En femme

The term en femme [ɑ̃ fam] is an anglicized adaptation of a French phrase. It is used in the transgender and crossdressing community to describe the act of wearing feminine clothing or expressing a stereotypically feminine personality. The term is derived from the modern colloquial French phrase en tant que femme meaning "as a woman" and the anglicized adaptation en femme literally translates as "in woman". Most crossdressers also use a female name whilst en femme. In the cross-dressing community the persona a man adopts when he dresses as a woman is known as his "femme self".