Going back a year or even six months ago, Janet Mock would have been in the running for the most well-known trans person in the world. That title now indisputably belongs to Caitlyn Jenner. But given Mock’s prominence as an advocate for trans women’s rights — and her fluid pen — it was only natural to expect Mock to chime in on the groundbreaking Vanity Fair cover featuring Caitlyn Jenner. Yet Mock mostly abstained, except for a couple of tweets. The relative silence was misinterpreted — as Mock writes: “I’ve since found it necessary to write my thoughts down because my silence has been interpreted in ways I find unnecessary and harmful.”
Mock had decided not to write about Jenner because she was more committed to “writing about the things most people ignore, and because Jenner would be written about on such a major level, I felt my voice was not integral to the conversation.” Mock apparently underestimates her own influence, which is large enough that a silence seems to speak. That, in itself, is a testimony to the power of her advocacy. She does go on to satisfy the curious, explaining that she’s “excited” by Jenner’s story. “I find it fascinating,” Mock writes, “even as a trans woman, to learn about the journey of another trans woman who had taken steps to be her true self only to be pressured back into ‘the closet’ and to step out more famous than ever in her mid-60s — at a time in most women’s lives when they’re deemed invisible.” More here.
Introducing Ms. Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of @VanityFair: http://t.co/9cekkerpyF #CallMeCaitlyn #girlslikeus pic.twitter.com/OInxQRIwbY
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) June 1, 2015
