It struck him that he'd taken a word that had been used against him and twisted it around to make it work for him – so not only could it no longer hurt him but it was his way of getting his own back on the world. And not only that, if the other boys had mocked what they saw as George's feminine traits, then dressing up as a woman and being applauded for it was surely another way of doing the same thing. He felt a fluttering of pride.