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Alok Vaid-Menon



Alok Vaid-Menon (stage name ALOK) is a gender non-conforming, transfeminine American public speaker, poet, activist pioneer within the transgender and nonbinary communities. They have gained international recognition through their spoken word poetry, fashion design, and mixed media performances, affording viewers a glimpse into the reality of trans life, with the intent of generating more compassion in the world.

Alok Vaid-Menon
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Beyond the Gender Binary

Pocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today’s leading activists and artists. In this installment, Beyond the Gender Binary, Alok Vaid-Menon challenges the world to see gender not in black and white, but in full color.

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01:07:09

Alok Vaid-Menon Keynote ~ LISTEN Conference 2016

LISTEN Conference 2016: Feminist Futures was a three-day feminist music conference featuring keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops and live performances.

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‘Perhaps Life Would Be Easier if I Shaved, But Why?’

When I told my family I was trans, one of their initial reactions was, “But you’re so hairy! It’s going to be so difficult to remove all your hair to be a woman, so you should just give up.” They were zeroing in on my body hair as the barrier for me to be seen as feminine.

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FindCenter Quotes ImageWho are you outside of what you’ve been told you should be?

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18:00

We Are Nothing (and That Is Beautiful): Alok Vaid-Menon at TEDxMiddlebury

Alok Vaid-Menon discusses the relationship between success and the status quo in this TEDxMiddlebury talk. They draw upon experiences at Stanford and beyond and perform spoken word poetry.

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Alok Vaid-Menon: ‘It’s Time for a New Beauty Paradigm’

One of life’s paradoxes is that we are encouraged to “be ourselves,” but are often punished when we do.

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14:49

Alok Vaid-Menon Exists Outside of Your Heteronormative Gender Binary

Alok Vaid-Menon is a trans-feminine Indian-American poet and one half of the performance art duo Dark Matter. Through sharing Alok’s post with your friends and loved ones, spread the message that gender is not about what body parts you do or don’t have, it’s about who you are at your core.

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FindCenter Quotes ImageIt must be exhausting to feel as if your worth comes from winnowing yourself down to other people’s opinions of who you should be.

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05:43

Alok Vaid-Menon - Bible Belt

Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry. We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community.

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‘Are You Ready to Heal?’: Nonbinary Activist Alok Vaid-Menon Deconstructs Gender

In a viral clip from the podcast “Man Enough,” the nonbinary poet and speaker said the gender binary hurts everyone—not just trans people.

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