BITS & PIECES



Member travels, activities, thoughts, views, interests

Perspective

Diane S. Frank comments on Mary Richart’s article "Don’t Skirt Around the Issue"

I'm glad to see that the younger generation has an open mind and can challenge the prejudices and myths that some groups pass around. But at the same time, knowing what we know and serving who we serve I think that Ms. Richert should read further. While I reject the categorical claim that crossdressing is an addiction or like an addiction as a general rule, I do see addictive behavior. We try to help people with it.

While I am glad to see the recognition that homosexuality and crossdressing are not the same thing, I'm not at all sure that saying crossdressers are predominantly heterosexual and happily married is exactly right either. First of all, I'm not at all certain what anyone means by heterosexual anymore. I'm not being Clintonian here, I simply think that there's a lot of assumptions made about the mental processes of heterosexuality that don't stand scrutiny...so saying that crossdressers in general have heterosexual mental processes is saying one unknown thing is like another unknown thing. Saying that crossdressers are happily married very often means that no one has asked the wife how she feels about things. "Normal" and "My Husband Betty" show differing viewpoints on the matter but do illustrate the problems encountered in ways that cheerleading books such as "My Husband Wears My Clothes" don't.

But just because some marriages aren't happy with crossdressing involved, that doesn't mean that they can't be happy marriages. And again, that's what Alpha Omega is about. We try to help people reach accommodations and turn what could be a burden into an opportunity for growth and fulfillment. It takes work and it takes commitment, and we think knowing people who have done the work, and come out the other side can help. Thanks to Ms. Richert for thinking kindly of us, and if she happens to marry a crossdresser and she finds that she or her spouse need help making things work...or just want a safe friendly social environment....well we and other organizations, some even located in Texas, are there for them.

WHITE CHICKS

"Engrossing [for you]?" - by Diane S. Frank.




The Summer 2004 movie "White Chicks" wasn't a great critical success. Most critics felt that making "white chicks" out of two African-American comedians (Shawn and Marlon Wayans) wasn't enough to support the movie. Someone on a BBS noted this quote from a pre-release interview. 

For Shawn, it got a bit too much. Some of the actresses on the set forgot that there were guys underneath all the makeup. He says, "We got into some of their private girl talk, and it was gross. Too much information."

One of the reasons I can give for doing what I do is because I can. Shawn’s quote is a wonderful example of why the average guy in fact cannot. You can put him in a dress and he can't and won't be able to relate at all to the world as women experience it and themselves. He'll find it gross after a while, and not engrossing. In fact he'd probably feel downright gender dysphoric after a while