Summary Of Redefining Realness, By Janet Mock

Janet Mock gives the world a piece of refreshing honesty in her novel, Redefining Realness, relaying her experiences of growing up young, multiracial, poor, and transgender in America. This literary work provides insight to the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of a marginalized and misunderstood population. The American and even LGBT community (lesbian/gay/bisexual) often disregard the struggles of transgender women and men. As a result they are not treated as an equal people; their preferred gender pronouns are conveniently dropped in favor of forms of misidentification, they become subject to imposing interrogations about categories of sex organs and sex practice instead of appreciating questions discussing gender expression experienced by transgender individuals, and they become the topic of jokes and victims of violence. These terrors prove we live in a hegemonic culture

Mock, like other trans women of color, had to take steps to accomplish her goals that even compromised her integrity. In the early part of her journey when she first began to openly express [her] femininity a lot of help was received from her friend Wendi who helped her access the hormones that would help her become more fully herself until Mock was able to get her own prescription. Mock also reveals later on that even though she was a high school honor student, a class representative, and someone who wanted to do bigger, better things she ended up working as a prostitute to help pay for her surgery. “The procedure made me no longer feel as self-conscious about my body, which made me more confident and helped me to be more completely myself. Like hormones, it enabled me to more fully inhabit my most authentic self” (Mock). This quote proves transgender people will even resort to illegal measures to live their truth and seek reconciliation with ones