[SIZE="2"]This year it finally happened – a boy dressed as a girl came to my house on Halloween! Stop the presses! Damn the torpedoes! Batten down the hatches! Apparently all is right with the world, at least as far as I’m concerned. Oh, BTW, I also saw a girl dressed as a boy last night...
I stay home on Halloween, and my sister and I hand out the candy as the little costumed locals drop by between 6:00 and 9:00PM, when the tornado sirens, i.e. the “Witches’ Wail,” ends the proceedings. Since we have a very heavy two-part front door, I have to hold it open as my sister wields the boxes of candy. As such, I only get a brief glimpse of the revelers...
At one point, there was a group of middle school-age boys at the door, and they were giggling as the candy was fondled and then snatched (word gets around – we give out the GOOD stuff). Just as this bunch of boys was apparently through, one final kid appeared from the shadows, hiding behind the door. I saw a long black dress, a long black wig, black nails and black lipstick, like a female Goth, or an approximation thereof. The kid shyly, but gently chose a candy bar, saying “Thank you” with an unmistakable male voice. I froze – a BOY in a dress! In THIS town, of all places...
For a moment I thought Pythos found my house, but I live too far from her base of operations. In a flash, the boy was gone, his (her) friends snickering relentlessly out on the shadowy sidewalk. It all happened too fast, and I was left wondering how it all came about – did the boy make a conscious decision to dress against the tide of conformity of small-town Kansas? Was this an expression, or the birth of expression, or perhaps it was an “I don’t care” situation, based on personal feelings of alienation and/or disgust with the status quo. I’ll never know, but I was pleased that a male in this bastion of conformity had the courage to swim against the tide...
I saw many boys dressed as policemen last night, and several girls dressed as fairies, plus the usual ghouls, super heroes and grim reapers. Later in the evening the doorbell rang again, and I beheld a young girl dressed as a boy! She had on black pants with suspenders, a little bow tie, a male shirt, and her cropped hair added to the illusion. Her younger brother was with her, in the usual Halloween garb, but this boyish girl was just as astounding as the girlish boy I saw earlier. Are gender barriers breaking down lately? I was amazed, since I’ve spent many hours describing this gender-specific world I inhabit here on the high plains, for better or worse...
Naturally, I’m wondering if the girl dressed as a boy was also trying to express something – I see choice of costume as profound decision-making, so why would you dress in a way that does NOT express something within? I’m sure if I asked one of these kids why they dressed the way they did, they would probably offer a meek “I don’t know,” and leave it at that, but maybe verbalizing reasons behind doing something is neither important nor necessary. Anyway, it was good to SEE...
Poor kids – they never realized they were face-to-face with the famous Freddy, reluctant “leader” of her own tiny cult!
Did you encounter any crossdressing kids on Halloween? I was LUCKY this year... [/SIZE]