A Story from a Mother

[AMM]

Maybe I'm gullible, but.... The story I referred to is not representative of the site overall and I think is more likely to be true.

My previous post in this thread was made without actually reading the letter; I've read other stuff on the site, and most of it is pretty obviously fetish fantasy material.

I have since read the letter as well as the one it refers to (http://petticoated.com/0308/letter8-0308.html)

I'm still skeptical that it is for real, but I agree that it is a good deal more plausible than the others. There are definitely boys who want to dress as girls and take an interest in "girlish" things, and there are mothers who dress their sons as girls (though usually at a younger age.) There's a place where my kids go where I see a boy (age 16 or so) who sometimes puts on a dress. The folks there don't encourage him to do it, but they don't discourage him, and making fun of him for it would not be considered OK.

The way the "masculine" boys and men act in the mother's letter seems a bit extreme, but I can't say it's unbelievable -- even after 5 decades, I am still able to be surprised by the bizarre things male humans will do to demonstrate (prove?) their masculinity.

Actually, I'm of the opinion that while the individual stories on the site may or may not be fiction, the phenomenon described is probably real.

From what I can gather, there are two rather distinct phenomena:

1. Actual (but relatively rare) cases of adults putting boys in girls' clothes as a punishment (adults don't do this to other adults, except in extreme situations like Abu Ghraib), and

2. Males' fantasies of being forced to do what they secretly want to do anyway, which they may or may not have opportunities to act out.

This site seems to be mostly about #2.

Rather, it was a story of empathy and coping after the death of a father --- and of issues surrounding male chauvinist attitudes.

Now that you mention it, I actually thought that there was remarkably little discussion of the effect of Steve's father's death in either letter. The mother's letter seems to be mostly about the negative forms of expression of masculinity in the family and community, while the son's seems to be mostly about his cross-dressing. I was struck by how little emotional content the letters have, especially considering what they are talking about.

In contrast to many posters in this thread, I was not disturbed by these letters. Neither the mother nor the son sounded wierd to me, although they did seem a little other-wordly. (I'm reminded of Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter books.) However, they seemed so insubstantial, I couldn't help suspecting they were invented.

[Sasquatch]

Been enjoying a bit of the Glenfiddich here, anyone else enjoy Glen?

I never acquired a taste for the Scotch whiskies, but as a Southerner, I am quite partial to Kentucky/Tennessee bourbons. I do love an Old Fashioned with Makers Mark.
sasq

[Sasquatch]

AMM, I agree with much of your conclusion regarding the central letter. To me, it was just too neat a bundle of affirmations and stereotypes to be believable. It had the "good guys" - mother, sisters, and wife all delighted by his preference for womens clothing, pushing him to continue, abetting his proclivity - vs the "bad guys" - testosterone-poisoned men exhibiting the most contemptible possible traits of masculine miscreancy, and conspiring to drag the boy to the "dark side!" And the father written out of the story as part of an emotional justification for the boy's proclivity. Perhaps this was also to eliminate any vestige of a male role model that might influence the boy in a different direction (or perhaps the author was uncomfortable with a father encouraging a boy to dress in feminine attire.) At any rate, too convenient a scenario to be other than a fantasy and even incorporates the author's need to rationalize or otherwise explain the source of the impulse.
sasq

[01/01/08]

Kind of partial to Glenmorangie 18 yr old meself.



John

[Skirt Chaser]

I'd agree the letters sound like fantasy, particularly since the purpose of a bra fitting is to learn the appropriate cup more than anything else, the band size is purely an inch measurement so for a male or even the sister getting a training bra there is no problem deciding what size is best. The discomfort spoken of from wearing a bra doesn't make sense either because he isn't having weight distribution issues or being gouged by an underwire, only being too tight which again is easy to solve with a larger band. The writer seems attracted to the idea of putting up with an uncomfortable bra because that is seen by them was what 'real' women do.

What I see in the fiction is a possible rewriting of their childhood, imagining what it would have been like if their desires had been fostered and accepted instead of what was probably disparaged and met with disgust. Seen that way it isn't very different from what the men here are looking for.