How to Introduce Crossdressing 
to Your Spouse 

My personal Experience  by  Michelle Johnson

Introduction 

Everyone has asked me how I was able to communicate my desire
to crossdress with my wife. . So I thought I would just relate
my personal experience and hope that it helps everyone in some
way. Just realize that I'm not a licensed or certified psychologist
and your situation may be a little different than mine. Humor comes
very natural to me but if you're not like that then you need to
find another strength to draw from to help you through it. What
ever your situation, it will not be easy, you will have to push
your comfort zone with your relationship. Rarely will you find
a woman that will accept your crossdressing with open arms and
want to be your girlfriend so to speak. 

Just remember that the crossdressing aspect of your life is not
why they chose to be with you. This is very important to remember
and it's a continuing theme throughout this self help document.
Crossdressing is not why they got involved with you nor did they
choose you because they wanted a girlfriend. So when you change
the basic rules and foundation of your relationship don't expect
her to become overjoyed and say "Oh boy I hit the jackpot! Finally,
a guy that wants to be a girl! Where have you been all my life!"
. There are many exceptions to this but don't expect it to happen
that way and you won't be disappointed or confused when she goes
berserk.  

I'm going to describe some of the land mines, that I see in my
Email and through hundreds that I have met, that we all fall on.
Then I'll give you my perspective on how I avoid those land mines.
It may be a different approach for you depending on your situation
but the key is to avoid the basic mine. Okay enough of the psycho-
babble.  

I. - Losing perspective of the basics  

The most important foundations to any relationship and marriage
are what? Trust/Honesty, Love, Respect, Loyalty, and a sincere
desire to make the person Happy. What I'm about to say; you may
not want to hear but it's been my whole reason for being successful
at communicating with my wife. If you're sneaking around, hiding
your clothes then you are violating her trust, and your loyalty
to her. I don't think it's really any different than being adulterous
as far as deceit is concerned. The key antagonist here in this
situation is you, and not unlike most antagonists in literature,
you will slip up and she will catch you. At that happens it will
be much more difficult to talk about the subject because it will
represent something else all together that I won't go into here.
The reason is primarily because she will wonder if she can trust
you and if you will be loyal to her. Keep that in the back of your
mind. If you have never slipped up good for you, however don't
ever you it as leverage or positioning in a conversation because
that's a set expectation and what you signed up for in the relationship.
The fact that you are loyal is not a benefit no matter what anyone
else is doing and how good you may think you are. It doesn't make
you any better of a person because you adhered to standards that
you promised in the first place. 

II. - Giving ultimatums and making demands  

The next land mind that people fall on is that they begin to think
";well, if she loved me then she should let me do this because
it's important to me";. Wrong, unless you told her before marriage
or before the relationship got too far along and she said, ";that's
okay with me, no problem"; then she does have the right to say
";No, that's not what I signed up for";. Just remember that you
are the variable here not her. You are the one trying to change
the rules so give her time to adjust, give her a lot of room to say
hurtful things to you. Don't get mad or defensive, just listen
to her. Don't give the quick easy answers, just be caring, sensitive
and understanding. I mean think about it, if she came to you and
said  

";Hon, I just have to have sex with other men and I want you to
watch. In fact I think I want one of them to move in and sleep
with us every night. If you loved me you'd let me and if you really
cared you shouldn't have a problem and if you don't like it well,
I'll keep him in another room and you'll never see him but I'm
going to have regular sex with him.";  

Okay, I know some of you might like that situation. But you get
the point. In this situation, if she'd told you before the relationship
you could have chosen whether you wanted to deal with that or not.
Now your stuck. You say well, that's a little more extreme. It's
not from the perspective of how the situation is handled and how
your spouse feels. If you are crossdressing to any extent you are,
in a sense, having an affair with another woman that you bring
to bed with you every night whether your dressed or not. This is
what she will see. So you have to be prepared to be understanding,
caring and sensitive to her wants and needs.  

III. Selling the Concept  

We all know who we are and why we think a girl should enjoy the
benefits of our crossdressing. 
->You're more sensitive than most men 
->You can help her with her shopping 
->You can help her choose the correct color makeup 
->You're into sharing, and chatting 
->You're probably a better lover because you're more sensitive
to  a woman's needs. 
->You know how a woman wants to be treated if you've ever been
with  another guy. 
->And you have a bond that will enhance your communication and
relationship  

So you say ";Hon, look at all these things you'll be getting along
with the man you chose";. Kind of like the ads on TV ...  

";...But look that's not all... you also get the handy hammer
... but wait there's more ... for a limited time you can also
get the onion peeler ... and if you're are 50th caller you'll
also receive a finger nail clipper, hedge trimmer all in one";  

... when all you really cared about was the knife set. Do you
see my point. She will not see or care about any of this, because
if she did she would have searched for someone like that from the
beginning. Then you say, ";well she never knew that there were
people like me";, it doesn't matter the point still is the same.
Don't sell something to people that they're not buying cause you'll
go out of business in flames.  

Now what you can do with these benefits, is to use them in jest
to sort of lighten moments of tension in the conversation. Laugh
about it, let her know that you can see the way she's feeling.
I always joke with my wife about it. It doesn't take anything away
from what I want to do and I have a lot more fun with it. I keep
telling her that I'm a Lumberjack trapped in a crossdressers body
and if she'd just get me a big saw, some flannel shirts, and leave
me in the woods with a bunch of burly men then I could be everything
I wanted. And she will usually respond with ";that's what I'm afraid
of, you'd never come home";. You see it's about having fun which leads
me to my next land mine.  

IV Taking it all too seriously  

If you decide to tell your spouse or SO about this then I suggest
you do it when you're feeling self confident, happy, maybe a little
kooky, and on top of the world. Don't tell her when your depressed
and sullen. Because when people communicate they attempt to empathize
with one another. If someone is telling a story and is smiling
and laughing what is the other person going to do? smile and laugh.
If a person is depressed and is going through rough times what's
going to happen? the person will attempt to try and feel the way
you do. It's natural human nature in our attempts to communicate
with each other.  

So be fun, make it silly, entertain her and she'll love it. Maybe
not everyday, but when she sees you dressed she will at least find
humor in it and be okay. I don't know but I think it's because
they realize that the ";other woman"; is not a threat to their
own femininity if the other woman is kind of a goof ball. But
if you show to many endearing qualities your spouse / SO will find
her a threat to her relationship with you. I'm not sure if that's
really true for all women, but one girl told me that one time so,
I figure that I'm not that lucky to find the only girl in the world
that would feel that way.  

You don't want to go too far though, know where the lines are
and stay within bounds. Silliness to a point is fun and funny but
it can get old fast so just gauge it as you go.  

V. Looking Too Sexy  

Oh, this is a big one. If you look better than she does you have
a problem. Or even if she thinks you look better than she does
you have a problem. Here's why, you now become another woman which
means that she is in competition with you and immediately sizes
you up. Even if she's never seen you dressed all the way she will
worry that you will look better. Use your humor, ";you mean with
my big feet, I'm going to look better than you!"; or ";you don't
think I don't look like a linebacker in a dress?"; Whether you
do or don't is not the point. It's the fact that you still find
her more attractive. And if you can make some ";questionable";
comments that are sincere that make her realize that you don't
see what she sees, then she just may be a little more accepting 

I like to dress sexy as we all do. And I do, the first time I
dressed totally in front of my wife I went into the bathroom and
closed the door. I got everything perfect because I didn't want
her to laugh at me. I came out into a dimly lit bedroom and she
stared at me in shock. ";Oh, my god (long pause)";. I said, ";what,
did I put on too much eyeliner?";. She laughed (key point), ";no,
you do your makeup better than I do - and I didn't expect to see
you in a wig";. I just responded, ";No way, you are the most gorgeous
girl I know, I could only hope to do as well";. She smiled and
said, ";well, how did you learn how to do all this";. I responded,
";Practice, Practice, Practice and three college courses followed
by a sabbatical";. She just said, ";I can't believe it, you look
like a real girl";. (This was a key line, because now she's starting
realize that I could pass and be one if I wanted to. Then the ever
posing question lingers in her head. 'does he want to change his
sex'). So my response to this was ";Damn, and I was trying to be
a lumberjack!";. There is nothing sexy about a lumberjack in drag,
no matter what camera angle you use. Furthermore, the percentage
of lumberjacks that go through SRS is probably very low to nil.

VI. Moving In Too Fast 

Don't unload on her, take things in time, be PATIENT. To put into
your perspective. How long did have you been dressing? How long
was it until you got to where you felt that you looked okay? How
long did it take to accumulate a wardrobe? You can't just give
her the finished product and say, ";Hey, what d'ya think about
this!?";. Let her grow into it at intervals that are within her
comfort zone. Do it subtly. Here's what I did and I did all this
before we were married. 

I said one day, ";You know I think it would be really sexy if
you'd shave for me below";. She said, ";Really, that's wierd";.
";Does it bother you?"; I replied. ";No, just didn't expect to
hear that?"; she said. Then I 

asked again, ";Would you mind?";. ";Oh, not at all, I'll have
it done today.";. I said ";kewl, just be careful!";. 

Then what I did was shave mine as well. But that's not all I shaved.
I shaved my legs as well. Next time we made love she felt mine
shaved as well. ";Oh my god, I didn't know you were going to shave
yours as well."; ";Do you mind?"; I asked. ";Oh no, I just wasn't
expecting it";. Then she felt my legs, and looked at me inquisitively,
";what did you do?!";. I just said, ";Well, I started shaving
it and I liked the way it felt and decided not to stop there...
I kind of like the way it feels. Do you mind?";. ";Well, I don't
know, that's kind of weird?";, she said. ";Yeah, but you knew I
was weird before you married me!";. We both laughed. 

As time passed I joked with her about crossdressing and how I
thought it was way cool the way a man could look as good as some
of the ones on Television. I'd also put down the ones that came
across as real jerks, just like anyone would. 

On our wedding day my wife asked me if I would wear something
sexy under my Tux, she wanted me to have a thong or something with
a string. So I bought a lycra blue teddy with a string. I went
with my brother to get it. He just said, ";Bro, I just don't know
you anymore?";, we laughed. I said, ";you want one too, I'll pay
for it?";. He said, ";no, that's okay, I'll pass";. ";No prob Bro";
I said as I purchased it from the lady. She said ";oh this is nice,
she'll like this."; I said, ";well actually this is my wedding
day I hope she likes it on me. She told me to pick out something sexy.
"; I don't think she believed me because she said, ";Well, I think
she will"; as she winked at me. My brother just died. 

So that's how it all started. I began progressing a little further
and when my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday my response
was makeup. I'd really like to play with make up and see what I
can do. She said, ";God, your weird";, I said ";yeah, and...your
point"; she just smiled and I got makeup for my birthday. The next
year I said that I wanted to get dressed up and play around a little.
She said, ";I don't know if I can handle that."; I said, ";that's
fine, I understand, but if you ever wanted to get me going, just
tell me to do it and I will";. A couple of days later after the
kids were in bed, she said, ";okay, if you want to get dressed
up then go ahead, but I don't know how I feel about it."; ";I said
no prob"; I was just happy to get dressed up, anything else was
gravy. 

That was the first night I dressed for her as I described earlier.
She still doesn't want me going out in public but she doesn't
really care what I do behind closed doors. She may never be comfortable
with me going out in public, that's okay, because I knew that when
I married her that I had not discussed that with her and if she
says no then I won't do it. 

Now I have gone out in public when I've been on business trips
and this violates the advice I gave earlier but I plan on disclosing
that to her the next time we are discussing the topic. But I'll
let her ask the question, and I don't ever expect her to want to
go out with me dressed. I think I'd even be a little self-conscious
with that because I would be empathizing with her. 

She's now okay with everything except wigs and public appearances.
That's something I can live with and she can too. 

VII Changing personalities when Dressed  

If you do dress for your spouse or SO, don't change your personality
or mannerisms. Just enjoy being dressed. Let her comment that you
may look like a girl but you don't act or sound like one. That's
okay, she's trying to validate to herself that she is still the
female in the relationship. Just respond with, ";Yeah, I know,
I need help with all that girlie stuff, it was all that lumberjack
training that did me in."; 

Don't try to be ";Girlie"; with her. Most girls are turned off
by that kind of stuff anyway these days. And a man trying to emulate
it without any real training will look silly in her eyes. Just
be you! because "you" is good 

My wife came home one night I had gotten all dressed up in lingerie
and waited for her on the bed. She looked at me and exclaimed ";Oh
my god, you're so weird"; (that's what she always says). Anyway,
I just said, ";Yeah, care to join me in here?"; She said, hold
on let me put all this stuff down. She did and came in and we just
had a casual conversation like we would at the end of any day.
Before we made love she asked me to remove the wig. She doesn't
like them. Not on me, just in general. She doesn't like wigs -
she thinks they look like dead animals. So I obliged and we enjoyed
ourselves. 

VIII Forgetting to compromise  

Just because your married or whatever doesn't mean she owes you
anything unless you discussed it up front. Anything else that wasn't
disclosed before any bonds is open to negotiation. You won't get
everything you want if you didn't disclose it before hand. If you
do you're very fortunate and probably should be writing this instead
of me. The key is to find out what you can live with before ever
entering into any discussions. Know what you want and what you
can realistically settle with. 

I lost two girlfriends over this. One because I tried to force
it on her and the other because I wouldn't bend on anything. I
was going through a phase that I felt that if she didn't like it
then I didn't care about her. Not a good attitude to start a relationship.
I was caught up in all the psycho-babble and my friends were influencing
me to go through SRS and drop my girl friend. It wasn't until much
later I realized that it was my problem and not hers. And to think
that I've never seen a shrink for any reason, I figured that out
all by myself. Anyway, it all goes back to accepting responsibility
for our actions. We make choices and we have to live with the results.
We can't blame other people, family environment for any of the
choices we make. That's ridiculous, and I'm not buying that from
any of the liberal psychologists. I think their facts and statistics
are biased and skewed on that issue. 

Just be prepared to not get everything you want if you haven't
talked about it at all with her. Then you have to decide if you
can live with any of the compromises. If not, then you both need
to move on. 

IX. Making Promises / Concessions you Can't Keep  

Don't do it. If you can't resolve crossdressing with your SO for
whatever reason then you have to weigh the realities and importance
of your crossdressing. It is unrealistic to think that you can
stop doing it. Don't promise this, because it rarely happens. Our
brain is an organ that learns through stimulus and repetition.
If we are continually dressing for positive stimulus then it's
just going to keep reinforcing it. The old adage that says ";People
become more of what they are as they age"; comes to mind. What
that means is that the good qualities get better and the bad get
worse. Look at your parents, grandparents, look at their patterns.
Things they do well they are absolutely great at. Their faults
get much worse. It's through repetition that these qualities keep
growing. 

The point is, don't make unrealistic concessions, on the other
side don't give ultimatums and make promises you know you can't
keep. This is a tough line to follow but you have to if you want
to communicate successfully with her. That doesn't mean you get
your way, it just means that you've both effectively communicated.

If it comes right down to it, go your separate ways because let
me tell you a clean break up front is better than a life time of
sneaking around and paranoia that you're going to get caught. And
you will get caught, it's just a matter of when not if. 

One girl I dated for 4 years almost 5. We were engaged for nearly
a year and I decided to tell her. She went berserk, but I maintained
my position of let's put everything on the table and see if we're
a match. Because although I wanted to keep her more than anything,
that desire to want her with me I knew would fade very quickly
if I felt constrained. You are the key to unlocking all the constraints
and you have the key you just have to figure out the best way to
use it without damaging the lock. 

X. Becoming dependent on social or support groups  

Okay, before you get defensive let me just say that I think social
and support groups are an excellent way to meet and share with
others. I sat on the board of a large one in Washington D.C. so
I should know. The portion of our agenda that I focused on and
liked most was our direction towards total self improvement from
appearance, family, and emotional stability. However there are
some land mines that you'll step on here if you're not careful
and they all kind of some up the last nine in many ways. 

I guess first and foremost when dealing with your SO don't try
to sell them on attending a meeting. This is the last thing they're
going to want to do. It would be the same as her asking you to
go to therapy to find out what was wrong with you. The way to present
the social group to your spouse is to present it as an option.
If you are at an impasse and need to share and learn from others
then offer it up as one alternative. Counseling would be another
alternative. 

But I've seen many of the people coming to my group saying, ";well,
tried to get my wife to come tonight, I don't know why she won't
come, I think it would let her see that I'm not the only one and
that these are really nice people."; If you attend a social / support
group and you haven't heard this one or haven't said it yourself
(I know I'm guilty) then I would be very surprised. This is a
fallacy. First of all, she doesn't care if anyone else does it
or how nice they are, you are the one she married or is dating not
everybody else. She doesn't care, nor does she see where it will
help anything in your relationship. In fact she'll be concerned
that if you continue to go that you'll want to dress up more often
or whatever. And she's probably right. This is one of those things
you don't want to try to sell but rather offer if interested. 

Another land mine that social groups have are that they allow
a means for us to sneak around. Regularly scheduled meetings with
facilities to dress. I've had people store their clothes with me
and come over and dress only for a get together, their wives thinking
they were at a business meeting or whatnot. If I were to put a
group together now all would be welcome except those who had wives
or girlfriends that did not know. That's just playing with fire
as far as I'm concerned and I don't support it. 

There can be a lot of sympathizing which can enforce some of the
land mines such as giving ultimatums etc. I never been around a
bunch a people that were so bitter about the way their wives reacted
to their dressing. They took it as an insult, and felt that their
wives were being unreasonable. And maybe they were, but the person
should have been at home trying to work to resolve the issue rather
than ranting.  

Conclusion 

I plan to follow up this with some more land mines and more personal
experiences. I just want everyone to know although I do feel like
I understand human behavior better than most that I haven't had
any formal or educational experience. Most of what I've written
- is what I feel is just the right way regardless of all the psycho-
babble. Just look at this as one persons opinion or approach to
communication. It's not the only way to do it nor is it necessarily
the best way. All I can tell you is it worked for me and some of
the advice I know will work for everyone. 

Furthermore, the tone of this whole exercise has taken the side
of the spouse / SO. If you got angry or felt threatened by any
of the comments I made, you may not be ready to discuss this with
the person you care about. I would suggest you read it a few times
and if you still don't understand it seek counseling. I sincerely
feel that the spouse / SO is the one victimized in this whole ordeal
and we forget that because we are so scared and nervous when we
try to bring it up. Then all the emotion just begins to flood through
the gates losing all form of rationality. 

Don't try discussing it with her if you're not strong, and confident
enough to deal with it yourself. Because if you can't accept who
you are, like it, and careless who finds out about it then how
in the world can you convince her to feel any differently! 

I've thought about writing a book on this subject if anyone knows
a publisher that would accept this concept or an agent that would
be willing to stand behind it I do know some very good writers
that will write it. 

PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ATTACHMENT TO ADHERE TO COPYRIGHT LICENSE
Copyright Michelle Johnson 
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Email Michelle Johnson: crashit@airmail.net

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