Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More - Hardcover

Mock, Janet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1476709122 ISBN 13: 9781476709123

Publisher: Atria Books, 2014

Synopsis

Welcomed into the world as her parents' firstborn son, Mock set out early on to be her own person-no simple feat for a young person like herself. She struggled as the smart, determined child in a deeply loving, yet ill-equipped family that lacked money, education, and resources. Mock had to navigate her way through her teen years without parental guidance but luckily with a few close friends and mentors she overcame extremely daunting hurdles.

This powerful memoir follows Mock's quest for identity, from her early gender conviction to a turbulent adolescence in Honolulu that found her transitioning through the halls of her school, self-medicating with hormones at fifteen, and flying across the world for sex reassignment surgery at just eighteen. Ever resilient, Mock emerged with a scholarship to college and moved to New York City, where she earned her master's degree, basked in the success of an enviable career, and told no one about her past.

It wasn't until Mock fell for a man who called her the woman of his dreams that she felt ready to finally tell her story, becoming a fierce advocate for girls like herself. A profound statement of affirmation from a courageous woman, Redefining Realnessshows as never before what it means to be a woman today and how to be yourself when you don't fit the mould created for you.

About this title

About the Author

Janet Mock is a writer and activist, lauded by the Center for American Progress, Women’s Media Center, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. A graduate of the University of Hawaii, she has an MA in journalism from New York University and has appeared on NPR, MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, and HBO’s The Out List. Find out more at JanetMock.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Author’s Note



This book is my truth and personal history. I have recalled facts, from events to people, to the best of my ability. When memory failed me, I did not seek answers in imagination. I sought clarity through conversations with those who’ve shared experiences with me. When my recollection of events varied from theirs, I sided with my memory and used their voice, often direct quotes, to contextualize events.
Many people featured in the book gave me permission to use their names; others I changed or labeled with an initial to protect their privacy, whether they were guilty, innocent, indifferent, or somewhere in between.
As for terminology, I prefer to use trans over transgender or transsexual when identifying myself, although I don’t find either offensive.I do not use real or genetic or biological or natural to describe the sex,body, or gender of those who are not trans. Instead, I’ve used cis, aterm applied to those who are not trans and therefore less likely toexperience the misalignment of their gender identity and assigned sex at birth—a matter we do not control, yet one that continues to frame who is normalized or stigmatized.
Finally, though I highlight some of the shared experiences of trans women and women of color throughout this book, it was not written with the intent of representation. There is no universal women’s experience. We all have stories, and this is one personal narrative out of untold thousands, and I am aware of the privilege I hold in telling my story. Visit JanetMock.com for more information, resources, and writings.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1476709122
• ISBN 13: 9781476709123
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288