Sounding slightly effeminate in Japanese


Sorry if this has already been asked somewhere or if this is an unconstructive
question...

I feel that my English speech is sometimes a bit effeminate (in informal
conversation, that is). I would like to replicate this in Japanese... I have
often read (here on StackExchange, for instance) that this is not so
permissible in Japanese, but is this really the case? Are there _any_
expressions/grammatical affectations/etc. that are considered feminine but can
be used by men?

I understand also that the question is subjective... I tried my best to keep
from flame-baiting...

よろしくお願いします!




One of the things about Japanese is that gendered speech is pretty explicit,
and if you are a male using feminine speech you're going to come off as gay or
as a transvestite or something else in the gender bending stereotypes of
Japanese culture. My general advice would not be to use explicitly feminine
speech but rather to avoid using overtly masculine speech. Call yourself 僕
instead of 俺. Avoid rough inflections and slang, so instead of saying like
いらねーぜ just say いらない. Just listen to the way that males usually speak and tone
it down. If you stick basically to standard Japanese without resorting to
harshness then you might not necessarily come off as _feminine_ but you won't
come off as someone trying to project a masculine air.

