The prophet came down from the mountain, the pronouncements of his god engraved on two tablets of stone. Then to the trembling, seething masses waiting below he began to read:

“Holy, holy, holy is Society, blessed be its name, and Society in its wisdom has decreed that

[1] Thou shalt respect thy elders, and all those set above thee, such as politicians, pillars of the community and preachers of morals.
[2] Thou shalt love the state and those who founded it—and willingly die in its defence provided that thou art male.
[3]Thou shalt revere and conform to the morals traditionally observed in thy community. . .
[10]Thou shalt not crossdress for it is an abomination in the eyes of Society, blessed be its name.

Or at least, I get the impression that the foregoing is the scenario that some people imagine. Why do we have to do certain things and refrain from other things? Because “society” has decided that we must or must not—as if society were some brooding presence on a sacred mountain, always looming above us and directing our thinking and behaviour.

I myself say no to all of that. In my view, “society” is just people, the people of a community. There’s no such thing as “society” independent of the people who make it up. So if we say that according to society we must or must not do certain things, we’re simply saying that by and large the people of our community have agreed that some things are right and proper to do and other things, the contrary.

I think it would be helpful if we jettisoned this word “society” altogether. If, instead of saying, “Society condemns CDing,” we said “People condemn CDing,” I think we’re closer to the mark. It’s not some vague entity looming above us all that condemns CDing. It’s the people (or at least a large number of people) that we live among who condemn it.

When I see a statement like this:

So then why do some females feel threatened by us cross dressers? Because society has conditioned them to think that way. Simple as.

I think we’re getting things backwards. “Society” doesn’t condition people. People condition people. Society doesn’t make people what they are. It’s people who make society what it is.

Let’s bear in mind that women are after all half of “the people”. Once upon a time there was a rule for women that just about everybody, male and female, agreed on: “Thou shalt wear dresses and makeup at all times.”

But suppose women decide they don’t like that rule any more and want to change it? Are they totally helpless because some god-like society totally rules them? No. They’re part of society, they have input into what’s going on in society, and therefore perhaps they have the power to change society. We see the result of their decision all around us these days.

When we stop using this word “society” and start saying “people” instead, it changes our view of things. We’re not fighting some vague, god-like, all-powerful entity. We’re simply dealing with other people.

People, male and female, can be persuaded to change the way they think about things. It’s happened before in history. It can happen again. It can happen with regard to CDing. People, male and female, can change their thinking on this issue. Some of us who get out in the world have discovered that many people have in fact changed their way of thinking.

“We have met the enemy and they are us.”

Best wishes, Annabelle