|
549a444
|
Self-definition has been a responsibility I've wholeheartedly taken on as mine. It's never a duty one should outsource. Of this responsibility, writer and poet Audre Lorde said, "If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." Self-definition and self-determination is about the many varied decisions that we make to compose and journey toward ourselves, about the audacity and s..
|
|
|
Janet Mock |
|
c01880d
|
When I think of identity, I think of our bodies and souls and the influences of family, culture, and community - the ingredients that make us. James Baldwin describes identity as "the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self." The garment should be worn "loose," he says, so we can always feel our nakedness. "This trust in one's nakedness is all that gives one the power to change one's robes." I'm still journeying toward that ..
|
|
|
Janet Mock |
|
fd9b89a
|
When I was younger, I remember taking pride in people's well-meaning remarks: "You're so lucky that no one would ever know!" or "You don't even look like a guy!" or "Wow! You're prettier than most 'natural' women!" They were all backhanded compliments, acknowledging my beauty while also invalidating my identity as a woman. To this day, I'm told in subtle and obvious ways that I am not "real," meaning that I am not, nor will I ever be, a cis..
|
|
|
Janet Mock |