Hello everybody.
Haven't been here for a while because of illness, but would now like to offer the following few thoughts........
Considering the crossdressing question, applying a little cold logic might perhaps go some way towards making it seem more palatable;
First of all, Female is the 'default' position in human development. On our way to developing and becoming Male we pass through a female 'state'. Half of humanity stop there, half go on further to become male. Being Male is actually a sort of special extension of being female. -Beyond female if you like.
From this, I would say it's only natural that many men would feel a lot of fundamental empathy towards elements of the female experience, -and the female psyche, and are drawn to the conditions it lives in from day to day.
Secondly, ladies get a lot of enjoyment and very real pleasure from their garments being so varied, bright and colourful. I well remember one lady I met at a party and she announced that if she had to put up with wearing the dark, drab, same clothes day after day as men are expected to, she would be suicidal. Well, I can sympathise with that. It seems little wonder to me that men too might enjoy a little brightness now and again, and a change from what they normally are expected to dress in every day.
The male sartorial code is a curiously modern development. Consider the voluminous, colourful, detailed costumes that were the delight of men living in Shakespeare's time. How could we have gone from that to what we have today?
Thirdly, how about equality? Lots of ladies are vociferous and determined when demanding rights but surely it cuts both ways. Ladies often dress openly in male garments and enjoy doing so, but it's hardly fair for those same lucky individuals to then refuse a similar experience to male members of their family. That's cherry picking, not equality. Could you imagine the outcry and anger if men suddenly started telling their wives or girlfriends they were not to dress in certain garments?
Fourthly, it seems to me that one of the greatest problems we are having here is that we are all trying to sort out this thorny question on our own without having anyone to talk things over with, and share thoughts. Websites such as this are great, of course, but using any website is still a singular experience.
In the days just before Christmas I happened to pass through Birmingham New Street railway station and, of course, at that time of year it was heaving with people. It suddenly struck me how, in amongst all the crowds, there were quite a few young men (Asian chaps), striding about in long brown skirts. Some in groups, some alone, but all without embarrassment. They were, of course, all members of the Muslim religion and this is a very common way for them to dress.
As I say, they were quite unembarrassed about this and I fell to wondering how it was that they were able to walk about so openly and very visibly dressed in what were effectively skirts without being the slightest bit bothered, whereas we here who contribute to this website agonise over occasionally wearing much smaller garments which are totally hidden from view.
It struck me that their secret is that everywhere they go in their daily lives, they are coming into contact with other men who are dressed the same. Not only that, but all their family members too are understanding and supportive. Nowhere are they made to feel awkward or different.
Compare that with the experience of significant numbers of chaps putting posts on this website who are repeatedly telling us that their significant others are neither understanding nor accepting nor supportive.
Because of this, I often think wouldn't it be great if we could somehow organise a day-long meeting or a convention and, like those Asian gentlemen, meet up with others who are the same? That would be very therapeutic I reckon, and would go a long way towards helping everyone here to seriously appreciate that we are actually not alone in this experience in life.
-Piglet.