30.

and lace. But I couldn't pass up the remark entirely. This girl was wearing skin-tight Capris and a plain blouse plus flat shoes. "Suppose he does?" I asked. "People who live in glass houses, you know--what about you wearing pants and shirt? Isn't that pretty masculine?"

She was open-mouthed and indignant. "That's ridicu- lous!" she said. "These are girl's Capris, everone wears them and certainly no one thinks I'm going to go around seducing other girls because I have them on. Personally I like them because they are so much more comfortable than dromes, why I practically live in them."

This got a laugh even from the others around her, for if those skin-tight pants, fitting so closely that she could scarcely sit down in them and obviously uncomfortable for she had been tugging at them all evening, were prefer- able to a cool, loose, graceful skirt, then it certainly wasn't apparent to anyone else.

Then someone brought up the old chestnut of a girl wanting to imitate men's clothing because over the cent- uries man has held the spot of "superior sex" and imita- tion was merely flattery and acceptance of this fact. When a man chooses to go for female clothing, however, it's just a sign that he is queer and a potential sex criminal. This was their considered judgement after the discussion, although a couple of voices were raised mildly to intervene with the protest that a transvestite need not be a homosexual; but that even if he were, it still didn't indicate a danger- ous psychopath or sex degenerate. The smug conclusion was that the original subject Mr. X must wear lace on his under- wear, hence he was a transvestite, hence a homosexual, hence a menace to society.

I am still seething. Hardly a member of that party but has played around with one another's wife or husband; there are ults, some glaring and obvious, in the person- alities of all of them. Yet they choose to retain, to savor and further every shred of prejudice in something which probably half of them secretly feel themselves.