67.

most masculine hobbies are really only escape hatches in which they try to forget the problems of daily life Ac- tually, TVs have found by whatever route, a method of re- laxation which is actually much more efficient than others

Obviously if the stress arises from the requirements that society makes of the male the greatest relief from this stress comes from ceasing to be a male for a while This the true TV does when he "becomes" a girl. (In TVia #8 I will have a short true story that will illustrate this better than anything else I've ever read or exper- ienced.) I must point out that what I am saying applies to true TVs only, it specifically excludes those who dress for homosexual reasons; those who are masochists and who utilize feminization as a means to that end; and also those who have a powerful feeling for very particular items or types of clothing for their erotic value and are there- fore fetishists.

By ceasing to be masculine the male automatically puts aside the requirements of masculinity and at the same time acquires all the "rights and priveleges", that is, the virtue, dignity, and beauty with which he tends to endow the female Since feminine creatures do not HAVE to be aggressive, he can be quiet and passive, since they do not HAVE to be strong and everything that goes with it, he can for a time be weak and thus relaxed During this interval he does not have to be the one who makes decisions, dominates situations, strives for com- petitive advantage, and all the rest of the things he does during his regular life as a man He can experience grace, beauty, daintiness, attractiveness, gentility--not only within his own self but can feel that others see these qualities in him. He cannot actually cease seeing with

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a man s eye and appraising with the man's brain that he uses all week. So if on Saturday night Lewis becomes "Louise", it will be Lewis' s eyes that see "Louise" in the mirror. She will be pretty wonderful to him whether she is pretty in fact or not, because it is what she REPRESENTS that counts--all the good and beauty that Lewis ordinarily attributes to girls.