Change of Strategy

I learned several things this past weekend.

The first: it doesn’t matter how clever you think you are; if you’re hiding something, people will eventually find out.

The second: upon initial discovery, dark, chipped, month-old toenail polish looks much like injured toes. Upon closer inspection, however, that illusion falls apart, and you’ll have some ‘splaining to do.

The third: if you shop at the same stores your sisters shop at, avoid wearing the clothes you buy at those stores when your sisters are around. It’s likely they’ll recognize that cute overshirt you are wearing as exactly the blouse they saw hanging in the women’s section.

The fourth: being caught wearing nail polish or women’s clothing by your family is not necessarily the end of the world—if you can justify why you’re wearing it. You’ll still be teased about it, but if you can pass it off with a “legitimate” reason, or as a joke, they’re more likely to consider it a funny quirk than a serious problem.

The final thing I learned: I can use this kind of guided “Damage Control” to slowly let more of my femme side show to my family. And, despite some concerned looks shared by my parents and some good natured ribbing, I think this is the way to go. The parental units didn’t react very well to my letters home. The entire point in sending those letters is negated by how Mom and Dad are ignoring the issue. I’ve made my situation known to them; I’ve let them know there is more, but neither of them seems keen on pursuing that course of discovery with me.

Slowly and “accidentally” revealing my femme side is a way of forcing the issue. Hopefully, Dad’s rude, homophobic, and gendernormative comments will abate when he comes to realize these hurtful things he’s saying apply to me, his son. I’m hoping this will be a gentler way to ease my family into all of this. I’m also hoping for a pony for Christmas.

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