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Redefining Realness

My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
New York Times Bestseller
  • Winner of the 2015 WOMEN'S WAY Book Prize
  • Goodreads Best of 2014 Semi-Finalist
  • Books for a Better Life Award Finalist
  • Lambda Literary Award Finalist
  • Time Magazine "30 Most Influential People on the Internet"
  • American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book

    In her profound and courageous New York Times bestseller, Janet Mock establishes herself as a resounding and inspirational voice for the transgender community—and anyone fighting to define themselves on their own terms.

    With unflinching honesty and moving prose, Janet Mock relays her experiences of growing up young, multiracial, poor, and trans in America, offering readers accessible language while imparting vital insight about the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of a marginalized and misunderstood population. Though undoubtedly an account of one woman's quest for self at all costs, Redefining Realness is a powerful vision of possibility and self-realization, pushing us all toward greater acceptance of one another—and of ourselves—showing as never before how to be unapologetic and real.
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      • Publisher's Weekly

        December 9, 2013
        A noble effort at transcending genre conventions ultimately redeems activist Mock’s memoir from the ill-fitting prose that undermines early chapters. The author grows more comfortable and confident with the confessional medium as the book progresses, taking readers through the life of a biracial trans woman growing up in Honolulu. Of the book’s many strengths, the most notable is its political bite. Mock defies the historically apolitical confines of the transgender memoir, and draws bright lines connecting her experiences to the larger realm of social justice, with a keen political eye that uses her individual experience to elucidate the wider condition of trans women of color in the U.S. Her vivid prose arouses every sense, wrenching emotion from the reader as she describes her experiences with sexual assault, bullying, abuse, and sex work on the streets of Honolulu. Although the book is ostensibly one woman’s coming-of-age story, Mock fulfills grander purposes here; in coming to terms with her own difficult journey she also uses that experience didactically, as if to take the uninitiated, non-transgender reader with her, most certainly achieving “realness.”

      • Library Journal

        February 15, 2014

        According to Mock (and based on a 2006 report by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and the National Coalition for the Homeless), as many as 40 percent of the estimated 1.6 million homeless and runaway American youth are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual. Writer, editor (People.com), activist, and self-described trans woman Mock pens a poignant memoir that shakes up the prevailing rigid belief system regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Her story illustrates the stigma, discrimination, and violence that too often target those who don't neatly conform to society's heteronormative standards. While she eventually finds resolution and happiness, her journey to self-revelation is complicated, and she neither romanticizes nor attempts to simplify her personal narrative. She tells with unflinching honesty the story of her involvement with the sex trades in order to pay for genital reconstructive surgery, but she is able to recognize, with compassion, the lack of choices she and others truly have faced. VERDICT Mock points out that trans people are more likely than others to struggle with depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, substance abuse, and self-harming behaviors. In her desire to advocate for them, she has written a book that is both intelligent and educational. Recommended for lovers of memoirs and for readers with a sincere interest in the subject matter.--Linda F. Petty, Wimberley, TX

        Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • Library Journal

        June 1, 2016

        Activist and trans woman Mock describes her difficult childhood as a multiracial child in Hawaii who transitioned while still in her teens. Mock neatly explains basic transgender terms and concepts, making this title especially valuable and important. (LJ 2/15/14)

        Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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