It's very difficult to become a woman when your mother won't relinquish her place. It's something I have noticed with my teenage patients.

You'd be surprised how difficult it is relinquish a cell phone.

Only choose in marriage a woman whom you would choose as a friend if she were a man

What we are looking for is a new way of being seen. The desired effect is a narcissistic gain, a boost to stimulate our self-image. This exterior vision of ourselves is reminiscent of the way we were first looked at by our parents. This is the base on which our personality is constructed.

If we say to them, because you tell us what you wear has no importance, tomorrow you will wear bright green trousers and a yellow jacket, they are usually horrified and reply that it's out of the question.

I don't see a white woman. I see a black woman, even though my mother is white [her father Jerome is black]. Knowing that has made my life easier, I think.