Feeding Those Fantasiesby J. R. WeddingtonWe learn from history that there have been crossdressers almost as long as there have been separate clothing styles for men and women. At first there were three styles: men, women and children. The children, male and female, wore skirts. And that’s probably the longest lived style of all. One thing we don't know was the source of fantasies in the different eras. The Greeks had houses of prostitution with only transvestite prostitutes. Where did that fantasy spring from fully developed? A Roman emperor tried to create a transsexual! without anesthesia and a bronze knife. How did he feed his fantasy? The American Indians felt it was all right for a man to do his own thing, even if that meant he took on the clothes and duties of a squaw. What a strange idea for savages without a written language. Nowadays you can learn all about the source and extent of your crossdressing fantasies as put down on paper by learned psychiatrists, religious zealots, persons who have been there, and sincere persons trying to make sense of the whole thing. But have you ever read about your particular case? Are you certain and satisfied about yourself and where you came from? Back in the twenties there were a number of books written by a man named L. Frank Baum. They were all about a place called Oz and the first one was entitled The Wizard of Oz. Most people have never read any of the books but they did see the movie, and if they thought anything about it, they assumed that was all there was. Actually, there were six or eight books by Baum himself and a couple written from the notes he left behind after he died. Dorothy was the heroine of them all and in those simpler days it was all right. for boys to read books with girl heroines and identify with them. And there were a lot of books with girl heroes - Lorna Doone, Tess of the Timberlost, Little Orphan Annie, etc. So, if one really wanted, there were lots of female role models for the boys. One of the Oz books was called Ozma. It was about the search for Princess Ozma, who had disappeared several years before the time of the first Oz book. Dorothy and her friends were joined by Tim who had been the housekeeper and go-fer for an evil witch. Together they had the usual assortment of adventures looking for Ozma. Ozma was a play on words: Oz - Ma, or Mother Oz - the true leader. There were new characters in each book, some appearing in several of the books and some in only one. Thus, there was no surprise in the appearance of Tim, who was about the same age as Dorothy and rather unwilling to cooperate with the others. A typical boy. In the end, Ozma was found to actually be Tim, a form she had been changed into by the evil witch who subsequently used Tim as a servant. When changed back, Ozma turned out to be a beautiful blue-eyed blonde in a ball gown and tiara and carrying a scepter which was also a magic wand. Apparently, she was about fourteen but quite capable of ruling the country. Final dialogue went something like this: "... I'm still the old Tim, you know. Only, only..." "Only you're different!" said the scarecrow and everyone thought it was the smartest speech he ever made. Even at the age of eight, I could see the advantages to being changed into a princess by magic and shifted my interest being a fantasy Ozma. She was lots prettier than Dorothy. It wasn't really a TV/TS book because almost no time was spent on the change. But then I was rather unsophisticated In those days. Ozma showed up in many of the other books, but as Ozma, the leader who didn't get too involved in the adventures. Too bad. She was smarter as well as prettier than Dorothy. Go to:
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