Women You Need to Know

Janet Mock

Past Event: Wednesday, October 4, 2017

At Benaroya Hall — Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

Sponsored by Women's Funding Alliance and Pride Foundation

I am a woman. I live my life as a woman and that’s how I should be perceived. I am not passing as anything, I am being, being myself.

— Janet Mock

Redefining Realness is a riveting, emotional, crisply written testimony. I couldn’t put it down. I aspire to be as unflinchingly brave! Janet Mock’s story simultaneously embodies, complicates and subverts the concept of American exceptionalism and self-creation.

— Laverne Cox

Femininity in general is seen as frivolous. People often say … that to don a dress, heels, lipstick and big hair is artifice, fake and a distraction. But I knew even as a teenager that my femininity was more than just adornments; they were extensions of me, enabling me to express myself and my identity. My body, my clothes and my makeup are on purpose, just as I am on purpose.

— Janet Mock

Janet Mock is a writer, TV host, and transgender activist, named by TIME as one of “12 new faces of black leadership” and “one of the most influential people on the internet.”

Mock’s story of growing up trans in Hawaii published in Marie Claire in 2011 pushed her into the national spotlight. A popular speaker and the founder of the social media project #GirlsLikeUs, Mock has quickly become one of the most influential trans women and leaders in media. Mock’s first memoir, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, was a 2014 New York Times bestseller. Feminist critic bell hooks said of Mock’s debut book, “Courageous! Told with a spirit of raw honesty that moves beyond confession to redemptive revelation, this book is a life map for transformation – for changing minds.” Mock’s much anticipated second memoir, Surpassing Certainty, a portrait of her early life searching for purpose and place in the world, is set to be released in June.

Mock began her powerhouse media career at People.com. She worked as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and was a contributing editor for Marie Claire magazine. She is also a host for MSNBC where she helmed the groundbreaking series So POPular!. She will executive-produce and host MSNBC’s upcoming original series Beyond My Body to be released this year. She produced, wrote and introduced the HBO documentary The Trans List with photographer and director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

A native of Honolulu, Janet attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, earned her MA in journalism from New York University, and serves on the board of the Arcus Foundation. She lives in New York City with her husband, photographer and filmmaker Aaron Tredwell, and their cockapoo Cleo.

Event Details

Benaroya Hall — Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

200 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101

View directions.

This event will be held in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. The Recital Hall is located on the upper level of Benaroya Hall, up the stairs to the left side of the Box Office. Benaroya Hall is located at 200 University Street, directly across Second Avenue from the Seattle Art Museum.

By Car

From Southbound I-5
Take the Union Street exit (#165B). Continue onto Union Street and proceed approximately five blocks to Second Avenue. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
From Northbound I-5
Exit left onto Seneca Street (exit #165). Proceed two blocks and turn right onto Fourth Avenue. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Union Street. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
From Northbound Highway 99 (Aurora Avenue)
Take the Seneca Street exit and move into the left lane. Turn left onto First Avenue and proceed one block. Take the next right (at the Hammering Man sculpture) onto University Street. Continue up the hill two blocks to Third Avenue. Turn left onto Third Avenue. Continue to the next block and turn left onto Union Street. Make the next left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
From Southbound Highway 99 (Aurora Avenue)
Take the Denny Way/Downtown exit. Keep right and cross over Denny Way onto Wall Street. Proceed approximately five blocks and turn left onto Second Avenue. Continue south on Second Avenue approximately eight blocks. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.

By Public Transit (Bus & Light Rail)

Benaroya Hall is served by numerous bus routes. Digital reader boards along Third Avenue display real-time bus arrival information. For details and trip planning tools, call Metro Rider Information at 206.553.3000 (voice) or 206.684.1739 (TDD), or visit Metro online. The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, served by light rail, has a stop just below the Hall (Symphony Station).

Parking
The 430-car underground garage at Benaroya Hall provides direct access from the enclosed parking area into the Hall via elevators leading to The Boeing Company Gallery. Enter the garage on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street. Maximum vehicle height is 6’8″. Blink charging stations are available for electric vehicles. Visit the Benaroya Hall website for event pricing.

Parking is also available at:

The Cobb Building (enter on University Street between Third and Fourth Avenues).
The Russell Investments Center (enter on Union Street between First and Second Avenues).
There are many other garages within a one-block radius of Benaroya Hall, along with numerous on-street parking options.

Open Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where a captioning screen displaying the words that are spoken or sung is placed on stage. This option is present at every event at Benaroya Hall in our 2021/22 Season.

Closed Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where captioning displays the words that are spoken or sung at the bottom of the video during an online event. Captioning is available for all online events; click the “CC” button to view captions during the event.

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are devices that people with hearing loss use in conjunction with their hearing device (hearing aids or cochlear implants). Benaroya Hall has an infrared hearing system, which transmits sound by light beams. Headsets are available in The Boeing Company Gallery coat check and the Head Usher stations in both lobbies.

Sign Language Interpretation is available upon request for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing individuals for both in-person and online events. To make a request for interpretation, please contact us at boxoffice@lectures.org or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Sign Language Interpretation” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process and we will contact you to confirm details. Please note: we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure interpretation.

Wheelchair Accessible Seating and Accessible Restrooms are available in all sections at our venues, and our venues are fully accessible to ticket holders with physical mobility concerns. Among other features, Benaroya Hall has designated parking spaces adjacent to elevators in their parking garage. Elevators with Braille signage go to all levels within the Hall. To reserve seating for a specific mobility concern, you may select “Wheelchair Accessible or Alternative Seating Options” during ticket checkout, and we will contact you to confirm details. For more details on their accessibility features, click here.

Guide and service dogs are welcome.

Gender neutral restrooms are available.

We are pleased to offer these accessibility services at our venues, and they are provided at no additional cost to ticket holders. Please contact us with any questions and feedback about how we can be more accessible and inclusive. Our Patron Services Manager is available at boxoffice@lectures.org, or Monday-Friday from 10:00am – 5:00pm at 206.621.2230×10.

For more accessibility information, please head to lectures.org/accessibility. If you would like to make accessibility arrangements you do not see listed here, please contact our box office or select “Other Accommodations” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process, and we will contact you to confirm details.

Seating Chart