My First Performance

As a young girl of eight, I was seen by most of the adults who knew me as either their daughter's stiffest competition in beauty pageants or as the worse I society has to offer.  I was a regular contestant in beauty pageants for  preteen girls.

To many the girl I had become was a aberration.  They disapproved of those mother who dress their daughters up in dress too old for their age, put them in wig and makeup and then parade them for the world to judge.  And yet many of  them may of disapproved of the way my mother was raising me, imagine how much more disapproving they would have been if they knew that beneath that makeup was a boy's face.

At the time of his photo, I had been competing for two solid years and as the circle of girls and mothers who compete is quite small, I was never challenged.  I was merely accepted as just another girl who wore too much makeup for her age.

However I had been performing for almost four years.  As I mentioned in the overview tab introduction, my mother owned a small dance studio.  One day she learned of a talent contest at a local mall.  She had two months to put together an act, but she only had one full-time student.  She saw the talent show for preteens as a means of promoting her business.

One night Dad was out of town.  (He was the coach of the Rosalia High School basketball team and they had a game.)  I was dressed as a girl as was norm when it was just Mom and I.  Mom was listening to music and I was dancing to the music.  At one point she stopped and watched me.  When the song was over, she said she wanted to talk.  We talked and she told me of her plans for the next day.

At her studio the next day, she had myself and Antonio sit down and she told us of the talent show and her plans to have the two of us dance together.  And then she said, "There is however a problem.  The dance needs one of you to be a girl and one of you to be her dance partner.  Now which one of you is willing to be the girl."  If Antonio had raised his hand, Mom was going to ask him if his parents would mind.  But he didn't and neither did I -- as instructed.  She shook her head as if disappointed and then she turned to look directly at Antonio.  "Antonio I don't know how your parents will feel about you being the 'girl' so I think it is best if I have Glen be the girl.  Are you okay dancing with Glen as if he was a girl?

"Will Glen have to wear a dress?"

Mom smiled.  "Yes, Glen will have to wear a dress."  And then looking my way, she added.  "We will have to find a very pretty dress for Glen to wear."

It was the first time I would ever perform before a crowd.  It felt great being seen by all those people as a girl.  After the dance, several adults came up to Mommy and I and told her what a talented and pretty girl she had for a daughter.