The Courage of the Crossdresser
I have thought a lot about courage lately. Courage takes many shapes and forms. Courage may be exhibited by the most ordinary of people on a daily basis. Courage allows us to rise above our comfort level and conquer our fears.
I have witnessed many acts of courage throughout my life. Most recently I have witnessed the courage of my younger sister in her battle to survive a horrible illness in hope of a brighter future. The courage my sister has exhibited both humbles and inspires me. It is because of my sister that I have spent considerable time this year reflecting upon the concept of courage and what it means.
As a life long crossdresser, I have fought my own battles for personal acceptance and love of myself. Many of us have, and many are doing so now. It is a fight I believe I won a long time ago, and I am a much better person for it.
Until recently, however, I had not considered the courage of a crossdresser. Although the concept is certainly not foreign to the forum, it was foreign to me.
From virtually the beginning of life, society imposes boundaries and restrictions upon gender. Boys wear blue and girls wear pink. Such boundaries and restrictions are reinforced throughout the life of any given individual. Deviation from the norm is frowned upon, misunderstood, feared, and/or rejected. The boundaries and restrictions that are imposed upon the members of society are indeed powerful, and difficult to overcome.
Of course, there are open-minded and understanding people in the world that rise above those that engage in unfair stereotyping and discrimination, and such people exhibit yet another form of courage.
But that we, as crossdressers, are able to remove the gender mask that society has imposed upon us literally from birth, and engage in the beauty and wonder that is crossdressing, is quite courageous in and of itself! It takes courage to look in the mirror, and affirmatively take action to alter our appearance to that of the opposite gender. It takes courage to recognize and embrace the thoughts and emotions within us that do not conform to the structure that society has placed upon our respective gender. Given such obstacles imposed upon us by a lifetime of social conditioning and the collective mind of society, it takes courage to reject such narrow-minded restrictions and conditioning and simply be who we are - crossdressers.
To those unfortunate souls in the world that have no concept of the beauty and wonder of crossdressing, I pity such people. I believe that no one person is either maculine or feminine, however one may choose to define either term. I further believe that every individual is a combination of the two, to some degree or another. Where many reject or fail to recognize that the totality of the self may include both feminine and masculine features and attributes, we, as crossdressers, do not suffer from such personal lack of recognition of self.
Moreover, we actively devote ourselves to the pursuit of experiencing all that crossdressing has to offer the mind, body, and soul, in our personal journey through life. The totality of who we are evolves, develops, and matures. We do not cast away a part of our being simply because society says we should. It is the courage of the crossdresser that allows us to be us. Such courage is to be respected, applauded, and celebrated.
