42.

-ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID

constriction of his dress. He would be reminded how unmanly he was.

The tradition of a wedding focuses on it being the "bride's day". Maybe it is really about male domination and suppression of women. But is it? A man "takes" a bride. The bride submits and promises to "obey" her new husband. That's an old outdated sense of marriage but some of it remains.

Baily was getting a taste of it first hand. The sense of beauty and decorum he presented was like a lamb being fattened for slaughter. As a bridesmaid, he was symbolically the next to be deflowered.

That sense of dressed-up and elegant femininity associated with weddings was giving Baily a taste of life that no male should ever experience.

Secondly, the emasculating part of wearing women's clothes--was it like being perpetually stimulated? While sexually, Baily was "nailed down" by the foundation garments, he seemed stimulated in a mild, endurable, teasing way.

It would stand to reason that the tighter and more "remote" normal male response was, the more intense other stimulation would be.

In other words, the more Baily tried to hide his masculinity, the closer he would get to the mysterious experience of "femininity."

Wearing a tantalizing dress wouldn't let Baily forget that he was a girl. He had to feel it every time he sat down, walked, or made any movement. The bustline was always there, enforcing and inspiring feminine comportment.

It made me wonder how many women would be "feminine" (the visual impression of femininity) without wearing women's clothes.

Men are stimulated by a woman acting feminine, and I found watching Baily flit about rather interesting. It was like he'd given up his male independence and accepted the constrictions of femininity.

SANDY THOMAS PUBLICATIONS

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Seeing him surrounded by his mother and other girls who derived a great deal of pleasure from dressing like ladies made me wonder if it might rub off on him?

And finally, his mother never had a gun to his head as he swished about in his skirts, taking his place with the girls and being a beautiful bridesmaid.

As I walked Baily home from the wedding, I asked, "Bet you can't wait to get out of this crap?" He said, "Yeah! Just two more days."

"Two more days? I though we'd do a movie Sunday night."

"Yeah," he moaned, flipping up in the air the bridal bouquet he'd caught. "There's a breakfast in the morning and the wedding party loves our town so much that they have decided to stay until Monday. I will have to check some rental stuff into the shop. They'll expect to see me in a dress."

I wasn't sure but it seemed that Baily was beginning to get used to thinking of himself as a girl. It showed in everything. With me, he didn't have to walk with such a sway to his hips or talk in such a sweet high voice.

On Sunday night, he received permission to go to the movies with me. "Some one in the wedding party might be at the theater," his mother said, meeting me at the door.

To my surprise, he was in a simple pleated skirt, blouse, nylons and low heels. I commented, “I've never seen that at your store?"

"Samples," his mother said proudly. "I get a ton of them and luckily they are Baily's size." He added a close-fitting angora sweater that only went to his waist but fit neatly over his bosom.

"I'm sorry," he said, "If you don't want to be seen with me, I'll understand. Do you think I'm becoming