Janet Mock Quotes
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By the time I was a sophomore in high school, it had become routine for me to be sent home for wearing dresses. My mere presence in a skirt became an act of protest that would get me called out of class and into the vice principal's office.
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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.
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I hope being honest about my experiences and contextualizing them empowers young women to step into their truths, tell their own stories, and live visibly.
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When marginalized people gain voice and center their own experiences, things begin changing. And we see this in all kinds of grassroots movements.
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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.
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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.
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We must resist the pressures of others to soundbite our complicated, nuanced experiences.
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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.
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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.
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As an activist who uses storytelling to combat stigma, I have always been adamant that we tell our own stories.
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There's nothing more mundane than sitting across from a celebrity in a sterile gray conference room. But when the star sitting across from you is Taraji Penda Henson, you are being treated to a master class in the art of the hustle.
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We are all part of a larger collective looking to create a more beautiful and just world.
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The Internet has introduced me to some of my closest friends.
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I was obsessed with 'The Velvet Rope' for a year straight, letting Janet Jackson's confessional lyrics lull me to sleep and comfort me when I felt lost. I felt that the album was the vehicle onto which Janet finally expressed her full self.
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I wrote 'Redefining Realness' because not enough of our stories are being told, and I believe we need stories that reflect us so we don't feel so isolated in our apparent 'difference.'
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I just am trans. That's just the way it is. I knew this as a child. But I was told that because I expressed femininity in a boy's body, I needed to be silent about it. To be ashamed. That led to isolation, which then made it easier for me to be prey to a predator in my own home.
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We must have the audacity to turn up the frequency of our truths.
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It's great to engage with the mainstream media to get messages out, but the most empowering tool is to create records of our lives, and our own images, which are not filtered through judgements, biases, or misunderstandings.
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If we want to enlighten people or give them new thoughts and ideas, we have to be willing to do the work of educating them.
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Trans people are not a monolith.
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Throughout the day, I like to spritz my face with a rose water for extra moisture.
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In the evening, I use a cleansing oil - coconut oil also works - to remove makeup.
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I often feel failed by feminism.
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What helps me when someone puts me down or aims to offend me is to not take what they say personally. I try my best to not internalize their comments.