Alice in Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes of Age by Richard J. Novic

I’m in, I think, about the middle of an ongoing effort to learn more about what it means to be transgender in an effort to better understand the “T” group among our LGBT brothers and sisters.

In the past, I was informed that not all men who cross dress as women are gay or bisexual, nor do they necessarily want to be women. I’ve been told that many do it “just” to entertain as in, for drag shows. By and large, as I’ve spent more time in the LGBT community, I find the 2nd of those two things to be actually, primarily true. Most of these men do feel more comfortable as women and they do want to actually be women. Some will transition, many will not. Perhaps this is just my own personal experience and in the broader community there’s a more even division. I don’t know.

The most recent book I’ve read is an intimate portrait of cross dressing by Richard J. Novic M.D., himself a crossdresser, Alice in Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes of Age. The book is Dr. Novic’s biographical memoir of his life as both traditional husband and father, Richard and as his female alter ego Alice. It’s a fascinating look at how one man – or woman as the case may be – makes it all work.

One caution: Novic’s wife is, apparently, accepting of his desires both to dress as a woman and of his need to have a boyfriend and/or to have “gay” sex. A lot of readers have a lot of heartburn with him “cheating” on his wife. I use the quotes because Novic does not see it as cheating. Not being one to cast stones (people who live in glass houses…), I’ll reserve my opinion on that particular topic and let you, as the reader be his judge, or not, as you wish.