Dear Auntie Helga,

Sometime ago I submitted a letter to you which you saw fit to publish and titled "A Soldiers Story" (April 2011) in which I related my struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), severe depression and suicide which was a result of my service in Viet Nam and how I began to use crossdressing, which I had discovered as a young adolescent, to help me deal with these issues with which I have been struggling for so many years. Crossdressing has helped me deal with these issues and I thank my long time therapist, Nancy, for encouraging me in this regard.

Volunteering for the Marine Corps to serve in Viet Nam was not out of a macho attitude but rather a sense of patriotic duty and a sense that I was fulfilling my obligation as a male to protect and defend the women and children of my country. I have always felt this way and still do. The males of this world may have a lot of faults but this is a positive aspect of the male of the species and I am proud of this. I am, by nature, a gentle, soft spoken man respectful of all persons. I love women and what they bring to relationships and life. I have always enjoyed helping and doing what I can to please and pleasure the women in my life. Opening doors, pulling out chairs and even helping my ex-wife with household chores such as vacuuming, dusting, dishwashing and laundry were actually very gratifying for me. I love doing these things because , to me, they are very intimate expressions of my love and respect for my partner. I love this aspect of my male persona and consider myself a good man.

I also have a strong feminine side to my persona which makes me much more of a soft, sensitive man. I love this part of me which I feel adds a perspective to my life that most men probably don't have nor are able to comprehend. I completely embrace this side of me and I wouldn't have it any other way. Crossdressing brings out and enhances my feminine side. I love the soft, gentle feelings I experience when wearing dresses, slips and skirts. I frequently wear a bra, panties, a girdle, stockings and heels around the house especially when I do household chores. When I see and feel my legs encased in nylons and my feet in heels I feel very feminine and sexy and I love it.

In addition to these two completely diverse aspects of my persona I also have a very strong " little boy " side which produces a very strong need to have a strong maternal influence in my life to provide a nurturing and guiding influence for me which only a woman can provide.

However, crossdressing has been a double edged sword for me. It's very difficult to reconcile these very different and vastly diverse sides of my personality. Trying to coalesce these completely opposite feelings into a comfortable sense of self is difficult and at most times very confusing. I have been working on trying to reconcile these feelings with Nancy but I don't feel that I've made much progress. That being the case I decided to solicit your advice on the issue in the hope that your perspective as a proponent of petticoating and also having the perspective as a woman you might consent to offering your advice or feedback since you would have a different perspective than Nancy. I realize that this request is probably very different than you are accustomed to. I sincerely hope that you do not consider this to be an inappropriate request. I wonder if you would consider soliciting inputs or feedback from your readers. Anything that you may offer would very appreciated and I thank you in advance.

PDQ has been both an encouragement and a solace for me and I look forward to each new issue. Thank you. I submit this very respectfully,

Robert
cuddlerman2@yahoo.com

Thank you for your letter Robert, your service and welcome home. This type of letter is just so heart warming, though not really a petticoating, it does serve to illustrate that female clothing can have a certain calming effect on the male personality and that is a large part of what we are trying to accomplish. You are not alone Robert and will always have friends here. Though I usually don't do it, I have included Roberts email address so that our readers might provide their opinion directly.

Auntie Helga