Feminization (sexual activity)

Feminization or feminisation, sometimes forced feminization (shortened to forcefem or forced femme),[1][2] and also known as sissification,[3] is a practice in dominance and submission or kink subcultures, involving reversal of gender roles and making a submissive male take on a feminine role, which includes cross-dressing.

Feminization as a sexual fetish is not the same thing as being a transgender woman, and the submissive partners engaging in it are typically heterosexual men.

[6] People participating in feminization often role-play different scenarios based around the submissive partner's femininity or feminine clothes; these may include role-playing being caught in the act of trying on panties or lipstick, being discovered to be wearing frilly lingerie under their clothes, being a princess,[6] being a "damsel in distress" and treated like a helpless woman,[7] or being hired "as a woman" for a female-coded job like a nurse, cheerleader, sex worker, or businesswoman.

[4] Whereas not all participants are interested in BDSM aspects of the practice, and only enjoy dressing up, it may also include things such as spanking, pegging, bondage,[3] and humiliation such as making fun of the submissive for having a small and soft penis, and referring to it as a clitoris.

[7] The training involves making the submissive – who often may be shy and embarrassed – overcome those emotions, shifting their mindset so that they instinctively act more provocatively and uninhibitedly.

[6] In Gender Reversals and Gender Cultures, Sabrina P. Ramet writes that although the fantasy may seem contradictory in its treatment of femininity as a source of humiliation, since it is often combined with femdom – as one could assume that the submissive's feminine clothing would be a symbol of the female superiority within a femdom–feminization role-play scenario – the two fantasies are independent even within the role-play, with the humiliation coming from the cultural taboo of wearing women's clothing as a man.

[14] Feminization was featured in an episode of the television drama series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which was described as an unrealistic portrayal by author Helen Boyd in her book My Husband Betty.