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I grew up at a time in Hawaii where there were trans women around, so there were visible role models for me. At the same time, as a low-income trans girl of color, there were so many things that I didn't have access to. I didn't have access to a great education. I didn't have access to affordable healthcare.
Janet Mock -
As a visible and outspoken trans woman myself, I know that it's rare not to have your trans-ness lead the way for you in public spaces.
Janet Mock
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Women are so policed and devalued and dehumanized when it comes to the work they do.
Janet Mock -
Any woman's right to self-identify is a personal freedom I fight for, and those women who claim trans women are not women are perpetuators of gender-based oppression, and all feminists should be upset and moved to action against this.
Janet Mock -
One musical that deeply influenced me - and continues to do so - is the 1997 ABC TV movie of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella,' starring Brandy, with Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother and Whoopi Goldberg as the prince's mom.
Janet Mock -
My body, my clothes, and my makeup are on purpose, just as I am on purpose.
Janet Mock -
I knew very early on that I was not pretty. No one ever called me pretty. It was not the go-to adjective people used to describe me.
Janet Mock -
On my road to self-discovery, only certain terms were available - I didn't use 'trans' or 'transgender' until junior high school, but I was living as trans much earlier.
Janet Mock
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My parents split before my fifth birthday, and I moved with Mom and my three siblings to her native Oahu.
Janet Mock -
The transgender community has always been a part of Hawaiian society, where people who don't conform to the binary system of man/woman, masculine/feminine are accepted or, at minimum, tolerated.
Janet Mock -
Our differences are what make us great. Let us think about how we can extend this appreciation to people of color, undocumented immigrants, and other members of the community.
Janet Mock -
As someone who wasn't heavily supported or resourced as a young person when I was going through the hardest times of my life, I'm used to operating outside of systems. The trans movement has always been that way.
Janet Mock -
I would advise any 17-year-old to surround yourself with people who listen to you, nod when you speak, and smile when you enter spaces.
Janet Mock -
Media gatekeepers - editors, publishers, film studios and the like - need to begin investing in talent behind the scenes, developing and resourcing marginalized voices to tell their own stories. At the end of the day, it's about the story and what will enable the audience to truly see, understand, and know the life and times of the subject.
Janet Mock
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I know intimately the struggle of trying to live your life and be yourself while feeling the pressure of an entire community on your shoulders.
Janet Mock -
I don't feel as if I'm typecast - like any writer, the difficulty is that one facet of my identity becomes louder, obscuring the fact that I'm also a woman, a writer, a lover of pop culture and other things.
Janet Mock -
I'm an island girl, so I love super bronzy skin!
Janet Mock -
We need space to discuss unspoken, uncomfortable dark truths.
Janet Mock -
If I'm watching 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta,' there's a part of that that's just escapism. I'm not watching it with a political lens, but there is a part of me that certain things trigger and pull up, where I'm like, 'Oh, that was really problematic.'
Janet Mock -
There's power in naming yourself, in proclaiming to the world that this is who you are. Wielding this power is often a difficult step for many transgender people because it's also a very visible one.
Janet Mock
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As an activist who uses storytelling to combat stigma, I have always been adamant that we tell our own stories.
Janet Mock -
When marginalized people gain voice and center their own experiences, things begin changing. And we see this in all kinds of grassroots movements.
Janet Mock -
A staple in my makeup bag is Black Opal's True Color Skin Perfecting Stick Foundation, which offers a range of colors with many undertones.
Janet Mock -
When you hear anyone policing the bodies of trans women, misgendering and othering us, and violently exiling us from spaces, you should not dismiss it as a trans issue that trans women should speak out against. You should be engaged in the dialogue, discourse, and activism that challenges the very fibers of your movement.
Janet Mock