My Husband Betty
by Helen Boyd
6th printing
285 Pages (paper) Thunder?s Mouth, 2004
Now in its 6th printing, My Husband Betty has been
nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.
My Husband Betty has been called everything from ?a
standard text in gender studies? (Booklist) to ?cutting,
incisive, and somewhat maddening? (Riki Wilchins, GenderPAC).
It is the insider?s guide to crossdressing - a book that
some crossdressers won?t give to their wives for the truths
it outs.
back cover copy:
My Husband Betty is the first book to explore the relationships
of crossdressing men and their female partners. Known traditionally
as transvestites, men like Helen Boyd?s husband are starting
to come out and win the respect of friends, family, and society
- even if their behavior still baffles mental health professionals
and the crossdressers themselves. Boyd explains the ?taxonomy?
of the transgendered, the distinct societies within the transgendered
community, the effects of the closet, sexuality, and the issues
faced by the wives and girlfriends of crossdressing men. Helen?s
own experience is at the heart of this book, and her story complemented
and contradicted by interviews with crossdressers, drag queens,
?tranny chasers,? and other transgendered couples.
Bios: Helen Boyd and Betty Crow
Helen Boyd is the author of My Husband Betty(Thunder?s
Mouth, 2004) which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award and
is now in its 6th printing. Her second book, She?s
Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband
(Seal Press, 2007), has been called ?the (im)perfect modern
love story? and ?a postmodern reflection on transness.?
Her blog (en)gender can be found online at www.myhusbandbetty.com.
Boyd has been running an online group for couples since 2000,
and has spoken at many trans conferences, including the IFGE Conference, Tiffany
Club of New England's First Event, Fantasia Fair, Southern
Comfort, the Chicago Be-All, and also at special events, like
Trans Issues Week at Yale University. Helen and Betty have appeared
on The Dr. Keith Ablow Show and spoke about GLBT marriage on PBS?
In the Life. Her writing has also appeared in anthologies edited
by Matt Bernstein Sycamore and Vern Bullough.
Helen Boyd is a nom de plume for the otherwise bookish Gail
Kramer. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The City College of
New York with a degree in literature and a few other awards in
tow. Her other interests - a love for the films of Buster Keaton,
punk rock, writing fiction, and the history of anthracite coal
mining in the U.S. - have taken a backseat to her study of gender.
She lives in Brooklyn with her partner Betty and their three cats.
Betty Crow is an actor and animator living in
New York City with her partner, Helen Boyd, author of My
Husband Betty. Since the book?s publication, Betty
has appeared on PBS? In The Life and been to transgender
conferences all over the country meeting thousands of trans people
and their partners. An advocate for partner issues in trans relationships,
she also appeared on All My Children - as herself.
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