Gender F#cked
“Tension drives the narrative”, I use this line often when I’m geeking out about film with folks. This was about the only really useful learned during my time in film school, well that and “congratulations you just spent a fortune on your degree enjoy your career at Micky Dees.” You see, Tension is what propels out hero to overcome the odds. Tension, that unspoken electricity between two people is what pulls them inexplicably together and ignites passion. It is the tension, that war of your desire to indulge your lusts and your fear of what will happen next when you say “yes” to that desire, that tension is something you can taste. Powerful, sweet and oh so intoxicating.

Lately I’ve been teasing folks via my twitter feed about donning high heels and doing some gender bending play, last Friday I even posted a quick snapshot of me in trying out said heels and garters. So why would a guy who thinks that a tank top and tight jeans make good fetish wear go prancing about in 6 inch platform heels and stockings, let alone post photos? It is that tension thing again. While I do enjoy the occasional pampering and indulgences of things like manicures, salt scrubs and the like I’m sure nobody is going to confuse me as being feminine. Not when I have hands the size of small dogs and more than a dusting of body hair.

Put me in high fem drag and makeup and you are going to not have a very pretty girl on your hands (my hat is off to those transgender folks who do this well). Rather, the sexual tension comes about when you play to your masculine features. Lets face it, I worked damned hard to be able to bench press my body weight so I’m going to show off my shoulders and chest. One only needs to look at images of Eddy Izzard, Gary Newman, David Bowie and of course Tim Curry to see what I mean. The sexual tension comes not from them appearing as a “sissy” in female clothes, but rather in the confidence and swagger that comes from this collision of masculine power, draped in feminine garb.

So the moral of the story? Gender is malleable and can be very sexy when tweaked, but never loose sight of your strengths and play to them. While I’m probably not going to add a pair of heels to my normal attire, I may don them from time to time on special occasion. Oh and one other thing, not sure why but I am one seriously mean and especially sadistic top when in stockings.

A post script, the opposite is also very true as well. I have a powerful attraction to women who blur the lines of gender, embracing the masculine while not denying their femininity.