WTF is what I’m sure most of our reactions were when we first read the opening paragraph of M. Butterfly. Some of us might have had to go back and read it twice to make sure you read it correctly. Yes, the protagonist of our story, named Rene Gallimard was actually tricked into believing he was married to a woman for 20 years when in fact it was a male.  I’m sure most of us also wondered how, and so, to satisfy our curiosities, I looked into the actual story.

“He started to explain a story, which was traditional in China,” Boursicot said.

It was a Chinese tale of a woman who lived as a man for her family’s sake. Shi told Boursicot that this was his story, too. He lied and told Boursicot that he was actually a woman forced to live as a man because boys were more valued in China.

“In my journal, I wrote. ‘Revelation! Revealed!’” Boursicot said. “Everything in my head changed.”

A few days later, they had sex for the first time, Boursicot said.

As it turns out, Boursicot (Gallimard) was told by Shi (Song) that she was forced to pretend to be a man. This actually makes a lot of sense in how Shi’s story was believable to Boursicot. And if you add in the play’s depiction of Boursicot being intensely desperate for young love, it sounds more plausible.

The next question is how the physical parts did not raise any alarms.

“Shi would later show doctors in a court-ordered medical exam how he could create the illusion that he was female. And Boursicot pointed out that their intimate moments were always in the dark.”

While there are still many more questions, the answer above seems to be plausible.

There are more details in the fascinating article with how the cover-up worked out, and a bit of POV from the man himself, but they may also be spoilers for the story.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-09-21/83-embassy-worker-center-m-butterfly-story-still-enigma