feminine”.)

My last partner was a FtM trans guy who was pretty early in his physical transition. We talked a *lot* about the performance of masculinity and femininity. One of the things that struck him very strongly was how certain body movements are only “allowed” in certain gender presentations. A female presenting person carrying their weight up high, and standing with a wide, firm stance? Gets called all manner of unflattering things. The male presenting person dancing sinuously and with his hips? Laughed at. It seems “wrong.”

It’s bizarre to feel it in your own body, though. It’s a tough disconnect when the way you’ve always moved is at odds with the way you are presenting. I love how you talk about having to basically re-learn to dance while out in dude drag. It can be a ton of fun to play with if it isn’t a constant background hum of awful in your day to day life.

Now there’s a thought…is the authority/higher center of gravity thing a function of men having a higher c.o.g., and so we emulate that when we take on male/”masculine” roles (like DJ), or do men do this shift-upward, too, in certain circumstances? That is, are you unconsciously “acting like a man” when you DJ, or are men taking on the posture of authority when they want to act or be perceived as “masculine”?

Probably a little of both.