Maiden’s Journey

My bra and my gender identity  To me, as a “new maiden” (boy who dreams of being a girl), wearing a bra means a lot. More so than any other garments or things I do, it is the bra that makes me feel like a girl. It was the first type of lingerie I ever tried on. My mother’s of course. Then later my own. I’ve had all sorts of styles over the years, padded and not, wired and not, full cup, balcony, sports, long line. I’ve tried a lot! Why? To me, their something special because they are something girls have and boys don’t. They’re secret but also not: there is an outline of the bra visible through a top, a glimpse of a shoulder strap. And imagining how it feels to be her. They’re a rite of passage for girls. The first bra a sign of growing into a woman. A journey and experience I dream of but have no experience of. How does it feel to put on a bra So what does it mean to me to put on a bra? It’s a kind of ritual of becoming “me” for a while. The first stage of the ritu...