Spotlight: Housewife

PARENTING PARTNER, ROMANTIC PARTNER, & TWO CHILDREN, ALL LIVING HARMONIOUSLY IN ONE LOVING HOUSEHOLD

Housewife: Home-remaking in a Transgender Marriage is the story of how one woman invites her partner’s gender transition to transform her and the shape of their family. Told from the perspective of the partner rather than the person transitioning, Collier offers a rare glimpse into the importance of seeing gender transition as a family affair.

The story begins with a happily married, heterosexual couple facing a life-altering house fire, just six weeks after the birth of their second son. In the aftermath of the fire, Collier’s husband wrestles with larger questions of who he is and eventually admits that he can no longer live life as a man. While he transitions to live the rest of his life as a woman, Collier remains supportive, redefining herself as well, while their family “breaks out of the box” over the next several years.

“In order for society-at-large to accept and support transpeople and their families, transfamilies must at times become visible and detail their experiences,” says Collier. “Communities can then witness our likenesses rather than setting us apart as ‘other,’ as so often happens when a group is feared and misunderstood.”

A beautifully written story filled with authenticity, vulnerability and tenderness, through the pages of Housewife readers will:

• Gain compassion for what partners and families go through when a partner transitions.

• Learn how “radical honesty” turned a transgender marriage into a deep friendship, laying the foundation for a stable, loving family unit as the parents’ roles shifted.

• Understand that things aren’t always what they appear to be, reminding us to step out of our bubbles and get curious about why it is when people don’t respond the way we expect them to.

• Gain more understanding of transgenderism in general, and how we can become better allies and support, whether we find ourselves as partners, friends or community of transpeople.

• Be transformed & encouraged to break out of our own boxes — gender roles are society’s expectations of how men and women should look and act.

• See that our identities are created by how we see ourselves in tandem with how the world sees us; our identities are shaped by our perceived genders, roles, and responsibilities.

• And so much more…

“It is my hope that this story contributes to those who are seeking information, companionship, and the inspiration to grow their capacity for love,” adds Collier.

Kristin K. Collier is an educator and writer from Eugene, OR. Her words have appeared in The Sun magazine, and her poetry is a frontispiece for Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear’s People of the Sea. She has been teaching Compassionate Communication since 2004. Collier and her spouse were featured in NPR's program, Snap Judgment, in their Valentine's 2012 edition. As well, Collier has been urban farming since 2005 and was a keynote speaker for the Eugene Permaculture Gathering in 2007. Visit Kristin at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.