What I Learned In Blogging This Week

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on my post from last Friday. I very much appreciated all of the nice things everyone had to say. I could tell from reading the responses that those who commented gave serious thought about what I had written and, it certainly seems, gave honest heartfelt answers. That was all I could ask for.

The support I got from readers was more than I could have asked for. I always knew this blog had great readers, but I think last Friday proved it. Having taken a week to consider all of the comments, I thought I'd use today as a bit of a follow-up. The responses I received came from two distinct sets of people: males who, to a varying degree, wear female clothing and females who were kind enough to share their opinion on the first set. From these two sets, I thought there was a common thread among comments.

From the males:

Interest in to what level of acceptance (if any) this particular lifestyle has gained from the female population. Hope that some of the common labels and/or stereotypes connected with those who "cross-dress" would show signs of dissipating.

From the females:

The common threads were difficulty in finding this lifestyle attractive in a husband/boyfriend coupled with overall acceptance of anyone in the male population (irrespective of said husband or boyfriend) who wants to engage in such a lifestyle. I received a lot of "you should do what makes you happy" type responses. Some went so far as to say they'd be supportive of a male (non-lover) friend who shared such information with them. All in all, I was very happy to read all of this.

I found this response to be pretty important. Taking a moment to speak for a group that is far too large, and I am far too unqualified to be a mouthpiece for, acceptance from (any) females is of monumental importance. This goes beyond the obvious reasons (hey, we may grab for the same bra at the same time some day at Bloomingdale's...we'd both like to avoid any subsequent awkwardness). Many of us are surrounded by "men's men" in our every day lives (or at least we think they're men's men). These are the guys we drink our beer and watch our football with. Dropping a "So the semi-annual sale starts next week" during the 2-minute warning commercial break hardly seems well-advised. Is there some way to strike a balance between football watching male-friend on Saturday and dress shopping female-friend on Friday? Maybe someday.

Which sort of segues me into my final thought, courtesy of a comment made (appropriately) by 'Anonymous'. There is plenty of anonymity to go around. I don't walk around the office proclaiming my love for lingerie...likewise, the woman down the hall, or across the building, or maybe at the coffee shop isn't in any hurry to proclaim her love for men in lingerie. It was an obvious point, but one, I must confess that I have hardly considered. For a harmless interest, there is certainly a lot at stake for anyone who takes an interest.

Thanks again for reading this. I feel like I have more to say on the subject, but I'm not sure what yet. I hope everyone has a great weekend!