Thursday, March 15, 2012

To Cross or Not to Cross?


Model Jin Park Jun

Source

Although this blog is not about cross-dressing, I'm aware that many CD friends visit it daily, and, one hopes, enjoy it's contents. That being said, I also bear in mind that what I'm about to state may not be to everyone's liking. In fact, I hope I won't drive my drag-queen fans away, and that they'll keep visiting my blog and enjoying the pics in spite of the following remarks.

If there's a word I despise, it is precisely "cross-dressing". I implies that there should be some sort of line, of barrier we are supposed to "cross" as we dress with garments of the "opposite sex". And, for what I see, no such boundaries exist, or should exist. Clothing has no "sex" per se, and the reality is that we all Human beings, without exception,  show both masculine as well as feminine traits. 

Shouldn't we all acknowledge and even treasure such ambivalence, since it is in fact our real nature?

If a man feels particularly feminine at any given time, be it for a single day, a period of his existence, or even his whole lifespan, shouldn't his clothing reflect it?

I've seen a girl wearing a dirty denim overall and battered Doc Martens as she fixes her car, only to encounter her shortly afterwards at a cocktail party clad in a sexy sequin dress and silver stilettos. 
Shouldn't we males also accept ourselves the way we really are and let that less aggressive, more submissive "other self" to surface once in a while? Or most of the time, if that be the case?

For instance, we could display our virile, outgoing, competitive self as we dress in a commanding, corporate double-breasted chalk-striped suit, and, later on, loosen up and show up at a party in a fancy dress, high-heels, and wearing make up.  

We could also choose to be dressed permanently an in-between mixture of both.


And we wouldn't be "cross-dressing"! We wouldn't be making efforts to "look like a girl" or "pass" as one. We wouldn't be crossing some imaginary line in order to invade the mysterious realm of womanhood, nor braking unwritten laws of prejudice... we would simply present ourselves to the world the way we really are, or at least the way we feel at a certain point of our lives.

The very term "cross-dressing" wouldn't make any sense in such a world. And, on keeping this blog, I can tell you I feel confident that's the world we are heading to. Who knows, maybe the expression will disappear altogether from the dictionaries in  the future, or be labelled as a archaicism.

In the mean time, if you happen to be one of my many cross-dressing friends, please don't feel upset by my outburst, and please keep following me. And, by all means, continue to cross-dress, if that happens to be your choice. At least until the day arrives in which everyone dresses the way they fancy and the term ceases to make sense.


Photography Richard Jensen
Model Paul Boche

Source

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5 comments:

  1. Well said, that will be a day I look forward to. If it were only that simple though

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  2. Love it. Dress up, dress down, wing tips or heels, skirt or pants a s the mood strikes.

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  3. As someone who would be considered a CD, I have no problem with your thesis. Keep doing what you are doing.

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  4. I'm all for gender equality. Man, Woman, Boy,Girl. We're all equally capable and should be able to dress or wear what we want to wear. Gender should be irrelevant even in clothing and fashions, hell we live in 2012 not 1840's. Woman can wear what they want and have enjoyed this fashion freedom going back to the late 30's. So why are men forced to wear what I call a uniforms that we see every year on the runways in the stores? IT's long over due for men to enjoy the same fashion freedom that woman have enjoyed for over 70 years. If a guy wishes to be feminine in dress because this what he wishes who should care, it's only clothing and clothing should not be gender based. Ho I know what your thinking, this guy is gay but your wrong I have an open mind and after all it's 2012 not 1840 and it's time to tell the church and state to go to hell, it's only clothing and your not going to hell if a woman wears pants or a guy wears a dress and high heels.
    EQUALITY in FASHIONS

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  5. I couldn't have expressed those sentiments as perfectly as you!

    There is a continuum of gender from the feminine to the masculine, and it seems laughably arbitrary to draw a line somewhere on that line, saying: "This is where you must never cross." For as long as people try to do this, we will see ridiculous comments from people such as: "Men wearing nail polish? Sheesh! What's next? Makeup? Dresses?" But what such people fail to realize is just how arbitrary these things are! Had they been born in another time and place, the very things they criticize for one gender may have been not only commonplace for the other, but even taboo!

    I really wish that some day, the public at large would be comfortable with gender fluidity, as that is really what will result in gender freedom. Freedom from preconceived notions, stereotypes, and restrictions on something that is (and truly should be) a strictly individual representation of one's true self.

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