I thought that I would give my wife some space on my site to represent her thoughts about my cross dressing. So today I have asked for her to write a guest post from a wife's perspective. I will also take this post of hers and possible other ones and create a page specifically addressing issues associated with cross dressing and marriage.
Enjoy!
From Nadine's Wife:
In the Beginning
Inside I wondered what this meant in the long term like did
he want to be a woman some day or be with men.
I had feeling s that I was not enough of a woman for him that he wanted
to do this to make up for my short comings as a partner. Yet I was very supportive in this stage.
Later
As time went on, and he became more interested in
cross-dressing, and adding more to be fully dressed as a woman including a wig
and makeup, I wasn’t sure how to feel, but I tried to be supportive. This is my
husband and this makes him happy, but I had no experience with being really
girly myself and his interest in these things kind of scared me a little. I
definitely was not as supportive as I could have been during this period and
sometimes was rude in my comments to him. It took my husband to point out that
him doing this was making me look at myself and my lack of feminism or
girlyness. He was right and I am a stubborn person, so it took me
some time to know that was true. But I did.
Actually because of him, I wear makeup to work every day now, and
whenever I go out with him or friends. I
think that women with cross-dressing boyfriends or husbands need to understand
that they need to be supportive regardless of anything if they want to be with
their man.
It was another change when my husband decided he wanted to
go out in public dressed as a woman. Before this, I really wasn’t concerned
about the outside world and my husband cross-dressing. But when he expressed
his new desire, I got really scared about what might happen and what people
might think and thus say or do to him or me. (A waste of time because studies
have shown that 90% of what we worry about never happens.) Also this brought up
the thoughts that he might want to dress as a woman full time or eventually
become a woman. That really scared me. I loved both sides of him and didn’t want
to lose that. But after talking about it, and him letting me know emphatically
that he really enjoyed being a man and a woman, and that he would never want to
change that, I let go of that fear. He started going out in public about 5
years ago (I think) and the more he did, the more people surprised the both of
us. People went out of their way to be kind and helpful instead of what I
thought would happen. I am so proud of him and thankful to him because he
had/has the courage to do what he enjoyed and through those actions, we have
both been able to see people in a new light.
I wish my wife, now my ex, had the same attitude when I started my transition. We still live together but not as a married couple and she is a lot more relaxed about who I am now. She still has difficulty in calling me by my name though even though I've been Shirley Anne for over ten years and have fully transitioned (post-op for ten years). It is difficult for those we love to come to terms with things like this but it is a sign of true love when they do. I think you are a very understanding and loving person to be able to accept what is happening.
ReplyDeleteShirley Anne x
You're a wonderful lady. You not only recognized your own insecurities, but rose above them. You husband is an uncommonly lucky man to have found you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, I suspect that we cross dressers are a pretty selfish self absorbed bunch, so it is good to ear from the other and to be reminded that this can be so very difficult even for supportive partners.
ReplyDeleteYour post on 'selfishness' inspired me to go back and read your wife's post. I am surprised that I had not commented on it since it is a beautiful and articulate expression of love and tolerance. Over the years as she was coming to grips with the significance of your crossdressing on your relationship she had the love and understanding to know that your desires were not hurtful and that your dressing was something that brought you serenity and happiness.
ReplyDeletePat
I would do just about anything if my lovely wife would accept and encourage my crossdressing and feminine side.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the interesting thing? How to get one's wife to not only accept, but to encourage? Tricky, tricky, thing. The only thing I can recommend is to work hard towards full, complete, and honest communication. There really is no other way to get what you seek, if it is possible at all.
DeleteBest of luck!