Three cheers for Gynocrat's recent letter! I'm glad I'm not the only female who realises how important initial training is to establish the fact of female supremacy in both boys and girls. This subject has been neglected in 'Madame' so far but Gynocrat is bang on the mark with her very sound ideas on bringing up the young male.

Petticoating is a splendid treatment for deflating the male ego and effectively brings boys to humility and meekness, as I know from experience. Once a boy is in petticoats he is much more amenable to feminine authority and putting boys into girls’ dress helps prevent a lot of bad behaviour, as I discovered when I was a girl. There were four of us in the household, my mother and her sister, myself and my cousin Robert who was a month or two younger than me. My father had left us, and we were glad to go and live with my aunt, who was a widow and well provided for, when I was almost ten years old. Robert was kept under very strict discipline, and there was, I found, no question of him developing any ideas of masculine superiority just because I was a girl. Quite the opposite!

I discovered very soon that Robert was kept in frocks and petticoats around the house to encourage him in good behaviour. I remember asking Auntie soon after we arrived how long he would have to go on wearing girls' clothes, thinking naively that it must be merely a temporary punishment for some misdeed, but Auntie only smiled and said as long as necessary, and that would mean a long time yet. I can see now how wise she was, the male nature being what it is. After a spell in petticoats, an unruly boy may seem to show some improvement, but if petticoating is abandoned too soon, male wilfulness is liable to re-assert itself and he will revert to his old bad ways. No, the only answer is regular petticoating, properly carried out over a period of time, so that habits of docility and obedience are properly instilled and submissiveness becomes second nature, not just adopted as a
pretence to avoid punishment.

Robert had to wear cotton frocks as a rule, with girls underthings, always pretty and lace trimmed, and he tended to be very sullen about this when I first knew him. Of course, when petticoat discipline is enforced there is bound to be some resentment,
especially in the early stages, and Robert was no exception, but any objection from him was swiftly dealt with. When punishing him, Auntie would put him over her knee and lift his skirt to administer a spanking across the seat of his frilly knickers, but for
more serious chastisement she used a wooden spoon on his bare bottom. After a few slaps from that, Robert would be yelling fit to raise the roof and he was ready then to obey rather than risk further punishment. Having me around to watch was all part
of it, as an important part of petticoat punishment is the humiliation it involves and this must not he spared if the young male is to be brought into a proper state of deference toward the female sex.

As well as being spanked, there was the teasing Robert had to endure when people called and discovered him dressed as a girl. This taught him a further lesson in humility as he found that the more he protested and tried to reassert himself, the more
conspicuous he looked, and he learned to avoid making any fuss when he was teased. One of my friends, a rather boisterous girl named Pauline, particularly liked to tease him about his costume and make him redden at her remarks. Robert used to get very annoyed and sulky when she tormented him but as time went on he learned to bear it demurely, merely blushing a little when Pauline teased him about his pretty clothes.

All this was excellent trailing for my cousin and he learned submissiveness in other ways too. When petticoated he was always referred to as Roberta or 'Bobbie', and as with Gynocrat's son, he found that pretending to be a little girl saved him a good deal
of embarrassment when meeting strangers. This was helped by the fact that my aunt let his hair grow and kept it quite long, which was another incentive, as in those days his long hair made him look conspicuous in boys' clothes, but went perfectly with his dresses and petticoats, so that when we took him out it was actually less embarrassing for him to be dressed as a girl so long as he behaved appropriately, and he even came to submit meekly to having his hair done in pretty close curls with my mother's curling tongs for the benefit of his girlish appearance. With his curls and dainty dress, nobody would have taken him for a boy and he learned to match his appearance w ith quiet and docile conduct befitting his role.

In the past, it was girls who learned decorum through their dress, but nowadays it is only right that the male should learn to accept the restraints of being nicely behaved. My cousin was punished if his costume showed any evidence of unseemly behaviour, and as a further inducement Auntie put him into a short corset which I strongly recommend in all cases of petticoat control. Having no choice in the matter, Robert came to take his petticoated condition for granted, and once my aunt had got him accustomed to girls' dress he learned to wash, sew and iron his things as any girl would. His costume certainly kept him out of trouble and bad company, and having him around the house was like having a well behaved little sister. In fact, as he adapted himself to his situation. he became docile and willing to please, and all his former rebelliousness disappeared.

My petticoated cousin eventually carne to prefer his submissive role, which made him ideally suited for marriage to a strong-minded, dominant woman, and this is just what occurred when the time came. He actually married an old childhood friend, Pauline, who knows exactly how to treat him, having known him in his petticoated days, and makes sure he remains thoroughly under her control. My aunt gave Pauline a present on her wedding-day---her wooden spoon, all tied up in pink ribbon, and I happen to know that it is still used just the same as before. But perhaps Pauline would like to tell you all about that, and one of these days I'll get her to write to you about it.
Yours,