144 Quotes by Janet Mock

"She was not something to be tolerated. She was accepted as fact."

"Society often blurs the lines between drag queens and trans women. This is highly problematic, because many people believe that, like drag queens, trans women go home, take off their wigs and chest plates, and walk around as men. Trans womanhood is not a performance or costume. As Wendi likes to joke, “A drag queen is part-time for showtime, and a trans woman is all the time!"

"Though I would grow up to fit neatly into the binary, I believe in self-determination, autonomy, in people having the freedom to proclaim who they are and define gender for themselves. Our genders are as unique as we are. No one’s definition is the same, and compartmentalizing a person as either a boy or a girl based entirely on the appearance of genitalia at birth undercuts our complex life experiences."

"Living by other people’s definitions and perceptions shrinks us to shells of ourselves, rather than complex people embodying multiple identities."

"We have continuity in our bodies, which hold experiences that never leave us, experiences our bodies conceal so we can keep going. They hold tightly to them – until we have confidence to trust our bodies again, to loosen their grasp."

"The world’s definitions are one thing and the life one actually lives is quite another. One cannot allow oneself, nor can one’s family, friends, or lovers – to say nothing of one’s children – to live according to the world’s definitions: one must find a way, perpetually, to be stronger and better than that. – JAMES BALDWIN."

"When marginalized people gain voice and center their own experiences, things begin changing. And we see this in all kinds of grassroots movements."

"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."

"We are all part of a larger collective looking to create a more beautiful and just world."

"Curiosity is vital to the growth of our society."