Paper Trails
By Carrie Rengers
When a man loves a woman — or at least her clothes
Of all the questions posed to Dale Miller, one of the most frequent is, “How do you walk in those heels?”Actually, the most common question is “Why do you wear women’s clothes?”"It’s kind of more a ‘Why not?’” says Miller, manager of networks and technical services at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He’s also teaching a data base class this semester.Miller has had a desire to don women’s clothing for at least 20 years but didn’t begin wearing female attire until a year ago and only in the last few months has worn it on campus. Administration officials haven’t said anything one way or the other.”I teach in a skirt the same way I do in pants,” Miller says.
“I fully feel that I am at least as presentable as some of the other staff members on campus who wear considerably less flattering clothes,” says Miller who is partial to silk blouses but often wears a man’s Oxford and tie with a skirt and pumps. Sometimes he dresses completely in what’s considered normal male attire.
“I’m not into this to try to upset anyone,” Miller says. That’s why he’ll probably quit wearing the female clothing to work if anyone in the administration asks him to stop.
“Part of it would probably depend on how they asked me,” he says. The university doesn’t have a dress code. Reaction from students has been varied. There are misconceptions that Miller wants a sex change or is gay or is a transvestite. He describes himself as only a partial transvestite and has no desire to appear to be a woman. Miller says most students are accepting.
“It is an individual’s personal perogative to dress any war they choose,” junior Heather Conley was quoted in The UALR Forum
“However, what baffled me the most was that he seemed comfortable in the skirt and his ability to walk in the pumps.
Miller says he only occasionally gets defensive about his attire. For instance, if a woman asks him why he wears a skirt, he might snap back, “Well, why do you wear pants?”