In Ich bin (k)ein Mann: Als Transgender glücklich leben (translated: I Am (Not) a Man: Living Happily as a Transgender Person), Jula Böge opens an honest and deeply human window into the complex terrain of gender identity, offering a vital resource for anyone navigating, witnessing, or seeking to understand life beyond binary norms.
Published in German, this quietly groundbreaking book merges personal narrative with pragmatic advice, and emerges as both a memoir and a survival guide.
At its heart lies a central question: How can one find happiness when they feel like a woman but live in a man’s body, or vice versa? Böge’s response is neither sensational nor overly idealized. It is grounded in reality: through self-acceptance, persistence, humor, and resilience, a fulfilling life is not only possible, but within reach.
Böge uses the German term Pendler, a commuter, to describe the experience of being transgender, a crossdresser, or a transvestite. It's a powerful metaphor. These individuals are travelers between gendered worlds, navigating between societal expectations and their internal truths. What makes this journey especially fraught is not merely the personal confusion that may come with gender dysphoria, but the social friction it ignites. Many, as Böge points out, suffer not because of their identity, but because of how others respond to it, particularly family.
