Transvestia

clothes, while being careful not to make a "big deal" out of it. Our feeling is that children accept as normal those things that their parents likewise accept. We do not at- tempt to hide anything from her, which would be difficult anyway as she is a very observant and curious little girl (she already knows which nylons are Mommy's and which are Daddy's because Daddy's are longer). The one cardinal rule we do have is that Daddy is always Daddy no matter how he is dressed. (This does hurt Gisele's ego at times-- to be dressed to kill, ready to go out, and have daughter run up and say "Hi Daddy"). This means that there will be no dual personality concept exhibited or explained until she becomes old enough to understand intangible ideas and things like TVism (age 10 or 11).

We definitely don't believe in the "visiting aunt" theory. First of all we want her to trust us and don't think it wise to create a fictional being who's authenticity and credibility would lessen with the increasing aware- ness of the child as she grew older. Better to let her get used to Daddy dressed as a man or as a lady, while simul- taneously impressing on her the idea that what her mother and father do at home is private and not something to discuss with others outside of the home. True, this is an experiment. There is no assurance that our method is the solution to the ever present problem faced by TV's with children of "What do we do now?" But C________and I arrived at this solution through much discussion and logical thought and decided it would not be practical or healthy for Gisele to go "underground". Even then there is always the chance of a sudden accidental exposure accompanied possibly by a traumatic shock for the child. And, because prejudice and bigotry are learned traits instead of being inborn, we plan to educate her properly at home so that she does not acquire irrational and antagonistic attitudes toward not only TV's but other minority groups as well.

We hope this theory works. Now, since I have referred to my femmeself as "Gisele" several times after introducing you to "Carol", it is time to explain how this new name came about and how TVia came into my life. After my wife and I were married I went out as my femmeself on several occasions, usually for a walk or a drive with C______. However, as a result of my relative inactivity during the period that I lived with my Mother, I had lost some of my self-assurance in being able to pass in public

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