Her Body, Her Self
From the archives: How a poet made the transition from man to woman
Joy Ladin is a poet and a professor of English at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. For most of her life, though, she was a man named Jay, and her biological sex was a source of deep unhappiness. And so three years ago, Jay decided to start the process of becoming a woman. His marriage fell apart, and he worried about how the world would receive him after he became a woman. In this podcast from our archives, Joy Ladin spoke with Vox Tablet host Sara Ivry about her decision to transition genders, her relationship to God, and the reaction from her Orthodox students.
Joy Ladin’s third book of poetry, Transmigration, was published last month by Sheep Meadow Press.
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