I have been able to identify as female for 13 summers now — something that has brought me great joy and wonderful peace of mind. Yes, I finally got to be me, and along with that is an incredibly important part of my new equation: summer dresses.
I am talking sundresses, bare shoulders, and panty-free.
Maybe that last phrase sparked a few gasps.
When I presented as a dude, the idea of wearing a flowing, soft dress in public was impossible. Add to that the concept of going without underwear and people’s heads would explode. Men, it is true, need their junk contained. Besides, if you are a guy with everything bunched up in a cloth crotch, what’s the thrill of going commando anyway?
But as a woman, wow. Shedding panties — that barrier between your feminine universe and the world at large — is all about freedom, breaking rules, and living real. I am all for all of that! Trust me.
I have known two women for whom commando is their modus operandi year-round. Both are beautiful and self-assured — of course they would be. One of the women, a blonde who routinely has men salivating, tipped me off to the virtues of going commando one evening over wine. “I don’t ever wear underwear,” she said. “It’s too constricting.”
From then on, commando was my summer modality. In fact, if I think I can get away with it, so too is going braless. I mean, really, what’s better than simply slipping a piece of cloth onto your body with nothing else between skin and outer world?
Somewhere, in some exotic place, I just made Brooke Shields smile. If you have no idea of why I wrote that, Google it, you youngster.
Pushing back against all of this, of course, are societal taboos, most of which I didn’t understand as a dude.
First and foremost, we have got the issue about “freshness” and the multimillion industry created around feminine hygiene. Yep, I am talking about how women are scared to death that their scent will become a talking point for the women-led country club social committee. Jesus. We are human. Our pets love our scent, so stop fretting over it (and yes, shower daily, that’s certainly good enough…).
Then there is the thing about being whorish if you forego underwear. Huh? I can’t even fully wrap my head around that argument, but I will acknowledge that a couple readers right now might be putting me into that category. Knock yourselves out.
Finally, we do need to talk about how panties — or more precisely the absence of them — are a total turn on for men. I have often wondered why, and I have concluded that it is all about the fantasy of easy access. “Hey, I want it, and now you’ve made it much easier for me to get it. There’s no Lycra in the way of my enjoyment…”
Oh boy, I just lost a couple more readers to that. Again, I am sorry, but not really.
The bottom line: I absolutely love womanhood! I m grateful that I get to be me, a 64-year-old chick with the body of someone younger (all due to good genes), who finally found the confidence to not care. My panty-less friends, whom I adore, helped create that confidence, for which I will be eternally grateful. That is, in the end, the true essence of sisterhood.
Women, find your freedom. Live it. Love it. Be grateful for it.
I certainly am.
