Quote Originally Posted by GretchenM View Post
Very good suggestions, Marie. I have been doing that for years and it rarely gets a reaction here in liberal Denver; not so good in very conservative locations. However, what does produce a reaction is carrying a shoulder bag even though it does not look the least bit like a women's purse. Men are supposed to carry their stuff in pockets. Unfortunately, I carry stuff that won't go in pockets. Such as a checkbook, various small form factor tools for emergencies, a magnifier for reading ridiculously fine print, small plastic bags and coin envelopes when I find a plant, rock, or other natural item I want to take home and examine more closely. Never know when you come across such things and as the study of Nature is my profession some of these things are important to have when I need them. But to some it looks like a purse and that creates a reaction in a lot of people.

I do like women's T-shirts and especially in feminine colors. I notice that the younger folks are much more tolerant of the "Hint of Feminine" than older folks, especially guys with beards. No judgement there; it is just a fact that most men who have beards tend to be pretty masculine and follow binary thinking. So, on the whole your suggestions usually work fine and keep the self appointed gender police calm.
First, I'm wondering about how overt the reactions you got from carrying a purse/bag. I've been toying with the idea of carrying a purse and am curious about the types of responses you got.

Second, I'm wondering about how much more overt the negative responses from bearded guys have been. As a bearded guy myself, I could guess that others here might assume a wrongly negative response from me. I am afraid that I tend to absent mindedly study things that I'm curious about and seeing a guy like us out in the wild definitely fits that bill. I'm wondering how much we project onto others the response we expect.

I've barely been out in obvious femme man mode once or twice. I got one obvious negative response from a young female barista at a coffee shop who looked like she was going to throw up in her mouth. Fortunately, she was not the barista who was taking my order. The "younger folks are more tolerant" didn't work in my case.