Shout Out: Redefining Realness

There are few people who can open up and tell the world the most intimate details of their life. It is a prospect that would cause most people to cringe. But Janet Mock, previous editor at People.com and author of Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More tells her story with courage, and it is courage that has led her through her whole life.

Though she was born Charles Mock, she has always been Janet and in her book, which was released on Feb. 4, Mock takes readers through her life, from the conflict in her own mind to the teasing she received as she set out to show the world who she really is.

After giving a brief description of the 2011 “Marie Claire” profile of herself that made Mock want to write her own story, she opens the book with a story most people can relate to: the idea of sharing a secret, a secret that you’re afraid a person will no longer love you for. Mock tells the story of meeting and falling for Aaron. Mock pull you in with heart touching details of their first dates and how she always thought about telling him she was trans. She abruptly ends with a cliffhanger, telling Aaron “I have to tell you something,” before jumping into the story of her life.

Mock was born in Hawaii, and spent a lot of her adolescent years there, with the exception of the years she spent living with her father in Oakland, Calif. Throughout the entirety of the book she questions people’s idea of “real,” saying that in her journey as a woman she is often confronted with what a real woman is.

It is a stigma that Mock has always fought, as people told her that as a trans woman her attractiveness made her more like a “real woman.” Mock is fighting the dehumanizing words that people throw and is trying to make the world realize the hurt that words can cause.

With the mind of a mature woman Mock looks back on her life and tells stories of a rough childhood, that had it’s moments of beauty, strength and friendship that led her to the life she leads today.

Mock admits that her story does not represent the story of all trans youth, bringing to light statistics that most trans youth are not accepted by their families and are often homeless due to rejection. A headstrong Mock said that her mother let a young Janet lead the way, never questioning that her daughter knew what was best.

From getting hormone treatments to working the streets to earn money for her gender reconstructive surgery Mock walked the path mostly on her own.

In her book Mock paves the way to deconstructing the view of trans women as “fake” or “freaks” that leads to their rejection by society. Her strength and unapologetic story telling will open the minds of readers to see the power of storytelling.

A strong advocate of words, Mock released a six part video along with “Redefining Realness” one of which is about the power of words.

Find out more about Janet Mock and Redefining Realness at ofcnow.co/mock.