Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught MeRiveting, rousing, and utterly real, Surpassing Certainty is a portrait of a young woman searching for her purpose and place in the world—without a road map to guide her. The journey begins a few months before her twentieth birthday. Janet Mock is adjusting to her days as a first-generation college student at the University of Hawaii and her nights as a dancer at a strip club. Finally content in her body, she vacillates between flaunting and concealing herself as she navigates dating and disclosure, sex and intimacy, and most important, letting herself be truly seen. Under the neon lights of Club Nu, Janet meets Troy, a yeoman stationed at Pearl Harbor naval base, who becomes her first. The pleasures and perils of their union serve as a backdrop for Janet’s progression through her early twenties with all the universal growing pains—falling in and out of love, living away from home, and figuring out what she wants to do with her life. Despite her disadvantages, fueled by her dreams and inimitable drive, Janet makes her way through New York City while holding her truth close. She builds a career in the highly competitive world of magazine publishing—within the unique context of being trans, a woman, and a person of color. Long before she became one of the world’s most respected media figures and lauded leaders for equality and justice, Janet was a girl taking the time she needed to just be—to learn how to advocate for herself before becoming an advocate for others. As you witness Janet’s slow-won success and painful failures, Surpassing Certainty will embolden you, shift the way you see others, and affirm your journey in search of self. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 15 |
Section 3 | 27 |
Section 4 | 37 |
Section 5 | 53 |
Section 6 | 73 |
Section 7 | 87 |
Section 8 | 101 |
Section 11 | 151 |
Section 12 | 171 |
Section 13 | 183 |
Section 14 | 197 |
Section 15 | 211 |
Section 16 | 221 |
Section 17 | 225 |
Section 18 | 227 |
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Aaron American Idol apartment asked beauty began believe Beyoncé body Breakfast at Tiffany’s Camille Cassie Cecilio celebrate Chad cisgender club color couch couldn’t dance dancer Delucci dinner dollars door drink East Village editor experience eyes face feel felt floor friends fucking grabbed Grey’s hair hand Hawaii Hawaiian Hazel InStyle interview Janet Jared Jessica Alba Kalihi kissed knew lap dance laughed leave Lela living room looked lunch magazine Mama married master’s mother move Nary Native Hawaiian needed never night nodded Nolan Oahu person Playboy PlayStation pulled pushed roommates Safa seemed shared smile someone space Spam musubi spent stood story stripper talk tell Thanh thing thought told took trans women Troy Troy’s Waimea Bay walked wanted wasn’t watched week weekend woman wore writing York You’re young