I also guessed correctly that I would be one of the best dressed at the party, but what I did not expect was that it was no contest! I was WAY overdressed for the party. Most of the other reps wore slacks or jeans with tops and a minority wore skirts with tops. I was the only rep wearing a dress.
As I arrived at the hotel, I saw how the other reps on their way to the party were dressed and I had a lot of trepidation attending the party myself the way I was dressed. I actually considered hightailing it out of there. But, as I contemplated my next move in the lobby of the hotel, my district manager greeted me and urged me to go into the party despite expressing my uneasiness about being overdressed.
I signed in at the registration table, received a gift, a raffle ticket, and a name badge. I did not know what name (my real name or my femme name) to put on the badge, so I did not bother wearing it.
After registering, I looked for an empty chair and a friendly face. Everyone looked at me as I walked into the area where everyone was seated. From some of their facial expressions, I felt that they thought I was overdressed, too.
When I found an empty chair, I asked if it was taken and it was not, so I sat down. There were five reps at my table: one older, three about my age, and one younger. They were all very pleasant and included me in their conversation.
Everyone I encountered throughout the evening was very friendly, as if I had known them for years. When I rose to get a drink or go to the powder room, I noticed people checking me out. And when I was in line for the buffet, I could not help noticing all the other folks in line checking me out closely. But I never heard a discouraging word and saw a lot of smiles directed at me.
At the end of the evening, I said goodbye to my district manager and she gave me a big hug. As we separated, I said that we had never met in person and I wanted to introduce myself. I said, “I am (my real name).”
She said, “I know.”
I guess she put two and two together sometime during the evening. She knew I was coming, but had never met me. And she seemed to have known most of the other reps in attendance, so by process of elimination, the tall stranger must be me.
Needless to say, I am curious how well I passed last night, but I guess I will never know. No one let on that they knew I was male. They interacted with me as if I was another female. No one in line with me waiting to use the ladies’ room wondered why I didn’t use the men’s room (where there was no line). So, I guess I did pass!
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| Wearing Rachel Zoe |
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| Peter Capaldi femulating in the British television movie Prime Suspect 3. |
Wow! Even allowing for professsional makeup work, I'd never have guessed Capaldi would be so convincing enfemme. If you hadn't said who it was I wouldn't have known.
ReplyDeletethis was not the first time peter capaldi femulated in a tv show, although his other appearance in that mode had been for comic effect rather than a serious role in a gritty crime drama. also: at least one other actor who has played "dr who" has femulated at one time or other!
DeleteWhat a memorable evening being accepted as a woman, self actualizing, being an Avon rep. What a dream come true, for boomers like ourselves we never thought it possible in the homophobic and trans phobic world we came of age in
ReplyDeleteMaybe all the PBS stations had the opportunity to air these Prime Suspect films. I watched this one on WETA from Washington, DC. My local station, MPT did not show it. Peter Capaldi's character was a headliner in a Drag club where the owners were suspects in a series of murders of "pretty men". They had connections high into the police. Capaldi was an informer and while being cooperative "she" was treated with respect. But when the info was found to be misleading, "he" was treated in the ugly way we still see going on here in the US and tossed into a male jail in women's clothing. That program was aired in 1996, I think, and it looks like we've made glacial progress at best in these past 25 years.
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