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“A courageous and poetic testimony on family and the self, and the learning and unlearning we must do for those we love.”—Janet Mock
In 2009, Jodie Patterson, mother of five and beauty entrepreneur, has her world turned upside down when her determined toddler, Penelope, reveals, “Mama, I’m not a girl. I am a boy.” The Pattersons are a tribe of unapologetic Black matriarchs, scholars, financiers, Southern activists, artists, musicians, and disruptors, but with Penelope’s revelation, Jodie realizes her existing definition of family isn’t wide enough for her child’s needs.
In The Bold World, we witness Patterson reshaping her own attitudes, beliefs, and biases, learning from her children, and a whole new community, how to meet the needs of her transgender son. In doing so, she opens the minds of those who raised and fortified her, all the while challenging cultural norms and gender expectations. Patterson finds that the fight for racial equality in which her ancestors were so prominent helped pave the way for the current gender revolution.
From Georgia to South Carolina, Ghana to Brooklyn, Patterson learns to remove the division between me and you, us and them, straight and queer—and she reminds us to celebrate her uncle Gil Scott Heron’s prophecy that the revolution will not be televised. It will happen deeply, unequivocally, inside each and every one of us. Transition, we learn, doesn’t just belong to the transgender person. Transition, for the sake of knowing more and becoming more, is the responsibility of and gift to all.
The Bold World is the result, an intimate and exquisite story of authenticity, courage, and love.
Praise for The Bold World
“In The Bold World, Jodie Patterson makes a case for respecting everyone’s gender identity by way of showing how she came to accept her son, Penelope. In tying that struggle to the struggle for race rights in this country during her own childhood, she paints a vivid picture of the permanent work of social justice.”—Andrew Solomon, bestselling author of The Noonday Demon and Far from the Tree
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 29, 2019 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780525526339
- File size: 291616 KB
- Duration: 10:07:31
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Author-narrator Jodie Patterson, who is a social activist and entrepreneur, shares her relatable struggle to find a harmonious balance of self, family life, and career. Her conversational style engages listeners with her account of her formative New York City childhood and undergraduate years at Spelman College. Patterson's love and respect for her family are at the heart of her expansive and thoughtful ruminations on the personal courage required to live authentically in a world with divisive attitudes toward identity, particularly race and gender. Her desire to foster positive change for all children, including her transgender son, manifests in her advocacy for LGTBQI rights and educational opportunities for underserved youth. The author's candor about her imperfections and challenges offers inspiration for anyone awaiting personal perfection before working to to make a difference. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine -
October 1, 2018
Patterson leaves no emotional stone unturned in her powerful chronicle of her experiences being the mother of a transgender child. Patterson, an activist and former magazine ad executive who grew up in 1970s New York City, was already mother to a daughter, Georgia, and a son, Cassius, when Penelope was born in 2009. Almost from the start, Penelope was constantly angry, and then, as a three-year-old, told Patterson, “Mama, I’m not a girl. I’m a boy.” While Penelope’s mother, father, and siblings—a brood that grew to include two additional brothers—accepted him without question, neither Patterson nor Penelope were exempted from thoughtlessness and intolerance of others. “The story of trans people, to me, was shaping up to be very similar to the story of Black people,” Patterson observes. “Stories in which some have tried to rewrite people’s identities to serve their own needs.” A pleasant surprise came when they explained to Penelope’s religious Ghanaian grandfather, to refer to Penelope as “he”: “Ayy! It’s no problem at all! In my language of Twi, Jodie, we don’t use gender pronouns,” he replied. Patterson’s raw tour de force illustrates the strength of a loving and determined mother.
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