My Husband Betty: Love, Sex, and Life with a Crossdresser

Author Helen Boyd is a happily married woman whose husband enjoys sharing her wardrobe - and she has written the first book on transgendered men to focus on their relationships. Traditionally known as cross-dressers, transvestites, or drag queens, men like Helen's husband are a diverse lot who don't always conform to stereotype. Helen addresses every imaginable question concerning the probable and improbable reasons for behavior that still baffle not only "mental health professionals" but the practitioners themselves; the taxonomy of the transgendered and the distinct but overlapping societies of each group; coming out; bisexuality, and homophobia.

The book features interviews with some very interesting people: a dominatrix and her crossdressing husband; a crossdressing Reiki master and his son; a woman who after dating one crossdresser wanted to date others and fell in love with a transsexual instead; and a woman whose husband promised her he was only a crossdresser who later realized that he was transsexual.

The stories and opinions chosen to represent the spectrum will surely titillate, shock, and disgust some readers; alternatively, Helen's narrative is a powerful lens with which to examine our own notions of gender and equality.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
Published: 12/01/2003
ISBN: 9781560255154
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 9.06h x 6.10w x 0.85d
Award: Lambda Literary Awards - Nominee

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2003 pg. 1345
Library Journal 01/01/2004 pg. 136
Booklist 02/01/2004 pg. 937