RANSVESTIA

festations are more culturally accepted than ours, many artists are still considered outcasts from society because they do not fit in. Also I think if one knew a great deal about some of the great artists, it might prove true that much of the fabled self torture is a result of feeling unable to be directly in touch with their complete selves. We, perhaps, are luckier for having found a direct way to be all that we are rather than abstract- ing it.

Another example is religious pursuits. Most holy men, in any religion, wear robes, some wear beads and flowers. Most renounce sex which could be seen in the light of trying to escape the ultimate in “gender casting" (The act of physical sex has always been closely tied up with gender roles). They speak of love and emotions in a manner which few layman can without feeling embarrassment. Here, I think, the goal of wholeness probably could be broadened beyond what most people think of in terms of masculine-feminine, but it seems to me that the wholeness of which you speak is about the same. Again, being a holy man of any religion is a matter of inclination, just as it is with us. I think too, that FP is a better path for those of us who follow it. Indeed for every per- son there is a pathway.

Long before I called myself transvestite, I was asked why I did not follow my talents as a musician and I replied, "my whole life is an art far too demanding to specialize so intensely in an abstraction." I'm be- ginning to understand the significance of that.

In my saner moments, when not chased by the cultural doubts concern- ing a male being a woman, I am truly proud to wear a dress and wig and makeup and all the rest. You are the only other FP that I have ever knowingly met, yet because of you and those who words I've read in TVia, I feel pretty lucky to share this path with such courageous women.

Love, Alicia

Dear Virginia:

For three years and for reasons I will describe later, I have been al- most totally inactive. I have not corresponded, attended any meetings, or even dressed. This was not because I wanted to, it was really a com-

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