Ladiness

Mother believed round garters cut off the circulation and caused varicose veins, so she kept me in a pantywaist several years longer than most boys. Nobody knew this except me and Mother, and I was particularly careful to keep it a secret because there was a touch of ladiness to a waist after a boy got about so big.

“Ladiness” is grounded in a rather rigid code of behavior that varies only slightly according to ethnic or cultural values.

Two, Mother and aunt Wheezie were equally as passionate that I should become a lady. Becoming a lady was such hard work I hated it. I couldn’t fathom why any girl would want to be one. Furthermore, I clearly understood at the ripe old age of eight that Mother and Wheezie often strayed from the path of ladiness.