In her new book, Abigail Schreier talks about the harm the transgender movement does to girls. The author has already been accused of transphobia, and Amazon has refused to launch an advertisement for her book. Meanwhile, the book "Irreversible Harm" cannot be called a boring ideological opus. It is not only a study, but a collection of heartbreaking interviews and stories.
In 2014, Time magazine featured a photo of transgender actress Laverne Cox on the cover of one of its issues, with the caption “Tipping Point for Transgender People”. In 2015, CNN announced the official arrival of our "transgender moment." In June of that year, a Vanity Fair cover photo of Caitlyn Jenner cemented this success. Be that as it may, the era of transgender people has arrived.
If 2015 did indeed bring the aforementioned "transgender moment", then Abigail Shrier's new book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, was published in June by Regnery, is a much-needed "financial statement". Schreier's book seems to be the very book that we will refer to for many years to come, amazed at the accuracy of its predictions and prophetic warnings. Given the aggression and pernicious atmosphere that surrounds the transgender debate, it took Schreier a lot of courage to write and publish this book. She has already been accused of transphobia, and Amazon has refused to launch an advertisement for her book. Meanwhile, the book "Irreversible Harm" cannot be called a boring ideological opus. It is a balanced and ruthless assessment of the harm that the transgender movement has done to the younger generation in an incredibly short period of time.
When Schreier uses the term "mania," she uses it in its scientific sense. Rapidly developing gender dysphoria is what Dr. Lisa Littman calls a “social contagious disease,” and it affects young girls primarily. Until recently, only 0.02-0.03% of girls in the United States identified themselves as transgender. Now their share is 2%, and, as Schreier told me, she believes that the number of such girls has grown thousands of times. (In the United Kingdom, the number of girls calling themselves transgender has grown by 4,000%.) Previously, men were more often called transgender, but now that has changed. In 2016, for example, in the United States, 46% of gender reassignment surgeries were performed on girls. A year later, this figure rose to 70%.
In her highly criticized 2018 study, Parent reports of adolescents and young adults perceived to show signs of a rapid onset of gender dysphoria, Schreier found that 70 percent of these adolescents interacted with peers in companies in which there was at least one transgender who openly declared their characteristics, and that a third of these adolescents had not previously shown any signs of gender dysphoria. Despite statements by trans activists that this attitude of parents towards the situation is a direct consequence of their "transphobia", 85 percent of parents who took part in the study said that they support the LGBT movement. However, for the fact that parents ask questions,asking their daughters to delay puberty-blocking drugs and surgery, they are the targets of harsh criticism from trans activists who call them vicious fanatics.
Schreier's interviews with parents of transgender children are truly heartbreaking. Many parents say that the Internet has become the source of their children's interest in the topic of transgender - according to the results of Littman's research, 65 percent of girls learned about transgender from social networks. Popular social media “seducers” urge girls to “cut off” parents who question their new gender identity. These influential trans activists convince teenagers that such parents are "toxic" and "dangerous" and that they are more likely to instill suicidal thoughts in their children. YouTube stars transgender people convince teenagers that such parents can be replaced by “your brilliant family” on the Internet.
Influential transgender people tend to be young and extremely charismatic people who shoot video tutorials and maintain vlogs that get hundreds of thousands of views. Schreier notes a coherent series of mantras: if you think you might be trans, then you are; bandages (special compression bandages that allow a woman's breasts to appear flat - "masculine") are a great way to try yourself in a new way; if your parents really loved you, they would support you; if you do not get support, you may commit suicide; cheating on doctors is okay if it helps you change your gender. Influential transgender bloggers help girls buy special bandages, explain what doctors and psychotherapists need to be told to be recognized as transgender,and describe the testosterone regimen. About 6,000 videos can be found online that explain how to administer testosterone, and viewers are assured that this is an amazing experience.
While trans-activists claim that puberty blockers are safe, the evidence Schreier cites suggests otherwise. Puberty blockers affect brain development, reduce bone density, and slow growth. They can prevent the user from reaching their IQ peak, disrupt sexual function, cause blood clots, increase the risk of heart attack fivefold, increase the risk of diabetes, blood clots and cancer, and cause vaginal atrophy. They also negatively affect the natural development of the genitals. As a result of a short course of testosterone, girls' clitoris can grow to the size of a mini-carrot. After a few months of taking testosterone, girls begin to grow body hair and beards, their voice becomes lower,and sometimes they develop male pattern baldness. The nose becomes more rounded, the jaw is square, the muscles more pronounced. Sex becomes more painful, and sometimes even impossible. And some of these changes are irreversible: even if a girl stops taking testosterone, her body and facial hair will most likely not go anywhere - as will an enlarged clitoris.
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Bandages that girls use to tighten their breasts can cause back pain, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and cracked ribs. Wearing them all the time can also "permanently damage the tissues, making the breasts look flat and wrinkled, like a deflated ball." And if the girl decides to have a double mastectomy, the damage will be irreversible. Although Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy of the Center for Transyouth Health has said more than once that “if you want to have breasts later, you can go and get one for yourself,” things are a little different. Of course, you can have surgery and breast implants, but you can never restore erogenous zones and breastfeeding function - all this will disappear forever. Approximately 36% of biological women who consider themselves men have mastectomy, and 61% of these women want to have it. Fortunately, relatively few girls want to undergo “under-surgery” or phalloplasty.
Often, teens start getting puberty blockers before they are legally allowed to drink alcohol, smoke, drive a car, or vote. Infertility and deformities are often the result.
The spread of transgender mania is facilitated by public schools, where children are taught gender ideology. In his book, Schreier quotes from the brochure Who Are You? The Kid's Guide to Gender Identity, published by the California Board of Education: Babies can't talk, so adults have to guess by looking at their bodies. This is the gender that is attributed at birth - male or female. " In short: "You are who you say you are because YOU know best." The father or mother cannot know this, and parents are not informed in principle if their children call themselves transgender or want to change their sex. Fifth grade teacher C. Scott Miller said to Schreier, "Parents come and say, 'I don't want my child to be called that."It's very nice, but they lost their parental rights the moment their children were enrolled in public school.” In schools, children are taught that they can be whatever gender they want. It is no coincidence that the only option that is not actively promoted is cisgender.
The consequences of all this are already showing. Schreier spoke with respected psychotherapists, academics and experts who were expelled from their realms by the efforts of vengeful trans activists who accused them of contributing to suicidal ideation in transgender children. Schreier also spoke with those who over time realized that their gender dysphoria did not really explain their dissatisfaction with their bodies (which is very common in teenage girls, as Schreier notes) or their psychological problems. The transgender movement often simply turns its back on such people and tries to denigrate them, and sometimes even claims that they do not exist at all. If you give up being trans, trans activists boldly explain, then you have never been trans. That is, real transgender people never give up their gender identity. But in reality, many girls, through their experience, bring to life a terrible scenario, which Schreier describes in eerie detail. One day, as Schreier writes, many girls wake up in the morning - already without breasts and without a womb - and ask themselves: “I was just a teenager. As a child. Why didn't anyone stop me?"
As terrifying as Schreier's narrative is, she leaves her readers with some hope. There are many things parents can do to protect their daughters. It is imperative that parents take this “transgender mania” very seriously, she said. She advises parents of transgender children to find support groups where they can meet other parents who have the same problem. She advises parents not to give their children smartphones and to resist gender ideology seeping into their daughters' learning. First of all, she writes, it is imperative that parents regain their parental authority and stop unconditionally supporting these newfangled trends. Adults have obligations to children - and now this is more relevant than ever. Maybe,drastic measures will have to be taken - Schreier cites the example of parents who had to move to separate their daughters from the toxic influences of their peers and supportive schools. Schreier also writes that we need to stop pathologizing "girlhood." All girls are different, and puberty is difficult to bear. But this is not at all a disease that needs to be treated. Schreier writes that being a girl is great, and an ideology based on outdated gender stereotypes that feminists have recently wanted to do away with should not turn into a path to drugs, mastectomies, and a desperate quest to stop being a girl.that we need to stop pathologizing "girlhood". All girls are different, and puberty is difficult to bear. But this is not at all a disease that needs to be treated. Schreier writes that being a girl is great, and an ideology based on outdated gender stereotypes that feminists have recently wanted to do away with should not turn into a path to drugs, mastectomies, and a desperate quest to stop being a girl.that we need to stop pathologizing "girlhood". All girls are different, and puberty is difficult to bear. But this is not at all a disease that needs to be treated. Schreier writes that being a girl is great, and an ideology based on outdated gender stereotypes that feminists have recently wanted to do away with should not turn into a path to drugs, mastectomies, and a desperate quest to stop being a girl.mastectomies and a desperate desire to stop being a girl.mastectomies and a desperate desire to stop being a girl.
Schreier gives us an opportunity to take a different look at the transgender mania that has swept the Western world. For the happiness of our daughters, we should listen to her.
Jonathan van Maren is a speaker, writer and anti-abortion activist. His articles and comments have been published in publications such as National Review, European Conservative, National Post and others.