"crossdressing" comes in an infinite number of flavors.
Dear Unhappy
Welcome to this forum. I've been here a couple of years and found that there is just about every imaginable variation of "gender investigation" represented on this forum. That alone should say something about the wide variation of experiences we all have had, and the different expectations we all bring to this side of us.
I only found this feminine side of me 3.5 years ago. I did find it in the presence and with the ehcouragement of my wife. After a couple of days the thought did hit her to say, "you do understand that I need the man I married". I explained to her that, as always, SHE came first in my life and never would our exploration of my feminine self upstage that agreement.
So far you haven't told us what your husband's goal is in crossdressing. Truly, if his goal is to use his feminine presentation as a means to go sexually outside of your marriage, than it's not the crossdressing that's an issue, but his consideration of your marriage agreement. However, if his goal, like mine, is to explore the femininity he feels within himself, and keep it private to the two of you, then this is a very different situation. I never intend to stop being a man, but there are times when is so pleasant for Tina and my wife to spend an evening together (Tina and my wife are totally platonic!).
Please, ask him to be clear and open about his goals, and if they are out of line with your marriage agreement, you should, in my opinion, challenge that. If not...if he is eager to explore his feminine side with your help, and within the boundaries you set (e.g. keep this totally private to the two of us) you might find that suddenly you have an incredibly empathetic, thoughtful, and understanding husband.
all our wishes for your best,
tina
You are very welcomed here
I certainly am not able to offer anything of substance that has not already been said by all the wonderful ladies before me. As a professional counselor who works with families, couples, and adolescents I have seen many of the experiences you have discussed, and am sure that I might experience the same diffculties in my marriage as you. My wife would not support my choices as a CD, and therefore I do not make it an issue in our relationship. I make sure that I keep that side of me to myself. I might have shortchanged both of us by not talking with her about this but I feel it more important right now to keep things as they are. Not broken so don't try to fix it, because she and I have bigger issues. Right now all of this is such a shock to you and you are flooded by the many feelings and memories that you experienced as a child watching your parents (a child's rock, support, stability, their world) fall apart around you because of this decision not just limited to the actual act, but the discovery as well. So hopefully you will allow yourself and husband the time to settle the dust and then when it is appropriate set a time that you both can talk more, and not argue. When I say set a time it is to help initiate boundaries to make sure both of you have the time, ability, and energy to devote to a healthy discussion verses a 12 hour fight. If you have engagements or to work or to do something with the family or others, are hungry, tired, not feeling well, etc etc, then leave it alone. You must both be willing to set limits on the conversation in order to assure that both of your needs are met. Arguments that go on that long are just so unhealthy and actually have lost there affectiveness within the first 30 or less minutes. Neither of you felt validated but the fight still continued.
Don't allow yourself to believe in generalizations from your past, present, or even the popular world view. Both of you entered into a relationship knowing a valued part of each others past and that was the bi-sexual peice. You were able to come to terms and set boundaries on that aspect of your relationship. Each of you committing to not have sex with anyone else especially the same sex. You might have the desire as you mentioned but you are still devoted to your agreement with each other and do not act on feelings or desires that you know are off limits. I commend both of you on being able to set those limits and boundaries in advance to have a healthy relationship. So if you both want to you can work out an agreement regarding his CD'ing. This really is not a relationship buster (unless you both can not come to terms) but a chance to deepen your trust and regard for each other. So now you know he does this, and it has caused major ambivalence for how you see him and your relationship. So is this a situation where you must say is it too good to leave or too bad stay, after having this knowledge. Please for your own sake, his and your child's take the necessary time to explore this with each other. After you set the boundaries if you still feel uncomfortable then you must reevaluate the decision. If you are not able to get past this and it is a barrier or hurdle, then yes you owe it to yourself to move on. I have reached this place in my own relationship but it has nothing to do with my CD'ing, but many other problems my wife and I have. So take time, let this settle, and then come back together very very soon and have a healthy conversation.
Thanks for you post here, no judgement just wishing you and yours the most successful resolution possible as you explore this!
Lauren
This is all JMHO, but.....
Unhappy, it's time to make your intellect start working for you, and not get carried away in hurt feelings. Yes, we fall in love with an image, an image we create of our beloved based on everything we know about them. The sexual attraction we feel, and the love we have, are all intertwined and focused on the image we have created.
Now, the image you had of your husband has been changed forever. The pure masculine has been forever changed, into something you weren't ready to deal with. But you should. Your husband is the same person he's always been. It's just what you know of him that has changed. He loves you just the same. He's attracted to you just the same. He's willing to do whatever he can for you, just the same as he always has. If he's having any sexual problems, it's more related to a temporary crisis in confidence that he has, related to how he feels you perceive him now.
You say you're bisexual; then surely, you have seen females who were attractive, and may now examine what it was about them that was attractive. Also, surely, you will be able to find some similarities between those women, and the feminine qualities and characteristics your husband now wants to be able to express as his own.
It's not so much that we want to be women, although for some, if we had started out that way our lives may have been quite different, possibly better, possibly not. It's more that we have a overwhelming desire to express certain female qualities, desires, and feelings (probably some you would find in yourself) that we sometimes see as better than the male ones we pretend to temporarily discard when we 'dress up'. We want to embrace beauty; kindness; selflessness; nurturing those we love; caring more about others feelings than perhaps we think a man could get away with without being derided; expressing our full range of emotions in ways that a woman is allowed to, and a man is not. And yes, sometime focusing on ourselves, wanting our SO's to pay us some of the intense sexual attraction that we always feel for them.
He will always be 'the man you married'. He is the sum of everything he is, what you know, and what you don't know, and he always has been, whether you knew it or not. All the things he has done in the past, all the love he's expessed to you, were in part partially based on the 'feminine' side of him that you never knew about. Knowing that, can you really stop loving him? Can you just stop being attracted to him, because you didn't know where so much of his good qualities came from? I don't think you can; I think that if you rush into separating from him, you'll regret it tremendously in the long run. I know you feel hurt right now, but this will pass.
Don't rush into anything, don't make any rash decisions based on hurt, frustration, or even anger.
In the meantime, allow him to continue to crossdress in private if you aren't able to deal with it. Making him try to stop won't work. It never does.
Continue to talk to others about this. Seek out support groups for SO's of crossdressers. Ask other's opinions there, and read up on what makes us 'tick' (although, it varies greatly from CD'er to CD'er'. But it's best to get a working knowledge of all the possibilities. Then perhaps you can understand your SO a bit better, perhaps not seeing his crossdressing as a wedge in your relationship, but more of an 'accessory' to it. After all, by embracing female qualities, he's expressing his admiration for everything you are; can you really find fault with that? They do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no?