Hur ser könsrollerna ut i relationer mellan kvinnor och transsexuella män? Man skulle kunna tro att jämlikhet dominerar i sådana relationer, pga. en stark könsmedvetenhet och pga. en gemensam bakgrund, i någon mening, i det kvinnliga könet. Men studien ”‘Women’s Work’? Women Partners of Transgender Men Doing Housework and Emotion Work”, publicerad i Journal of Marriage and Family, finner följande:

Most participants in my sample (93%) and their trans men partners (77%) were feminist. As documented in the previous literature review, one of the primary contributions of feminist social research, over the past 30 years, has been to document striking inequalities in division of household labor between men and women. The feminist women I interviewed were not immune to these same social trends, often reporting inegalitarian, gender-stereotyped divisions of household labor between themselves and their trans men partners. It is important to consider the ways in which these feminist-identified women negotiated and explained perceived inconsistencies between their personal politics and everyday family lives. Despite strong feminist self identification, the family myths and gender strategies that participants generated to explain these inconsistencies most often focused on individual choice and preference rather than systemic and structural gender inequalities.

Man skulle kunna tänka sig att personer i denna typ av relation anstränger sig särskilt för att etablera manlighet hos den transsexuelle partnern och att det påverkar beteendemönstren. Kvinnorna är ofta mycket engagerade i att stödja sina partner, såväl emotionellt som fysiskt, efter operationerna. Nå, jag fann inte minst konflikten mellan feministiska ideal och en personlig praktik intressant: i vilken mån kan den tänkas gälla även feministiska kvinnor i relationer med ”vanliga” män? Är det svårt att upprätthålla principer i vardaglig praxis?