Transvestia

Grass on the other side of the fence always looks greener, so the masculine world looks appealing to the women and the feminine world looks appealing to some men. The reason in both cases is that the fence dividing this pas- ture arbitrarily divides the field of total human experi- ence and expression into one pasture for cows and one for bulls. If the world would come to realize that while sexual anatomy, physiology and function are biological and unchangeable, the psycho-social aspects of sex, which can best be considered under the heading of gender are neither biological nor unchangeable. Thus if the fence were removed, bulls and cows would roam at will through- out the field, eating, resting and enjoying the sunshine in whatever corner of it and in whatever pasture they chose. They would still be bulls and cows, however, and would function as such in the sexual aspect of their lives. But they would be freed of the arbituary and artifical limitations of the concepts of "Masculinity" and "Femini- nity".

I firmly believe that the reduction of genderal dif- ferences, which fortunately is going on at an accelerated pace today, would produce a much more mentally healthy world for men as well as for women. Just as women are more satisfied and fulfilled when making a real contri- bution of their full talents not just as females but as human beings, so will men feel more satisfied when they are able to break out of the confines of the current social concept of masculinity. Even sexual health will be im- proved because, when all the artificial trappings, ex- pectations and requirements are stripped away from sex by making it openly available to males and females a- like, all that will then be left will be the true maleness and femaleness of the individuals. One would still like another person for themselves and their personality and not because of how well they conformed to some artificial social prescription as is the case today.

So I recommend "Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friden to the more thoughtful of my readers both for what it says directly and for what if implies for men too.

VIRGINIA