4TV FICTION CLASSICS

SANDY THOMAS ADV. lest they try to "brain wash" him into the male dogma they were receiving from their fathers, and on the other, he was naturally drawn to them.

In the end; however, he grew up mostly in the company of women. . .his mother, his sister, and their friends. Of course, Joanne's friends were like-minded members of the Society, and Maureen's companions were mostly their daughters.

There was one boy his age who Joanne never objected about. His name was Paul Wainright, and Sam considered him to be his best friend. They were the same age and had known each other since kindergarten. Both were small of stature and had been subjected to the same propaganda by their respective divorced mothers. They even looked somewhat alike. Because they were discouraged from the usual sports interests that young boys have, they could even be described as delicate.

Sam had Joanne's thick brown hair, and he wore it quite long on purpose. On purpose, because he liked it that way, and on purpose because Joanne preferred the somewhat soft non-masculine, non-threatening look it gave him when combined with his slight build.

Paul was a natural blonde, and his mother was somewhat more domineering than even Joanne. She encouraged Paul to wear his silky hair long. Years since a real haircut, it had grown down to mid-back length which he usually wore in a simple ponytail. With his slight build, from behind, he was often mistaken for a teenage girl.

His older sister Wendy liked to tease him by calling him Paula in public thereby increasing the confusion for anyone passing nearby. Wendy, you see, was well on her way to becoming a militant feminist like her mother. She wore her hair short in a unisex style, and saying she would wear skirts when men did, always wore jeans, slacks, or shorts.

As plans for the Freshie Queen contest unfolded in River City the SAWOFF committee met late into the night. Mr. Carlson, the school's Principal, was well known to them, and he was the primary target at the meeting. He and the Mayor were old cronies, and both had less than a sympathetic ear for the feminist movement. The women, for their part, were sure Carlson was pushing the Freshie Queen idea

BLONDE & BLONDER -5 just to spite them after their fiercely vocal protest the year before.

"Should we try and contact all the freshperson girl's mothers and ask them to have their daughters boycott the event?" asked one woman.

"That would be nearly impossible," Joanne replied. "Several of the mothers are former 'prom queens' themselves, and those airheads think nothing could be better than to have their precious little bimbos walk in their footsteps!" "Then, what do we do? What can we do?"

The room was silent as the women concentrated on their dilemma. Finally, one exasperated woman sighed dejectedly and said to nobody in particular, "I wonder how those former queens and chauvinist pigs would feel if their sons had to parade in front of the crowd dressed like Barbie dolls?"

Joanne's head shot up upon hearing that statement, and a devious smile spread across her lips. The others noticed and knew their leader had a plan!

"What is it Joanne? You've thought of something?" "Maybe," she replied slowly. "Listen to this! The law says a person can't be discriminated against because of her or his sex. . .right?"

"Right." Several women replied in unison, hanging on her every word.

"So, let's use the law against them?" Joanne continued. "How do you think Carlson would feel if his little contest was embarrassed by having several boys competing for FRESHIE Queen along with the girls?"

"Freshie Queen boys??? What a howl!!!

"Yeah, but Carlson would never stand for that!"

"He would have to!" Joanne answered smugly. "It's a public contest, and he can't discriminate against boys anymore than he can discriminate against girls in other situations...like sports! Why, I'll bet if we forced the issue and entered a few boys, Carlson would be so upset, he'd cancel the pageant!"

"Brilliant!" shouted one woman who couldn't restrain her excitement.

Emma Wainwright, Paul's mother, was more thoughtful and asked the obvious question, "On the surface the plan