Criss-cross dressing

Last weekend, I saw a grown man, dressed in a leather leotard and glow-in-the-dark underwear, do a dance to a techno Meow-Mix medley.\nMan, the things my grandpa will do after snorting Ovaltine!\nOkay, I jest -- this was actually at the IU Auditorium for Miss Gay IU. To get a free ticket to the show, I volunteered to open the front doors for patrons, a task I decided to have some fun with. As people walked in, smiling and laughing, prepared to see three hours of drag queens, I greeted them by saying, "Hello ... and welcome to the IU Christian Coalition Forum." \nIt was absolutely magical. \nAbout a half hour into ushering, however, my amusement was quickly dispelled as a man approached with two young children. Eager to treat his kids to a spontaneous "night at the theater," he asked a fellow usher what was playing that night. \nApparently, cross-dressing and breast-tassel shaking is not PG-rated.\nThe man was outraged, yelling obscenely that "[the show was] sick and disgusting."\nWhile it's true the show was not exactly "family friendly," the man's rage was so intense, it clearly revealed his irrational bias toward drag queens and transsexuals, which got me thinking: Are other people this disturbed by the prospect of cross-dressing and sex reassignment? \nThe topic of blurring gender constructions is subject to much societal contempt. Many people, including myself, lack the understanding of the motivation behind bodily reconfiguration.\nAccording to www.mhsanctuary.com, some cross-dressers live with a "gender identity disorder," which, in turn, might engulf the subject with an overwhelming desire to physically transform to the opposite sex. \nYet, as liberal and open-minded as I consider myself to be, when people start transforming their genitals, I am, frankly, very disturbed ... for two main reasons: First, by physically altering their bodies, they are reversing biology, which seems like a ridiculous abuse of science. Secondly, penises are fabulous! Why would anyone just throw one away? Shoot, I'll take it! \nDespite my own personal uneasiness and confusion considering crotch reconfiguration, however, I realize that for those people who do identify as transgender, this situation must be even more terrifying, and they might feel lost in a painful confusion of personal and sexual identity. \nFurthermore, I believe cross-dressers and transsexuals carry deep sociological importance. \nAs it seems, men are from Mars and women are from Venus ... but cross-dressers and transsexuals serve a very valuable purpose here on Earth. They exist as important mediators between the two genders, which have now become so distant, they are defined as having galactic separation. \nFrom the time we are born and placed in our pink and blue blankets, we are taught gender separation. Boys are pressured to collect cards, have football jerseys and play sports. Girls are pressured to collect Cosmo magazines, have eating disorders and play kitchen. It's almost like we have begun cultivating separate "gendered species." \nBy splicing together the characteristics of both genders, cross-dressers and transsexuals teach us a valuable lesson. Too often, we become wrapped up in the notion of "being a man" or "acting like a woman." These people facilitate the depolarization of the ideas of "masculinity" and "femininity."\nWe, as adults, take our "male" and "female" distinctions far too seriously. Yet, as a child, every single boy put balloons in his shirt to make fake oxygenated breasts, and, at one time, had the infamous "tuck it behind" epiphany. Therefore, it seems ironic that people would harbor such disdain for cross-dressers and transsexuals like the incensed man at Miss Gay IU. \nBecause, when it comes right down to it, everyone is a little transsexual curious. The only difference is that some men, instead of temporarily renting fake balloon breasts, decide to sign a lease.