About 2 1/2 years ago, I started a little thread called "Men being, well...men" ...
http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/...men&highlight=
...in which I contrasted a whimsical part of the male experience (those happy guys in the home improvement section) against my own experiences in that world coupled with the gender issues I cope with daily.
Since then, I've had a lot of thought about my place in this world, that I "get" the gender binary thing even though I was drafted onto the wrong team. My state of being has to do with crossing over rather than creating a place in society where boys can look like girls and vice-versa as the new normal.
Yet I have been fascinated with those who incorporate a level of androgyny into their presentation and although I have been thinking of this concept for a while, it happens that Pythos managed to sum up such a perspective so very well, better than I ever could...
Yet despite the fact I feel as if I understand this POV, I have a really hard time seeing it cross over into the mainstream. Even in major metropolitan areas, I cannot picture skirts hanging along side typical male clothing in men's departments in places as varied as department stores (ie-Macy's, etc), specialty shops (ie-PacSun, etc) or mass market (Target, WalMart, etc). Perhaps in trendy and specialty stores but not so much in the mainstream.
Take this concept into small town America and I think the androgyny concept would be even more foreign.
Which gives me a chance to segue into some experiences I had over this last weekend. It was a time of balance, a camping trip where all things feminine were rightfully eschewed in favor of a trip with my family. In doing so though, I observed some typical males in small town America. Those who caught my observation were youngish, in their late-teens into their 20's, behaving with their chest-thumping / testosterone-fueled bravado that is common in that age range. Both stereotypically common and absolute-reality-common.
I couldn't help but interject gender issues on those I observed and although any of them could be candidates for having the TG thing going on, chances are overwhelming that none did. They appeared happy as clams being the guys that they are. Males who give zero thought to their gender when they wake up in the morning. Guys who do not lament the lack of "fashion choices" when compared to women, who have no problem in their biggest fashion decision of the day is whether their t-shirt clashes with the boxer shorts which are prominently riding above their cargo pants (if they even care about that sort of thing). Guys who I could be pretty certain would reject the notion of wearing a skirt no matter where it was sold and how "male" it was marketed.
Then fast-forward to a situation which arose in our campground, one where I found myself in between two classically stereotypical males who were about to come to blows (one of whom was a relative of mine and was not the aggressor in this situation). Normally, being involved in a confrontation such as this would have sent my heart rate through the roof but somehow, I channeled my true nature and ended up as the peacekeeper with only a slight sense of heightened stress. Yet when all was said and done, all I could think about "aggressive man" was that beside the fact his behavior was absolutely stereotypically pig-male, he too would not be likely to shop the local WalMart for a new skirt.
So to bring all of this full circle, the TG world is real to all of us with methods of expression all over the map. We strive for mere acceptance, to live our lives as Pythos describes, free from hate, ignorance, bigotry and sexism. But does any semblance of androgyny gaining traction in the mainstream fit in with these goals or is this a separate and distinct goal? And for those who present in public with more of a "guy-in-a-dress" look (rather than an androgynous and/or utilitarian presentation), do any of these bigger social agenda type of goals apply to your situation?