Irreversible Damage
by Abigail Shrier · first published 2020
21% recommend67% neutral13% critical
Why HN recommends it
Investigative journalism on the rise of transgender care for teenage girls, praised as well-reported and useful for anyone wanting to understand the debate, even recommended by some who disagree with its conclusions.
Common criticism: Critics call it culture-war work and dispute its portrayal of gender-affirming care.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The "trans" epidemic sweeping teenage girls. Until just a few years ago, gender dysphoria -- severe discomfort in one's biological sex -- was vanishingly rare. It was typically found in less than .01 percent of the population, emerged in early childhood, and afflicted males almost exclusively. But today whole groups of female friends in colleges, high schools, and even middle schools across the country are coming out as "transgender." These are girls who had never experienced any discomfort in their biological sex until they heard a coming-out story from a speaker at a school assembly or disco
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Abigail Shrier's recent book Irreversible Damage explores this question. I highly recommend it.
on “Rival weightlifter speaks out on transgender Hubbard's Olympic place” ↗Not endorsing it per-se or suggesting it should be accepted wholesale but good reading on this is _ Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters_ https://www.amazon.com/Irreversible-Damage-Transgender-Seduc...
on “A backlash against gender ideology is starting in universities” ↗…advocating for this. No true Scotsman is transgender, either. > This is the subject of conservative misinformation[1]. It’s also the subject of high quality investigative reporting: https://www.amazon.com/Irreversible-Damage-Transgender-Seduc... > Children cannot get irreversible surgery in the US. They may be given puberty blockers, which are completely reversible The effect of delaying puberty until adulthood is irreversible…
The book describing this phenomenon came out two years ago, and was called one of the best books of the year by the Economist and the London Times: https://www.amazon.com/Irreversible-Damage-Transgender-Seduc...
on “'An explosion': what's behind a rise in girls questioning their gender identity?” ↗You may want to buy the acclaimed books "Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters" and "The end of gender" before Amazon virtually burns them.
on “Amazon will not sell books that 'frame sexual identity as mental illness'” ↗He had Abigail Shrier as a guest to promote her book called Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, so that's kind of a bright line?
on “Spotify reportedly fighting with employees about hosting episodes of Joe Rogan” ↗…understand what's going on in our schools and with our children before we smear people with this "transphobia" neologism, because it's not productive nor conducive to discussion. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Irreversible-Damage-Transgender-Seduc...
…1000% among young girls except for it being a mental craze, with all the encouragement and support among themselves, in social media, and among the school administrators. [1] [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Irreversible-Damage-Transgender-Seduc...
on “‘Gay furries’ group hacks agencies in US states attacking gender-affirming care” ↗This WSJ opinion article concerns the ban of a book titled "When Harry Became Sally", which is critical of sex-change procedures in children. Another similar incident was the ban of Abigail Shrier's "Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters" from Target at the behest of activists on Twitter. That ban was later reversed, but it was followed up quickly by a ban of a different book on similar topics,…
on “Tech Censorship Is Accelerating” ↗…objectives. Here's a fun one: https://winteryknight.com/2020/11/16/target-bans-book-critic... "An official Target company Twitter account announced Thursday they had removed author Abigail Shrier’s book, “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters” from the retailer’s “assortment” after an unverified Twitter user complained the book questions transgender ideology, especially the concept of irreversible…
> categorically false Sadly, true. Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria as described in Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier. It's a social contagion. Over 95% of transgender children, left to themselves, desist. Many realize they're gay/lesbian, the others are just fine too. > schoolteachers can prescribe…
on “Starting a food co-op: Year 1” ↗In case you want to help the Streisand effect kick in, the main book they are protesting seems to be "Irreversible Damage" by Abigail Shrier.
on “Amazon employees protesting sale of books” ↗…educators choose to restrict as "banned". In my local library system, it's almost impossible to find copies of books with a heterodox perspective on controversial issues, for example Abigail Shrier's book Irreversible Damage. Of course that isn't "banned", it was just an internal decision not to purchase it...
…widely available in local bookstores and presented in schools whenever other material related to minority sexual and gender identity is discussed, I will gladly change my mind. https://www.amazon.com/Irreversible-Damage-Transgender-Seduc...
on “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools” ↗For one example, Abigail Shrier's book "Irreversible Damage" covers the mental health crisis amongst girls identifying as transgender. An excerpt from the section "Trans as an intersectional shield": > "“Of all of these badges of victim status, the only one…
on “Refusing to teach kids math will not improve equity” ↗