Pants 10, Skirts 0

By Gina V

Back in the late 70’s, if myself and/or my chums ever had occasion to hear Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” on the radio, upon the hearing the line “a bright orange pair of pants” we could not suppress a schoolboy snigger. At the time “pants” was not another way to describe trousers for us Brits, but rather referred to what laid beneath. 

Not only was it acutely embarrassing for most to mention one’s unmentionables back then anyway, but the male vogue (for want of a better term) of that era was Y-fronts – which were somewhat unflattering to put it mildly!

It took a while for the word to enter our vernacular in the manner Americans used it. Probably (and not coincidentally) at a point where women were starting to wear trousers as often as they did skirts and dresses. And as such, the definition of “pants” implied they were a fashion option, as opposed to the traditional stuffy old things that men had no choice in wearing.

Even now in our “civilized” society, a man cannot wear a garment from the waist down that doesn’t have some form of division between the legs. Despite the efforts of French fashionista Jean Paul Gaultier and English football superstar David Beckham (among others) to offer an alternative that is actually better-suited to the male physique, resistance has remained rock solid. Even 20 years on, the latter is still ridiculed for once daring to wear a sari-style skirt in public!

It is the opposite case for women now in that their traditional garb of skirts and dresses have become (other than for more formal occasions) practically extinct. As a means of proving a point, while visiting the local supermarket at dusk on a mild autumn day, I decided to note what the first 10 women I saw go inside were wearing – with the above result. What were my thoughts on that? To use an appropriate contemporary British slang word for something that is considered rubbish: pants!

One of the fascinations for me as a crossdresser has always been to wear things that have been placed out of my reach simply because of the nature of my sexual organs. As a personal protest against being condemned as a man to wear trousers for life, I resolved that whenever possible, my femme alter ego would not pull on a pair of the damned things, And yet, many of my trans-sisters now seem more than happy to don them in preference to a skirt or dress in what I assume to be an attempt to femulate the woman of today.

I am aware that pants are more practical than even the most easily-worn skirts. But other than that or being some kind of women’s liberation statement, I still don’t understand why the latter are now shunned. In fact, where I live it has gotten to the point that if you happen to see a woman under pensionable age in a skirt while out and about, you can almost bet your bottom dollar it will be a member of the local Hassidic Jewish community!

What I find particularly concerning about all this is if I ever choose to live permane,ntly as a female in this day and age, then (other than changing my religion) unless I wore a pair of pants I would stick out like a sore thumb. And ironically be more at risk from unwanted scrutiny. 

If I ever did decide to bite the bullet in that regard, then I would rather they were in styles and fabrics that had a bit of flair and style about them and as such as those black skin-tight wet-look ones that have been fashionable the last couple of years. But then I would probably attract just as much attention than if I wore a skirt or dress. If not more so!

And just to add insult to injury: most if not all those women entering the supermarket had trainers or suchlike on their feet as well. Much like the aforementioned David Beckham’s Missus (see her quote on the right of the Femulate site), my view is that “flats” are for living in – not wearing! But that’s another story.

Wearing Nine West

Marie Sunshine, a Halloween femulator