I recently had the pleasure of meeting Miss Vera, the Dean of Students at Miss Vera’s Finishing School, as well as author of Miss Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls at a Spring 2009 makeup event at DEX New York.
- Cosmetology (hair and makeup)
- Physical Education (heels, ballet & tutu, stripping, and corset training)
- Communications (talking like a girl, flirting)
- Home Economics (cooking, sewing, maid training, tea service, other stuff I can’t do)
- Musicology (girl music education)
- Photography (of the student)
- Sex Ed (Femmeself acceptance, how to share your identity with your partner — that’s important stuff!)
In addition to the Femmeself, Miss Vera’s School teaches students to create a “Herstory.” I asked Miss Vera what these things meant.
Tonic: What’s a Femmeself?
Miss Vera: All of the people who visit our Academy have felt a “woman inside” from as far back as they can remember. The “Femmeself” is the personification of feelings, emotions, needs and desires. I’ve referred to the work that I do as “therapy with props.” An actor who assumes a role often puts on a costume to get closer to the part. And a good actor can use that role and costume to learn more about him or herself. Our goal is not simply to make the student the best she or he can be, but to take the lessons he learns when “en femme” and integrate this into his life, so no matter what the fashion statement, that person can be a happier, healthier, sexier human being.
Tonic: And a Herstory?
Miss Vera: The Herstory I refer to is a series of questions that we ask the student in order to help that student see his Femmeself not simply as his own Barbie but as a human with talents, characteristics and potential.
Tonic: How did you, Miss Vera, get into this line of work?
Miss Vera: It’s all explained in my bio on the website, also in my book. But basically, my interest as a writer was in human sexuality. And I have always believed in freedom of expression and life as art. In 1988, I met someone who was helping crossdressers with their hair and make-up. She was leaving town and asked if I might help some of the clients she was leaving behind. At first it was just a handful of people that I saw as a sideline while I continued to write articles about human sexuality for different adult magazines. But then I decided to write a book about what I had learned and not write so many articles.
I needed another source of income while I worked on that book, so I decided to increase the work with crossdressers. I knew there were places I could advertise and I had not advertised, so I placed an ad in a magazine that crossdressers read and my phone rang off the hook. All of the men who called wanted the same thing. They did not want to be parodies of women, they wanted to look good … to “pass.” I thought what they want is not impossible, but they need a school … a finishing school. Since that time, we have had over a thousand students visit us from across the country and around the world. Many thousands more have read my two books. We have a faculty of teachers. And now our classes are open to biofemms too.
Tonic: What’s the most rewarding thing about running your school?
Miss Vera: There are many wonderful rewards to running my school. I am in the business of teaching people to have fun. Also, to accept their humanity in all its complexity. I help people to be more open and trusting of themselves and the world. And help spread understanding, tolerance, and love … while being glamorous. Not a bad job, eh?
The classes you can get from Miss Vera’s Finishing School are private, with just you and Miss Vera or the appropriate Deans. Married men can bring their wives with little or no additional fee, but there must be a letter from and a phone call with the biofemm in question to prepare for her presence.
There are even ways to get discounted or free classes if you are willing to model for Miss Vera’s in magazines and on the Web.
We think that what Miss Vera, who signs her emails “Cherchez la femme” (Look for the woman), is doing is perfectly heroic. If you think you know someone who might be interested in her services direct them to her book or website. As Miss Vera says, “Exploring gender, as you probably know, is a very exciting and modern concept and we are on the front lines.”