My Boyish Wife

 

When I first met my wife, I assumed she was male. It was not my fault. Her hair was very short, and she was dressed in boyish clothes.

Generally speaking, most women have not had the experience of people mistaking them for men, but it has always happened to my wife. I heard that it started when she was a girl.

Before I met her, I loved many stories in which women pretended to be men, for example, Yentl. But I assumed they were fictional. I believed that such a thing could never happen in the real world. When I watched movies of that kind, I sometimes felt that it was strange that the people in the movies easily accepted women in masculine attire as men. Encountering my wife changed everything. I learned that it was not impossible. I am married to her, and that is our daily life now.

In fiction, they don’t describe some problems, but in daily life, we can’t ignore those problems. Sometimes, my wife is scolded in the restroom: “Excuse me, this is the women’s restroom!” My wife is a woman.

I suggested that she wear a ribbon or wig to the restroom. She refused. That went against her principles. Furthermore, her job is very busy. She does not have the time to always do that. I suggested that she go to the men’s restroom. She refused to do that too.

Even now, my wife is nervous whenever she goes to the restroom. Do you have any ideas regarding what she can do for peace in the restroom?

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Picture by a.otsuka