This book is a sequel to "My Husband Betty", but delves deeper into the author's own relationship with her husband, and less on the histories of various others. Now we really meet Helen, a rather tomboy-ish adult woman, who falls in love with a man, and later finds out he is a cross-dresser. They marry, as a heterosexual couple. He becomes more and more comfortable in his women's persona, "Betty." This causes Helen to go through a very thoughtful time of learning about and questioning gender issues of all types. How masculine of a woman can she be and still be "woman"? At what point is she labeled Butch" Is that true or not? Does it bother her? How does "trans" change people? Transsexuals, genderqueers who prefer the non-binary middle ground rather than the either/or of male/female, transfolks taking hormones or not, transfolks planning just "top surgery" but not "bottom surgery," safety issues, mainstream America's perceptions, etc. If Betty becomes a full time woman, does that mean they are a lesbian couple, even though they and particularly Helen are heterosexual? Throughout, Helen and Betty remain married and a loving couple, even though they don't know what will happen with them. This non-fiction book, told from the 1st person, presents valid questions of gender vs. sexual orientation, "queer community" vs. mainstream America, Cross-dressers vs. full post-surgical transsexuals, etc. There is much more of Helen's ponderings than there is of their day to day life, although that is included as examples. By the end, it is still unknown whether Betty will fully transition to a female gender or not. This is a very thought provoking book.
