I'm a happy crossdresser, but I'm still confused. Maybe it's just me, but why are so many of my sisters so dissatisfied with their life, and that of their sisters? Lately it seems that all I see are articles about how we must fight for our rights, demand that our wives, children pets and the general public accept us uncritically, and grant us our every wish.

OK, so I exaggerate, but it seems a little much. Do we really need to be accepted uncritically by the public? Do we even want to? Isn't part of the diversion in donning a dress in knowing it is out of the ordinary, just a little bit naughty? I know I get a thrill out of feeling my breast forms bounce when I go down the stairs, and in my heart of hearts stockings and skirts are a way of thumbing my nose at our crazy society. I don't need anyone watching me to enjoy being in a dress, in fact I feel downright uncomfortable even with my wife, who is as understanding as any woman could be.

Why must there be so much emphasis on getting out and passing in public? If you have that particular passion I would be the first one to give you all the help I could to make it happen, and even escort you and back you up the first time. Where I get annoyed is when someone intimates that I'm shirking my duty to my sisters by just enjoying a bra and panties around the house with the curtains closed. I don't need a guilt trip because I'm not constantly screaming at the barricades of society and demanding my 'rights'.

I will grant that there are common elements in our situation and that of the civil rights movement in general. I would ask you to think back to the sixties, at least those of you who are old enough to remember them. The whole thing started with the radicals who were willing to make a fuss and get noticed. We couldn't have changed our society without them. The radicals and the folk on the fringe are a necessary part of change.

But it takes two other types to make those changes last. First come the quiet ones who work behind the scenes, writing the laws, organizing the small community groups doing the detail work. Then come those that do their part by living their life in accord with the dictates of conscience. They are not flashy and you probably don't recognize the few of them you know, but they are as utterly necessary as the emotional face on the TV screen demanding whatever civil 'right' is in vogue for this demonstration.

I'll cheer the radicals who are trying to broaden the borders, and I'm very thankful to those who do the scut work that allows me to go to a convention or read a publication about crossdressing, but I am most at home with those who sit in the background and attend the local chapter meetings or just sit at home and write letters in pantyhose once in a while. There is room in society in general for all three types, and our little segment of society should be broad minded enough to accept all of our sisters and affirm their needs. Crossdressing should be enjoyable, we have enough societal guilt to cope with without another layer from our sisters.