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| Pink fingers, gold toes |
Usually, the party is preceeded by dinner. Not this time, and I was more interested in meeting some of the girls than meeting civilians, possibly admirers. The earlier DC event was at the place I saw the drag show last month. There would be no drag show (drag is on Sunday) and the food was OK but not special, so I skipped that too. The other event started near midnight, and I didn't sleep well the night before.
So I skipped all three. And I'm at a time in my "dressing career" when I can skip all three.
But I really wanted to wear that dress. So it went with me to Fringe. There were quite a number of women in dresses or skirts; mostly sundresses, but some were quite dressy for the event. I don't think I was much out-of-place.
In all interactions, pronouns were proper, and I scored two "ladies," and one "dearie" (from a guy!) at Fringe.
I spoke to several people, including an elderly, slightly inebriated woman ordering a beer at the main tent ~ she ordered the same brand as I did, but she got the IPA and I got the lager. I said "their lager's good, too," and she replied "I've always liked IPA's." I said "lots of people do," her beer came and we parted. It was just unexpected, like when someone speaks with an accent that doesn't match their appearance.
So I rode the Metro, got tickets, chatted a bit, enjoyed a couple of shows and came home. It was similar to the last visit: uneventful. I think the new normal is what I'm aiming for. There's no stress, no expectations, and maybe if I didn't pass in someone's eyes they'll answer "yes" when asked if they've met any transgendered people. Right now, only 8% do, although if we all decided to wear a sign that said "I'M TRANS," at the end of, say, a week, I bet the number would be closer to 100%.
Great Dress. If I had that in my closet I would be looking for a place to wear it. I wonder what it means when someone answers the questions of whether they know a trans person. Part of the issue may be that most people do not know all the different flavors that T folks come in from the occasional closet CD or underdresser to the full time TS. I agree that if everyone in the so labeled T spectrum wore a sign for a week and the civilian population knew they would be asked the question that it would be at or near 100%. That is why a strong part of me thinks it is better for us to be out and about blending in as a male presenting as a woman than for us to be totally stealth by passing.
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One "dearie" is worth two"ma'am"s
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