There have been several talks this week, but Janet Mock’s talk was by far the most inspiring. In this short paper, I will give a brief biography of Janet Mock, discuss the talk, and give some of my thoughts/opinions.
Amy Richter introduces Janet Mock as the New York Times bestselling author of Redefining Realness and the host of a weekly MSNBC TV series about culture. After her book, she became more famous and a role model for many. Amy states that Janet’s story became well known after her appearance in 2011 Marie Claire. The TIME magazine called Mock one of “12 new faces of black leadership”. She is clearly an inspirational woman and her story is eye-opening.
Amy Richter’s first question was: “Why did you write a memoire?” Mock answers by
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Did you title the book?” Mock said how obsessed and close she is to her editor as he let her define what her work wanted to look like. He said: “Janet is leading the way here”. She didn’t want to use a typical transgender title, such as “the woman I was meant to be”. She wanted all the assets of identify on the cover and title; she wanted intersectionality and so “Redefining Realness” was chosen.
Amy also asked: “Have you been surprised by the life of the book since you wrote? Are you surprised that it’s now being taught in classrooms? Or was that always the hope?” Mock said: “I imagined a vast diverse audience that would change the world and shift conversations”. She was aware of the historic nature of the subject and knew it would be widely read/spoken about. She knew that her story was different in that a lot of stories have been told by older, white, transitional ladies; everything that she was not.
Just before I had to, unfortunately, leave, Amy asked: “Where does realness live in our popular culture?” Mock replied by saying: “There’s realness in everything” and it’s hard to be a conscious viewer. Think was a great point for me to leave on; it left my questioning a lot of