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Joy's           Rack

Several people volunteered for staffing and Betty (SO) and Rachael (CD) agreed to take on activities, however, no one has yet volunteered for the Program or Fundraising Committees.  Come on everybody!  Let's get this off the ground!  For our group to make S.P.I.C.E. a success we need people power!  We need a lot of hands helping to stir the pot.  We need a variety of spicy ideas to add flavor to this concoction we're cooking up!  Ladies, the time has come to raise your hand to volunteer to be an integral part of S.P.I.C.E. XI.  If you are interested in serving on a committee please contact me before the next meeting.  My e-mail is joyg51@hotmail.com.  You can reach me by phone most evenings by calling (860) 543-2824.  
If you don't get to me, I promise, I'll be looking for you!
The following are the committees I have developed.  The chair/co-chairs of each of these committees plus Marcia and Gerri (this year's and next year's chairpersons) and I will constitute the TriEss New England S.P.I.C.E. XI Board. .  I'm hoping to have Spice Board meetings at our regular TENE meetings, initially taking 15 to 30 minutes of time following our meal, possibly during cleanup time.  This time will be for sharing information and brainstorming with the other members of the Spice Board.

Fundraising:  Help come up with ideas for raising money...draft solicitation letters...ask New England businesses?/states?/other TriEss chapters?/forums, etc. for donations to be used in fundraising activities...run fundraising events to support our chapter's costs related to S.P.I.C.E. ...run a fundraising events at S.P.I.C.E .X to support scholarships to S.P.I.C.E. XI ...
Staffing:  contacting chapter members and getting commit-ments to work at S.P.I.C.E. XI or at fundraising activities or to transport participants to an offsite activity...
Activities:  come up with activities near Bradley International Airport area to offer S.P.I.C.E. XI participants    contact whomever for group rates, transportation opportunities, etc. ...need an activity for Friday afternoon ...possible offsite lobster/clam bake for Wednesday or Saturday night ...also, we may offer a S.P.I.C.E. XI add on (a day at Mohegan Sun Casino on Sunday)
Program:  develop theme and/or ideas for seminars/lectures/activities to be presented at S.P.I.C.E. XI ...find presenters/facilitators for seminars, etc. ...work with presenters/ facilitators to arrange for adequate materials, workspace, set ups etc. ...negotiate with presenters/facilitators



Joy
S.P.I.C.E. XI 
Chairperson



HAPPY

TRI ESS NEW ENGLAND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chairperson		Marcia Gray [CD]		marciag52@hotmail.com
Vice Chair		Gerri Buchanan [CD]		gerri_buchanan@yahoo.com
Executive Assistant		Rhee [SO]		rhee1952@aol.com
Treasurer		Valerie Wood [SO]		elwood56@juno.com
Newsletter Editor		Joy G. [SO]		joyg51@hotmail.com
Activities Director		Sara G. [CD Kid]		abi1229@hotmail.com
Director (Past Chair)		Kim Gauthier [CD]		dang@worldpath.net


A  S.P.I.C.E. For All Times 
Registration 
July 10 - 14, 2002 
Richmond, Virginia 
Name:  ______________________________________ 
Address:  _____________________________________ 
City:  __________________________ 
State:  ______ 
ZIP:  ___________ 
Phone:  (____)   ____________ 
E-Mail:  ___________________________ 
Name Used for Hotel Registration (if different from above):  ___________________________________________ 
Male Partner's Name:  ___________________________ 
Attending? (Circle One) Yes   No
Support Group Affiliation (if any):  ____________________________________ 
Please Indicate Total Number Attending:  _______
(Fees are per person attending and include conference fee, Lunch and Dinner): 
____ 
Wednesday Night Dinner 
July 10 
1 meal 
$   22 
____ 
Thursday through Saturday 
July 11 - 13 
6 meals 
$ 188 
____ 
Thursday and Friday 
July 11 - 12 
4 meals 
$ 125 
____ 
Friday and Saturday 
July 12 - 13 
4 meals 
$ 125 
____ 
Any single day 
July 11, 12 or 13 
2 meals 
$   63 
Indicate Date:  7/_______/2002 
Would you like to include an ADDITIONAL Donation towards the SPICE SCHOLARSHIP FUND?
If so, how much $___________
Mail Registration Form and Payment to: 
SPICE, PMB 206 
2914 North Ridge East, Ashtabula, OH 44004 


Crossdressers, Who Are We? [PART 3]
Kate Devlin

The Path Less Taken

According to Richard Doctor in "Transsexuals and Transvestites", a statistical research essay on transgenderism and A. J. Allen in "The Man in The Red Velvet Dress" (IMHO, one of the best books around on crossdressing) there are stages of progression that transgendered people typically go though.  Doctor suggests ten stages while Allen describes seven.  The basic progression, however, is the same.  Typically a very young boy goes though a "fetish stage".  This boy "knows" he like to wear woman's clothing by the time he reaches 6 or 7.  During early puberty his cross gender behavior involves sexual arousal.  Wearing women's clothing and thinking about being a girl is used as a masturbation fantasy.  At the same time this is going on, this young man also goes though the same psychosexual development as "normal" boys of that age - learning who they are as boys, learning to date girls, form relationships, etc.  At around age 18 these young men will begin to develop a "cross gender identity".  According to personality theory, the human personality is actually an interacting network of sub-personalities.  A "master program" is in charge of a network of smaller, "sub programs", which can be switched on and off.  This is normal human behavior - all of us play many different roles in our lives.  A typical crossdresser has a female sub-personality which can be switched on and off, usually without too much discomfort.  Learning to accept this, however, can be a long and painful process.  Often crossdressing is accompanied by guilt and shame and a young crossdresser might "purge", resolving never to dress again.  The purge often produces anxiety and discomfort and usually doesn't last very long.  There are known cases of CDs throwing away hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of perfectly good clothes, only to start dressing again a few months later.  Younger crossdressers also often go though a "macho stage", deliberately acting super masculine to compensate for their feminine feelings.  Crossdressers reach a "peak" or milestone in their CD life when they "come out" and publicly identify themselves as crossdressers.  This often happens when a CD joins a CD group and/or begins frequenting diversity friendly clubs and bars.  After years of being "in the closet" and only dressing in secret, the CD will adopt a femme name and become more serious about dressing.
There are a fair number of cross dressers who never reach these later stages.  There are those who remain in the "fetish stage" and continue to crossdress for sexual gratification.  There are those who've kept this aspect of their lives to themselves, have dressed for years in the privacy of motel or hotel rooms, and have never "come out".  These CDs usually don't seek out groups or others unless through the anonymity of the Internet.
Gender Gifted, A Different Point of View
The CDs need to dress is a lifelong necessity-there is no known "cure" or way to prevent this desire.  Aversion therapy has been tried.  This involved giving the crossdresser electrical shock when he CDed or thought about CDing.  Hypnosis has been tried.  Drug therapy using anti-obsessive medication has been tried.  During the 60s and 70s, there were cases of therapists using guilt, fear and shame to "cure" their patients or clients of CDing.  All of the above met with no meaningful success.  Occasionally there was a temporary suppression of the need to dress, but in most cases, these therapies only served to make the CD's life worse.  Recently, some Christian fundamentalists have claimed that a regimen of prayer, intense Bible reading, and being "born again" will "cure" CDing, but I suspect this "cure" will also prove to be temporary.  In general, we crossdressers have two choices:  to resolve never to dress and have a miserable life, or to accept who we are, crossdress, and embrace this facet of our personality.  Instead of feeling guilt and shame we can choose to regard ourselves as "gender gifted" as we have an ability to find pleasure and distinction in femininity that most men can not.
Just A Bunch of Guys
After all the technical reasons and philosophical questions are out of the way, what crossdressers do, as crossdressers, is actually not all that interesting.  Many CDs are married and have families.  Most of us are not "kinky" and very few CDs are actively involved in the fetish scene.  We don't get together to have orgies.  (No one's ever invited me to one, anyway.)  The number of times a CD publicly crossdresses often depends on how passable they are or think they are.  Many CDs whose wives accept this aspect of their husband's personality dress at home, at times when other family members aren't around.  Many crossdressers have a strong need and get a great deal of gratification from going out in public dressed.  Upscale shopping malls and restaurants often provide safe tolerant places to go.  Gay bars and clubs usually (but not always) provide safe venues to dress.
Since the popularity of the Internet there's been an explosion of CD groups and activities.  When CDs meet in organizations or at clubs the conversation, not surprisingly, turns towards the topics associated with looking more passable.  There is a lot of interest in hair removal and make up.  Current styles, and clothing purchases are hot topics.  Where to shop to find clothes/shoes that fit is a biggie and usually involves the description of someone's latest e-bay purchase.  Other than that, conversation among CDs is the same as among any other bunch of guys who share a common hobby or interest.  In addition to their specific "hobby" they talk about how the wife and kids are doing, vacation plans, the new addition to the house, sports, politics, current events, and whether or not someone bought Enron shares.
Conclusion
I've tried to show how male to female crossdressers are "normal guys".  There is absolutely nothing to distinguish us from other guys except for our need to express our femininity.  In most cases we're not even "kinky".  There is no "typical CD personality".  Most CDs are heterosexual and are married with families.  No one really knows why we do this, however it's a strong powerful need with no known "cure".  The most commonly accepted theory today of why some have this need is that CDs got a "hormone wash" while in the womb, giving them, to different extents, "female brains". Typically crossdressers go though stages in accepting and forming a feminine identity.  There is no known "cure" for crossdressing. There is also absolutely nothing wrong with crossdressing.  Many of the problems CDs encounter come from lack of acceptance in our society.