Janet Mock (1)Rezensionen

Fantastic memoir of a woman who was confident in her gender identity from a young age but struggled with family dysfunction, poverty, gender dysphoria and racism. Am absolutely brilliant study of trans living in the United States. I learnt a lot about trans phobia, appropriate language and everyday acceptance.

Surpassing Certainty picks up right where Redefining Realness left off. I appreciated reading about Janet's 20s, and how she learned and grew into herself during them. It's a comfort to a 20-something like myself to see another person describe their struggle. I was surprised at some things, like how long her marriage lasted, because of the way parts of Redefining Realness were framed. Overall, it's a great read, and I'm glad I read it.

Janet's story is such an important one and one I find that more young feminists should read. I appreciate the way she explains her situation, weaving in quotes and data from other sources. I also appreciate the way she makes clear that what she went through is her story, and her story is not the only one out there.

Wonderful memoir. Good pacing, tenderly written. Talks about difficult things in an easy-to-read manner, and even though it descibes hardships and some difficult and dangerous situations, it never breaks your heart.

This is a powerful book about the journey of a transgender woman from her roots in Hawaii to living her authentic life.

This book is exactly what I look for in an autobiography - honest, deeply revealing and allowing us to get to know the real person, good and bad. There are parts of the book that Janet clearly struggled to write about but all credit to her for including them as those events were part of her journey.

Highly recommend.

This is a powerful read, and an eye-opening account of one trans woman's journey to accepting herself. I had no prior experience with Janet Mock, having gotten this book recommended to me while watching Elliot Page's interview with Oprah, but I'm really glad I picked it up. It helps to show one reality of what being trans could be like in America. (Mock makes a point several times of mentioning that she's not speaking for all trans women, but this is her story so it does provide an example for what growing up trans was like for her.)

I was thrilled when I received this book as part of my Noir Reads subscription box. I knew very little of Janet Mock aside from her work as a transgender rights activist – so I found her memoir absolutely fascinating. I haven’t read her first book Redefining Realness which focuses more on her transition into womanhood. I had zero expectations going into her second book. Reading Mock is like living vicariously through the experiences of one of your fearless girlfriends who is always doing something new and exciting. I loved her unique perspectives on working in the sex industry during college, leaving her life in Hawaii behind, loving and losing a first great love and pursuing a career in writing and fashion.

Wow...just incredible. I enjoyed listening to Mock tell the story of her youth growing up trans. This was one of those books that addressed questions I never knew I had. I want the world to be flooded with the voices of trans people.

I loved this book for its realness, and love Janet Mock for her strength and courage. She is a woman who is driven to be absolutely authentic and to follow her own path regardless of who or what stands in her way. The book itself was a bit of a disappointment as I couldn't feel her soul in the writing.

Nevertheless, this is a book to consider reading as despite lack of money, cultural norms that conflicted with her own, alienation from some family members, and judgment and lack of acceptance by some important people in her life, this powerful woman refused to compromise herself for her own dreams and visions.

Oh my goodness this was SO good. I almost don't know what to say. I'll be adding this title to my digital library. I can't imagine a reality in which I won't be rereading this.

A beautiful, entertaining, raw, and deeply politically aware, deeply intersectionally feminist memoir. Well worth the read for young trans folx looking for a story that might reflects theirs, especially young folx at the intersection of several identities, for cis allies looking to learn more about the journey of a young trans woman of color, and for families of trans folx.

This memoir has embedded in an engaging life story paragraphs and paragraphs of statistics, references to shaping events and legislation in the LGBTQ world, and thought out socio/political considerations of situations Janet found herself in, choices she made, the worlds she moved through. Just a fantastic memoir.

I chose to read this book because I have never been challenged or asked to affirm my gender - and I wanted to know how someone copes with that. I am a cis-woman whose relationships don't require explanations; Janet is obligated to tell lovers she is trans. She has to (?) clarify what "kind" of woman she is. She has a way of managing the difficulties of society and her circumstances that I really admire. Janet constantly recognizes those who supported her and the acceptance she received from others. She highlights them to the point that the others are barely recognizable except as teaching moments. She looks back on her life and constantly notes how lucky she was to not be attacked or killed for affirming her gender. She spends much more time describing the positive than the many hard realities that she faced - which are many in addition to her being assigned male.

To me, it feels like Janet is writing to educate. Janet succeeds in weaving her memoir with education to help inform readers of issues affecting trans people and cis people. At one point, I especially felt that she was entreating teachers and counselors to be better allies. Throughout her memoir she cites sources (naming the sources in the text, opening the door as wide as possible so you can find out more), explains terms, and compassionately describes sexism, feminism, and the behaviors that hurt and help young men and women who are affirming their gender. Although I'm already on board with the information and intent, I think it's a good book for someone who is just learning about these issues like myself.

Best for: Fans of Ms. Mock’s writing and those interested in learning more about her life; people interested in a tight memoir focused on just a few years of early adulthood. In a nutshell: Author Janet Mock shares part of the story she chose not to include in her first memoir “Redefining Realness.” Line that sticks with me: “I did not have the luxury to sulk, though. I could not wallow. I could not let my bitterness affect the quality of my work. Doing so would only make it harder for those coming after me.” Why I chose it: I enjoyed Ms. Mock’s first memoir and wanted to read more. Review: It took me awhile to get really into this book. I’m not sure if it was because of the week I was having, but it took me about a week to read the first half and just an afternoon to finish it. I’m glad I pushed through, because it’s a great read. Ms. Mock shared her journey as a trans woman in her first memoir. However, she left out her first romantic relationship and marriage, which she delves into in this book. She explores her work as an exotic dancer, her time in college in Rhode Island and Hawaii, her marriage to a man in the Navy, and her pursuit of a journalism career in New York City. She is candid about the challenges in her relationship, and about the challenges she had in undergraduate and graduate school, and as a woman of color in publishing. Her moments of revelation around colorism and around her confidence being perceived negatively are esecially poignant. Ms. Mock writes in language that is a bit flowery for my preference, but she tells a great story. This is not to say that I think she do anything different; sometimes I find her writing feels more like a novel than creative non-fiction. And perhaps that is a good thing; I just can find it a bit challenging to navigate. But clearly that’s not a barrier for me, as I still picked this up having read her first book.

Anyone who's ever stepped outside the norms of the community they were born into will appreciate this book. It's a defining memoir for the 21st century. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, whose narration is terrific.

Janet Mock is a woman with a deeply intersectional life experience. She was raised in poverty, is both multiracial and transgender. She embodies resilience and strength, telling her story with heart and grit.

She says, "Our genders are as unique as we are. No one’s definition is the same, and compartmentalizing a person as either a boy or a girl based entirely on the appearance of genitalia at birth undercuts our complex life experiences.”

Having traveled to Hawaii and loved the vibe, I also enjoyed learning more about the culture and language. For example, the exchange Wendi and Janet share about being mahu or third-gendered. Knowing that words like this exist, along with the cultural norms that create them, reminds me of how narrow-minded even the most open white, European-descended Americans like myself can be.

Janet shares how she was affected by the works of celebrated and relevant black authors like James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Zora Neale Hurston. All three of them have jetted even higher on my reading lists.

Despite the difficulties she's faced, Janet is never maudlin. In terms of her experience and the societal issues of transgender life, she tells it like it is. She covers the very real truths of violence, sex work, and family rejection that transgender people, especially women, face. If feel as if I received an education and a new perspective from this book.

I found her story powerful and interesting to read. I do not like to critique memoirs because it feels like a judgment of the person. I could not give high marks to the book because I felt her insights were stated and restated so many times. The points are well worth emphasizing but I feel like she gained my support from the beginning and I didn't need to be constantly convinced of how hard it is to be trans in this world. Her story speaks for itself. I would recommend to anyone trying to understand the struggle.

I find it so hard to review memoirs because I feel like I'm rating the person's life or journey, and I am in no position to do that. I recently watched The Out List on Netflix, and was intrigued by the fact I had hardly heard of Janet Mock, much less knew anything about her. So I decided I owed it to her to read her book and story. And what a story it is. It took me awhile to get into it, but it made me think and realise how easy a life I've had being cis, and that I can't even begin to comprehend what trans people have gone through their entire lives. This book really made me open my eyes and forced me to recognise the struggles others have gone through and the sacrifices they've had to make.

Acclaimed memoir - Lambda Literary Award Finalist. In an accessible and deeply moving narrative, Janet Mock "relays her experiences of growing up young, multiracial, poor, and trans in America."

You might be familiar with Janet Mock. She has been a writer for People magazine (which I unapologetically read every week), and more recently has shared her story of being a trans woman of color in a feature for Marie Claire magazine. I first learned about her where I learn about many things that aren’t necessarily covered on CNN or in the New York Times: on Twitter. I’d see her comments retweeted by other people I follow, and learned about her book when it came out earlier this year. I had originally purchased Lena Dunham’s book to read this month, but exchanged it for this one because I realized I don’t really care what Lena Dunham has to say about things, but I do care what Ms. Mock has to say about things.

This book is a memoir that focuses mostly on her youth, starting with her memories as a young child in Hawaii, through moving to New York City for graduate school. Ms. Mock was assigned the gender male at birth, but never felt connected to that; she felt like a girl. Her story is fascinating, surprising, and at times heartbreaking. It can almost read like fiction, because it was difficult for me to realize that someone could experience what she did and come through it not just to survive, but to thrive.

Ms. Mock faced many disadvantages growing up, but she also recognizes that she had some things that other trans youth do not have. Early on she found her best friend Wendi, who was also trans, and helped her to not be alone at school. She is a very smart person and was able to earn a scholarship for college. Her family was supportive of her as she took more steps to make sure that her actions and appearance matched how she felt – she was not thrown out of her home when she shared her reality with her mother. That’s powerful.

Her writing about accepting who she is, and especially about what it means to be a ‘real’ woman, made a strong impression on me. This idea that we value trans people more if they ‘pass’ for cis people, or that someone is lying if they don’t share that they were assigned a different gender at birth, places cis as the center of ‘normal’ when in reality being cis is just common. This sentence, coming on the second-to-last page of the book, is one I want to embroider and hang on my wall: “We must abolish the entitlement that deludes us into believing that we have the right to make assumptions about people’s identities and project those assumptions onto their genders and bodies.” Spot on.

I should say that I’m not used to Ms. Mock’s style of writing. I’ve read loads of memoirs, but most of them are written by comedians, and thus have a very different feel. I think she finds her stride about three chapters in (although who knows in what order she wrote the book), but I nearly stopped after the first chapter because the writing was so very … descriptive. At times I felt like there was some sort of adjective word count she felt she had to hit, that I was reading a book that suffered from a lot of ‘tell not show’ sentences. It’s not the type of writing I generally like to read, but the story behind all of those words was so interesting and powerful that either I figured out a way to accept the style, or it became less prominent as the book went on. No matter – I’m very glad I stuck with it.

It was 2011 when Janet Mock, editor of People.com, came out as transgender in Marie Claire magazine. In just over 2000 words she went from being a respected editor to an influential spokesperson for the transgender community. Since then, she’s gone on to put a positive, professional face on transgender issues, appearing in the pages of everything from London Times Magazine to The Telegraph, and on such television shows as Huffington Post Live to MSNBC.

Of course, despite what seems like an overnight success, Janet’s life was not so different from any other trans woman, looking to cope with the struggle of her own identity. She talks about growing up in a world where being trans was not something you took pride in, or even talked about with anybody outside your immediate family. It was a world of dehumanizing depictions found in popular culture, usually played for laughs, for shock value, or trashy titillation.

Her story has all the hallmarks of the trans experience. She recalls being caught and scolded for wearing a dress at the age of thirteen. She remembers telling her mother that she was gay, unable at that age to separate gender identity from sexuality. With no concept of a trans identity, the idea of a thirteen year old boy becoming a girl was nothing more than a fantasy. Somehow, she still managed to express that fantasy with Wendi, who was the first to do her eyebrows and makeup, and who continues to serve as her makeup artist today.

Janet was fifteen when she told her family that she wanted to be called Janet, following that up by declaring to her teachers and classmates at school that ‘she’ was to be called ‘Janet’ and ‘she’ would be wearing dresses to class. For the most part, her acceptance at school was positive, but there were challenges, such as the chemistry teacher who continued to refer to Janet as ‘him’ and as ‘Charles’ at every opportunity, and the principal who scolded her for dress code violations.

More than anything, Janet’s story is one of triumph. She acknowledges the challenges, the disadvantages, and the issues she faced, but never dwells on them or lets them dictate her story. Instead, she constantly takes charge of her life, insisting that her mother take her to the doctor for hormone treatments, coming out to her first boyfriend, and then coming out to her estranged father with a touching, heart-felt letter and a copy of her yearbook photo. When she talks of her father writing back to tell her she “looks nice,” I’ll admit to shedding a few tears, even if he goes on to caution he’ll need time to come to terms with ‘Janet.’

There is some darkness to her tale as well, particularly surrounding her life as a prostitute, but she owns that life, owns her choices, and almost justifies them as a means to an end. She doesn’t sensationalize it, even if it does end with a Pretty Woman type proposal (which she rejects), and it is here that Janet steps outside her own story to talk about the risks of suicide, HIV, and rape.
Ultimately, Janet’s story is a journey of self-revelation, of understanding who she is inside, and of taking steps to realize that on the outside. It’s an extraordinarily emotional tale, raw and honest, but at the same time polished and profound. She doesn’t try to make herself out to be the perfect woman, and makes it very clear she never set out to be any kind of role model. Instead, Janet shares with her past, invites us to reminisce, and promises a brighter future – something to which we can all aspire.



Originally reviewed for Frock Magazine

Redefining Realness is an emotional and enjoyable read. In it Janet Mock bears her soul to the reader, showing a level of vulnerability rarely achieved in a memoir. Not only does she tell her own story of growing up as a trans girl but also provides a wealth of information about issues facing trans girls and women. Reading this book taught me that I was even more uninformed about those issues than I realized. I am thankful to Ms. Mock for standing in her truth and being willing to bear all. Her story helped me better understand the difficulties facing trans women in our society and inspired me to be vulnerable and let my true self be known.

I am blown away by this book. Janet's honesty and wisdom are something everyone should experience. I wanted to know more about the transgender community and ended up knowing more about the world. While she is telling her own story, she is reaching into our hearts and teaching us about love and the world! I have a new hero!

Redefining Realness is Janet Mock's account of growing up as a poor, multiracial trans woman in Hawaii. It's a very honest and moving account of what she went through in order to fully transition and gain the life she always wanted: a successful college graduate, she now lives in New York City with her partner. Mock writes both about her particular experiences and about the broader experiences of trans women, particular trans women of colour, and is unfailing in her insistence that being trans is only one part of anyone's identity. Who trans people are is also shaped by their ethnicity, class background, sexuality, etc. This book is an important and a necessary one.

However, the actual prose of Mock's writing is often weak, particularly in the introductory chapter. There are many clunky descriptive paragraphs, ill thought through metaphors and bits of awkward or ungrammatical syntax. It's a shame because when Mock spends more time on what she's saying rather than how she's saying it, her writing is much more direct, unaffected, and powerful.½

Mock is a great writer. She tells her story with quiet emotion, sidestepping the titillation some readers may expect. Instead, she notes the importance of creating a safe world for all marginalized people, through family, education, and culture.

Mock is a great writer. She tells her story without titillation, but with quiet emotion, and thoughtful analysis.

Janet Mock, beautiful former staff editor of People magazine, has been through a lot in her young life. Born Charles Mock into a family where both parents spent time doing drugs, kids were shuttled back and forth, older siblings raised younger ones- and sometimes sexually abused them- and everyone pretty much had to look out for themselves. Mock’s family was poor and multiracial. No one in her milieu knew about trans people, but she knew at a young age that she was a girl, and she had a strong personality that refused to back down. She dressed as a girl as much as possible and declared her new name to be ‘Janet’ when she was 15. Thankfully, her best friend was also trans, and she introduced her to the world of transpeople and the possibility of genital reconstructive surgery.

Mock is an accomplished writer and her story broke my heart. What she had to overcome to become ‘real’ was huge- the bullying, the poverty, the abuse- but her determination won over it all. She paid for all her hormones and surgery herself by being a temporary sexworker, undergoing GRS at 18 by flying, by herself, to Thailand. Despite all this, she never feel sorry for herself or makes it sound like she did anything remarkable; it was simply what she had to do. It’s a flowing narrative that didn’t allow me to put it down until I was done, and it made me glad to know that she has found herself at a place where she is ‘real’ and happy.