HISTORY

A MAN AND A WOMAN TOO

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Barbara FCO-8-L

Forty-three years ago, aged four or five, I can remember trying on an aunt's nightgown and from that day on I was a "gone goose" although I didn't realize it at the time, of course. I can still feel the indescribable pleasure it gave me. From then until eight or ten I have really no recollection of experimenting again. But from this age on until I was a teenager, at long intervals my mother's clothes were raided for brief excursions into my femme self-by brief I mean from 20 to 30 minutes before revulsion and guilt overtook me and I couldn't get out of them quickly enough.

I do remember in my early teens looking for legitimate excuses to be a "girl" at parties or on the stage. I had become interested in church basement entertainment and being something of an extrovert, in spite of a severe stutter that never was evident on stage, I got the reputation of a person who would do anything to perform and play any part. It wasn't difficult to quietly angle for the "women's" roles in all-male productions-they weren't too popular with the other guys. To my complete satisfaction and personal edification-but under outward protests to the contrary, "Why do I always have to play the women's parts?"), I won a reputation for doing them very well. People in the audience complimented me on how well I wore and handled the skirts, walked and moved in high heels and used appropriate gestures.

One occasion in particular comes to mind when I was about 15. The Young Men's Club at the church was asked to do a fashion show for a Young Peoples Group party. Because of my reputation I was asked to be one of the models—I argued a little but not hard enough to make them look for someone else before I accepted. Where to get proper clothes?

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