Denise DuBois - Self-Made Woman

2017, Denise DuBois, English,

"Denise DuBois’s transformation into a woman wasn’t easy. Born as a boy into a working-class Polish American Milwaukee family, she faced daunting hurdles: a domineering father, a gritty 1960s neighborhood with no understanding of gender nonconformity, trouble in school, and a childhood so haunted by deprivation that neckbone soup was a staple. Terrified of revealing her inner self, DuBois lurched through alcoholism, drug dealing and addiction, car crashes, dangerous sex, and prison time."

In 2017, I interviewed Denise and this is what she told me about the book: "I hesitated for a number of years before deciding to pen it. I was afraid to step out into the public eye and tell the brutally honest, no holds barred, the story of my life.

After transitioning in November of 2003, just one month shy of my 50th birthday, all I wanted to do was melt back into society. But, as time drifted by and I became acutely aware of the struggle going on all around me in society that was color blind to the transgender movement to be accepted, how could I just sit back and do nothing? No, my story had to be told."

"I ran away from my true self for decades and I numbed myself with all the substances you just mentioned in an effort to forget. In the end, my true self caught up with myself. Your shadow in the sun is always with you! Remember that is my sage advice, and spare yourself the agony of what I endured. Accept yourself sooner than later, and your life will become better. You deserve this for the both of you, inside you! Take care of yourself, learn to accept and love yourself, and share your joy with humanity. "

Available via selfmadewomanbook.com

and The Heroines of My Life