To describe Janet Mock as a trailblazer would be an understatement. Over the last decade Janet has gone from relative anonymity to being one of the most sought after celebrities in popular culture. While being classically beautiful, Janet’s overwhelming intelligence and poise while attacking oppressive social constructs is impressive and beyond admirable.
Janet Mock was born Charles Mock on March 10, 1983, in Honolulu Hawaii, the third of five children between two parents of drastically different backgrounds. Janet’s father is African American, in the navy and quite complex. Her mother was multi-racial and worked in Honolulu during her relationship. Janet describes their relationship as “messy”, stating that they both suffered from addiction and codependency issues. They split when Janet was three.

California Nightmare

Janet’s mother decided that Janet and her brother needed a more masculine, strict influence so she sent them to live with their father in Oakland, California. During this time Janet could not help but express her gender identity which led to tension and conflicts with her father. Like many male figures in contemporary society, Janet’s father felt a huge amount of shame and frustration with her due to the stigma around non binary or transgendered people. This was also exacerbated by hyper masculine military culture. The breaking point came when her father discovered that she had been using a female alter ago named “Keisha” and he forced her to shave off her hair. The shaving of hair has been a go to tactic that oppressors have used to humilate and shame the people that they wish to oppress. We saw this in Andrew Johnson case with being forced to publicy cut his dreads in order to wrestle in a tournament after…having dreads the entire season.

Shortly after this ordeal Janet’s godfather realized the harsh conditions in which Janet was being raised in and contacted her mother. She states in a New Yorker interview that, “I think my godfather, who was my father’s Navy buddy, came to visit us and saw how we were living. And he contacted my mother, and my auntie Joyce did, as well. She found her in the phone book—I know, very old-school. And they called her up. And I remember O.J. was being chased in the Bronco. The moment when I talked to my mom and I was on the phone with her, as this madness was going on on television, and everyone else was paying attention to this, but the greatest headline in my life was that my mom was reconnected and talking to me and saying, “I’m going to come and send for you all.”

Janet and her brother moved back to Hawaii when she was 12 which marked a huge turning point in her life. In Hawaii there was much more relaxed culture around transgendered and non binary people. There was even a term that native Hawaiins used to describe a third gender and that was Mahu. That was the first term that was thrown at her by a young girl that would quickly change her life.

That young girl’s name is Wendi and she was influential in providing the catalyst that Janet needed to thrive. Wendi was also transgendered and proudly flaunted her identity at a very young age. Being raised by her grandparents who took a very hands off approach, Wendi was allowed the freedom to wear the female clothes and makeup that she wanted to as a young teenage girl. In acquiring a friendship with Wendi, Janet also had access to that freedom. Through Wendi she was able to fully embrace her female identity without scorn or persecution. Wendi also introduced Janet to estrogen hormone pills which she took regardless of the risk.

By her freshman year of high school she was regularly and often wearing female clothes. Her mother has grown more supportive over the years, eventually signing off on official hormone replacement therapy. She battled society to affirm her identity as female fiercely until she turned 18, by then she had acquired the funds to afford a sex reassignment surgery.

At 18, she went to Thailand for 10 days for the surgery. Two weeks later she was at the University of Hawaii completing her introductory courses for her degree in fashion. After graduating from the University of Hawaii, she moved to New York to pursue a Masters in Journalism.

Being as ambitious and intelligent as she is, the challenge was easily accomplished, she graduated from NYU with a Masters in Journalism in 2006. Janet’s upward trajectory continued, landing a job as an editor at People magazine immediately after graduating. She worked relatively under the radar as a staff editor but 2011 had different plans for Ms.Mock.

Janet’s Re-birth

Marie Claire published the story, I was born a boy which was Mock’s version of coming out. Using the voice of Janet but written by Kierna Mayo the story went viral very quickly. During this time the public and the media were expressing a growing interest in transgendered issues and Janet has the perfect face, smile, and voice to bring awareness to these complex issues.

In this piece, she writes her reasoning for telling her story, “I never wanted to be the poster child for transsexuals — pre-op, post-op, or no op. But the recent stories about kids who have killed themselves because of the secrets they were forced to keep has shifted something in me.”

The years following the publication of this interviews have been tremendously active for Mock. In 2013 she was a part of the groundbreaking HBO series “The Out List” which features prominent members of the LGBTQ community. In 2014 she published her first book, “Redefining Realness” which gave readers an introspective view of Mock’s early life and a good amount of critical gender theory. In 2016, Mock produced her own HBO special, “The Trans List” which featured fascinating stories of transgendered people from all walks of life. In 2017 Mock published her second book “Surpassing Certainty” which delved into her journey into adulthood and the challenges she faces as a well known figure in the trans rights movement. In 2018, Mock was tapped by producer/director Ryan Murphy to be apart of a developing show named Pose. Pose follows the lives of five transgendered people in 1980’s NYC. They are battling both social stigma, marginalization, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Pose was an immediate success winning an Emmy in Outstanding Drama Series in 2019.

Janet has always used her platform to advance transgendered issues. In her 2017 Women’s March Speech she proclaims, “ My sisters and siblings are being beaten and brutalized, neglected and invisiblized. My sisters and siblings have been pushed out of hostile homes, intolerant schools. My sisters and siblings have been force into detention facilities and prisons and deeper into poverty. I hold these harsh truths close, they enrage me and fuel me.”

Janet Mock is a national treasure. The hard work she has done as role model and representative of the trans female community can not be understated. For trans women to look up and see a powerful, beautiful, intelligent woman that struggled like they did and survived is powerful. The legacy Janet is leaving is powerful and I will cherish it.