Author: Abigail Shrier
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Genre: Politics, Non-fiction, Parenting
Irreversible Damage is an exploration of a mystery: Why, in the last decade, has the diagnosis "gender dysphoria," transformed from a vanishingly rare affliction, applying almost exclusively to boys and men, to an epidemic among teenage girls?
Author Abigail Shrier presents shocking statistics and stories from real families to show that America and the West have become fertile ground for a "transgender craze" that has nothing to do with real gender dysphoria and everything to do with our cultural frailty. Teenage girls are taking courses of testosterone and disfiguring their bodies. Parents are undermined; experts are over-relied upon; dissenters in science and medicine are intimidated; free speech truckles under renewed attack; socialized medicine bears hidden consequences; and an intersectional era has arisen in which the desire to escape a dominant identity encourages individuals to take cover in victim groups.
Every person who has ever had a skeptical thought about the sudden rush toward a non-binary future but been afraid to express it—this book is for you.
I would like to start off this review prefacing that I am by no means transphobic or bigoted, as the leftists would readily jump to that conclusion with no rebuttal based on the fact that I wholly support this book. In fact, what I am afraid of is that people have been making their opinions based on feelings rather than fact and reason, and that without reading the book or my review and people dismiss it because they see that it is an agreement to the author’s well researched facts. But first, let’s define the term.
Transphobic: having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people.
I by no means hate trans people, but that does not mean I cannot disagree with the transgender craze that is happening these days. Honestly I am quite afraid that in the future where radical leftists run the country that someone will read one line of this review and say “Transphobe! Bigot!” without reading the entire piece and deny me a job, but I believe that this issue is so pressing that I am willing, like JK Rowling, to be “cancelled” if it means that the truth will be out there, and that people who hold the same view don’t feel as alone. Society has become inhospitable to people who oppose the radical leftists and are simply called names and cancelled, without really considering the criticism that ANY social change or movement should be subjected to. I cannot agree with the propaganda spread by the left and gender ideologues about the subjective, up in the air, floaty feelings about gender identity, it is not an attack against the trans community, it is a stance based on science, rationale, and fact. The radical leftists will say that any opinion that goes against minority group is discrimination and exclusionary and intolerant but while it can be seen as discriminatory, it’s not society’s responsibility to include everyone in our spaces (ex. Take for example the controversial bathroom situation), and I believe that there should be a space for everyone whether you’re LGB, trans, a biological woman, or a biological man. But it’s not our job to be inclusive and modify our categorical understanding based on science, biology, and DNA of how the world works by erasing the lines between “man” and “woman” to make everyone feel good—the function of society is to provide a modicum of peace. Even though I am not religious, I’m a believer of science and that there is one objective truth and one reality, such as the reality that you are reading this review right now.
What made me read this book was Matt Walsh’s deeply disturbing but critically important documentary, “What is a woman?”, where he endeavours on a journey through the United States, Africa, and Canada to find the answer. Shockingly, no one in America, not the professional doctors, the psychologists, the therapists, the university professors, the congressman, the people at women’s marches, and the people on the street can give a straight answer. Most of the people gave circular definitions, “A woman is someone who defines themselves as a woman” which is unbelievable. No one can define what “woman” means. We have taken away the specialness of women with the leftist’s indoctrination and urge to be politically correct and include trans women in that category. Is this really going to make young girls want to embrace the identity of being a woman, when society can’t even say what being a woman means? In a matter of a few years, society has descended into madness with the political policing of language, with women being called “breeders” and “bleeders”, pregnant women called “pregnant people” and vagina “front hole” which makes femininity reductionist. I have no qualms with someone who is aware that their biological sex will never change despite all the surgeries they receive, but I have an issue with the whole “trans women are women” movement. Being a male or a female is ingrained in every fibre of our beings, from our skeletal structure to our gametes. If sperm doesn’t make you male, what does? If eggs don’t make you female, what does?
Now onto the actual review.
Let’’s talk about statistics first. The rate of gender dysphoria in the DSM-5 reports an expected incidence at 0.005-0.014 for natal males and 0.002-0.003 percent for natal females. This means that 1 in every 10,000 people will have gender dysphoria. In the United States, this number has seen a 1000% increase and 4000% increase in Britain, and those who are referred for gender treatment are girls. Before, it used to be mainly males who experienced gender dysphoria, but the ratio has flipped and more females are experiencing gender dysphoria than males. (Shrier doesn’t directly answer why, but I suspect it’s because of the female tendency to multiply their feelings while they’re in groups with each other—females like to share their emotions with each other and as a result they all start mirroring each others feelings.)
Before, 70% of gender dysphoria cases would resolve on its own and people experiencing it would grow out of it. But now, with the new “gender affirming therapy” that mandates therapists to affirm a patient’s gender, young boys and girls are now jumping straight to medical intervention that is permanent, irreversible, and damaging, that has a slew of side effects and complications. There is literally no other field of healthcare that is “affirming” as its first line of treatment. That’s like saying to your doctor “I think I have x disease” and the doctor affirms it, saying yes you do have that disease without exploring your past history, or checking for the right symptoms, and jumping straight to giving you surgery. Other than in the case of plastic surgery where the patient can tell the doctor the changes they would like. But gender dysphoria is a mental disorder and it should be treated as such, not as something that should be equated to plastic surgery. When therapists used to employ “watchful waiting” where they made the patient feel more comfortable with their gender, explored their past and their reasons for having gender dysphoria, their emotional issues, and their thoughts and feelings, gender dysphoria resolved in 70% of the cases. But that method is now considered “transphobic” and not inclusive of gender identities, and so now therapy is approached with the mindset of affirming the patient rather than being skeptical.
This book was honestly shocking to read, but critically important in our era of where we are mainstreaming delusion that girls are boys and boys are girls. Shrier argues that it is a social contagion that is causing the exponential rise in gender dysphoria and transgenderism in young females. It is the rise of social media and the increasing prevalence of mental health issues that come increased social media usage—the competition, the need to be perfect, the comparison, all this fuels the depression and anxiety that so many young people experience. As a result of these feelings of loneliness and the desire to fit in and develop an identity, teens are turning to these niches of the internet where they can find a source of comfort, validation, and identity. In the mindset of these teenage girls who are lost and confused, already struggling and coping with the sudden changes in their bodies as they sprout breasts and grow curvier, adopting the trans identity is a way out. These girls cluster in groups and create this group identity that they share, and the tenets of group identity described by Shrier is shocking and majorly unhealthy. ““Teenagers are social creatures”, says Dr. Littman, “They are influenced by peers and that’s how they develop.” But it’s also why teenagers lead each other to harm.” (32)
Here’s a list of the tenets and mantras that trans influencers stand by:
If you think you’re trans, you are
Trying out trans? Binders are a great way to start
Testosterone is a miracle drug
If your parents loved you, they would support your trans identity
If you’re not supported in your trans identity, you’ll probably kill yourself
Deceiving parents and doctors is justified if it helps transition
You don’t have to identify as the opposite sex to be “trans”
These mindsets shows that the trans community and the influencers are spouting dangerous propaganda to confused young girls. Young girls who are still developing physically and mentally. We know the mindset of children/teens, they want one thing and then they want another just on impulse. Their prefrontal cortex isn’t developed, which is why they’re impulsive and make reckless decisions. So why are we allowing minors to transition, mutilate their bodies, and receive hormones and puberty blockers that are guaranteed to make them infertile? Why are we allowing minors to make these life changing decisions on their own and affirming them to do it?
All of these procedures are purely experimental, and there are so many side effects that minors won’t care or can’t comprehend or are simply not being made aware by their health care providers. A phalloplasty has a 67% complication rate, according to Scott Newgent on Matt Walsh’s “What is a woman?” documentary. There’s no real discussion of the possible side effects. We are letting young girls become guinea pigs all while indoctrinating them and affirming them that they are transgender, without properly treating the underlying mental health issues causing gender dysphoria in the first place. “The studies that say that transition helps mental health of gender dysphoric people all have been retracted, modified and changed, but the only long term study tells us that after 7 to 10 years after surgery, are when they are most suicidal, but that’s transphobic to say”, says Newgent. And for those that say puberty blockers are harmless and just a “pause” button, they’re absolutely wrong. Lupron is one of the puberty blockers that are used and it is also used to chemically castrate rapists and convicted criminals. There are no long term studies on hormone blockers on children. Zip. Every child that “gender affirming therapists” convince to transition generates 1.3 million dollars for big Pharma. (Newgent, 2022) “And Lupron, in 2003, was actually sued and deemed a criminal enterprise by the US government, 874 million dollars. We’re giving it to kids, we’re telling them they’re in the wrong bodies, and we’re telling them it’s completely safe” (Newgent, 2022). This is absolutely horrific.
We hear many stories in this book that really supported the validity of its claims. We also get to hear stories about how parents supported their trans daughter financially long after she had cut them off completely, and you can’t say that isn’t love. Deception is another theme—apparently it is now legal that high schools in the United States have allowed teens to leave the premises to get cross-sex hormones WITHOUT the parent’s knowledge. Now Ivy League schools covers most of the cost of cross sex hormones and students can go take hormone shots for less than $10 a month. They give it by an “informed consent” basis. No therapist or referral required. Just informed consent. There were real stories about how parents couldn’t oppose the decision made by their daughters and the universities say that it is not up to them or their parents to decide whether to let the patient receive these treatments.
This is such a well balanced book and gives an amazing overview of all the social problems, the complications, and the truths of the transgender craze; it goes in depth about the medical side effects as well of Lupron the puberty blocker, testosterone, the “miracle drug”, top surgery, and bottom surgery. It’s an honest account of what transgender actually entails; it’s not afraid to lay out the facts. It’s NOT an attack against the trans community as the leftists would insist, it’s a scientific work based on facts, evidence, and stories. It deglamorizes what they so desperately want to glamorize. There was so much research put into this book. And the stories in the book really added weight to the matter. These were real people and real stories that Shrier investigated. The stories of young girls caught in the transgender craze, the parents, the detransitioners, desisters, and the doctors who lost their jobs for speaking out on the truth.
I highly recommend this book for parents. I recommend this even more to people who are skeptical of the social movement of transgenderism and people who really want to understand what is going on. This book is so eye-opening, disturbing at times, but deeply necessary. I hope that the radical leftists who claim to be so open-minded but can’t tolerate when people have a different opinion than them can actually sit down and talk about these issues one day without labelling someone as xyz derogatory term. This conversation about transgenderism and it being a trend needs to happen without either party storming out of the room out of frustration and sheer stubbornness of their ideological beliefs. This book exposed me to the realities of the sexual revolution that’s occurring and honestly made me afraid for my future children that they’ll get caught up in this fad. But I think it’s so, so necessary to read and understand and it’s a reminder to not get indoctrinated by people with degrees that apparently have forgotten about basic biology and to be able to think critically for yourself. This book will help you do just that, and provides a factual perspective on this pressing issue.
Transphobic: having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people.
I by no means hate trans people, but that does not mean I cannot disagree with the transgender craze that is happening these days. Honestly I am quite afraid that in the future where radical leftists run the country that someone will read one line of this review and say “Transphobe! Bigot!” without reading the entire piece and deny me a job, but I believe that this issue is so pressing that I am willing, like JK Rowling, to be “cancelled” if it means that the truth will be out there, and that people who hold the same view don’t feel as alone. Society has become inhospitable to people who oppose the radical leftists and are simply called names and cancelled, without really considering the criticism that ANY social change or movement should be subjected to. I cannot agree with the propaganda spread by the left and gender ideologues about the subjective, up in the air, floaty feelings about gender identity, it is not an attack against the trans community, it is a stance based on science, rationale, and fact. The radical leftists will say that any opinion that goes against minority group is discrimination and exclusionary and intolerant but while it can be seen as discriminatory, it’s not society’s responsibility to include everyone in our spaces (ex. Take for example the controversial bathroom situation), and I believe that there should be a space for everyone whether you’re LGB, trans, a biological woman, or a biological man. But it’s not our job to be inclusive and modify our categorical understanding based on science, biology, and DNA of how the world works by erasing the lines between “man” and “woman” to make everyone feel good—the function of society is to provide a modicum of peace. Even though I am not religious, I’m a believer of science and that there is one objective truth and one reality, such as the reality that you are reading this review right now.
What made me read this book was Matt Walsh’s deeply disturbing but critically important documentary, “What is a woman?”, where he endeavours on a journey through the United States, Africa, and Canada to find the answer. Shockingly, no one in America, not the professional doctors, the psychologists, the therapists, the university professors, the congressman, the people at women’s marches, and the people on the street can give a straight answer. Most of the people gave circular definitions, “A woman is someone who defines themselves as a woman” which is unbelievable. No one can define what “woman” means. We have taken away the specialness of women with the leftist’s indoctrination and urge to be politically correct and include trans women in that category. Is this really going to make young girls want to embrace the identity of being a woman, when society can’t even say what being a woman means? In a matter of a few years, society has descended into madness with the political policing of language, with women being called “breeders” and “bleeders”, pregnant women called “pregnant people” and vagina “front hole” which makes femininity reductionist. I have no qualms with someone who is aware that their biological sex will never change despite all the surgeries they receive, but I have an issue with the whole “trans women are women” movement. Being a male or a female is ingrained in every fibre of our beings, from our skeletal structure to our gametes. If sperm doesn’t make you male, what does? If eggs don’t make you female, what does?
Now onto the actual review.
Let’’s talk about statistics first. The rate of gender dysphoria in the DSM-5 reports an expected incidence at 0.005-0.014 for natal males and 0.002-0.003 percent for natal females. This means that 1 in every 10,000 people will have gender dysphoria. In the United States, this number has seen a 1000% increase and 4000% increase in Britain, and those who are referred for gender treatment are girls. Before, it used to be mainly males who experienced gender dysphoria, but the ratio has flipped and more females are experiencing gender dysphoria than males. (Shrier doesn’t directly answer why, but I suspect it’s because of the female tendency to multiply their feelings while they’re in groups with each other—females like to share their emotions with each other and as a result they all start mirroring each others feelings.)
Before, 70% of gender dysphoria cases would resolve on its own and people experiencing it would grow out of it. But now, with the new “gender affirming therapy” that mandates therapists to affirm a patient’s gender, young boys and girls are now jumping straight to medical intervention that is permanent, irreversible, and damaging, that has a slew of side effects and complications. There is literally no other field of healthcare that is “affirming” as its first line of treatment. That’s like saying to your doctor “I think I have x disease” and the doctor affirms it, saying yes you do have that disease without exploring your past history, or checking for the right symptoms, and jumping straight to giving you surgery. Other than in the case of plastic surgery where the patient can tell the doctor the changes they would like. But gender dysphoria is a mental disorder and it should be treated as such, not as something that should be equated to plastic surgery. When therapists used to employ “watchful waiting” where they made the patient feel more comfortable with their gender, explored their past and their reasons for having gender dysphoria, their emotional issues, and their thoughts and feelings, gender dysphoria resolved in 70% of the cases. But that method is now considered “transphobic” and not inclusive of gender identities, and so now therapy is approached with the mindset of affirming the patient rather than being skeptical.
This book was honestly shocking to read, but critically important in our era of where we are mainstreaming delusion that girls are boys and boys are girls. Shrier argues that it is a social contagion that is causing the exponential rise in gender dysphoria and transgenderism in young females. It is the rise of social media and the increasing prevalence of mental health issues that come increased social media usage—the competition, the need to be perfect, the comparison, all this fuels the depression and anxiety that so many young people experience. As a result of these feelings of loneliness and the desire to fit in and develop an identity, teens are turning to these niches of the internet where they can find a source of comfort, validation, and identity. In the mindset of these teenage girls who are lost and confused, already struggling and coping with the sudden changes in their bodies as they sprout breasts and grow curvier, adopting the trans identity is a way out. These girls cluster in groups and create this group identity that they share, and the tenets of group identity described by Shrier is shocking and majorly unhealthy. ““Teenagers are social creatures”, says Dr. Littman, “They are influenced by peers and that’s how they develop.” But it’s also why teenagers lead each other to harm.” (32)
Here’s a list of the tenets and mantras that trans influencers stand by:
If you think you’re trans, you are
Trying out trans? Binders are a great way to start
Testosterone is a miracle drug
If your parents loved you, they would support your trans identity
If you’re not supported in your trans identity, you’ll probably kill yourself
Deceiving parents and doctors is justified if it helps transition
You don’t have to identify as the opposite sex to be “trans”
These mindsets shows that the trans community and the influencers are spouting dangerous propaganda to confused young girls. Young girls who are still developing physically and mentally. We know the mindset of children/teens, they want one thing and then they want another just on impulse. Their prefrontal cortex isn’t developed, which is why they’re impulsive and make reckless decisions. So why are we allowing minors to transition, mutilate their bodies, and receive hormones and puberty blockers that are guaranteed to make them infertile? Why are we allowing minors to make these life changing decisions on their own and affirming them to do it?
All of these procedures are purely experimental, and there are so many side effects that minors won’t care or can’t comprehend or are simply not being made aware by their health care providers. A phalloplasty has a 67% complication rate, according to Scott Newgent on Matt Walsh’s “What is a woman?” documentary. There’s no real discussion of the possible side effects. We are letting young girls become guinea pigs all while indoctrinating them and affirming them that they are transgender, without properly treating the underlying mental health issues causing gender dysphoria in the first place. “The studies that say that transition helps mental health of gender dysphoric people all have been retracted, modified and changed, but the only long term study tells us that after 7 to 10 years after surgery, are when they are most suicidal, but that’s transphobic to say”, says Newgent. And for those that say puberty blockers are harmless and just a “pause” button, they’re absolutely wrong. Lupron is one of the puberty blockers that are used and it is also used to chemically castrate rapists and convicted criminals. There are no long term studies on hormone blockers on children. Zip. Every child that “gender affirming therapists” convince to transition generates 1.3 million dollars for big Pharma. (Newgent, 2022) “And Lupron, in 2003, was actually sued and deemed a criminal enterprise by the US government, 874 million dollars. We’re giving it to kids, we’re telling them they’re in the wrong bodies, and we’re telling them it’s completely safe” (Newgent, 2022). This is absolutely horrific.
We hear many stories in this book that really supported the validity of its claims. We also get to hear stories about how parents supported their trans daughter financially long after she had cut them off completely, and you can’t say that isn’t love. Deception is another theme—apparently it is now legal that high schools in the United States have allowed teens to leave the premises to get cross-sex hormones WITHOUT the parent’s knowledge. Now Ivy League schools covers most of the cost of cross sex hormones and students can go take hormone shots for less than $10 a month. They give it by an “informed consent” basis. No therapist or referral required. Just informed consent. There were real stories about how parents couldn’t oppose the decision made by their daughters and the universities say that it is not up to them or their parents to decide whether to let the patient receive these treatments.
This is such a well balanced book and gives an amazing overview of all the social problems, the complications, and the truths of the transgender craze; it goes in depth about the medical side effects as well of Lupron the puberty blocker, testosterone, the “miracle drug”, top surgery, and bottom surgery. It’s an honest account of what transgender actually entails; it’s not afraid to lay out the facts. It’s NOT an attack against the trans community as the leftists would insist, it’s a scientific work based on facts, evidence, and stories. It deglamorizes what they so desperately want to glamorize. There was so much research put into this book. And the stories in the book really added weight to the matter. These were real people and real stories that Shrier investigated. The stories of young girls caught in the transgender craze, the parents, the detransitioners, desisters, and the doctors who lost their jobs for speaking out on the truth.
I highly recommend this book for parents. I recommend this even more to people who are skeptical of the social movement of transgenderism and people who really want to understand what is going on. This book is so eye-opening, disturbing at times, but deeply necessary. I hope that the radical leftists who claim to be so open-minded but can’t tolerate when people have a different opinion than them can actually sit down and talk about these issues one day without labelling someone as xyz derogatory term. This conversation about transgenderism and it being a trend needs to happen without either party storming out of the room out of frustration and sheer stubbornness of their ideological beliefs. This book exposed me to the realities of the sexual revolution that’s occurring and honestly made me afraid for my future children that they’ll get caught up in this fad. But I think it’s so, so necessary to read and understand and it’s a reminder to not get indoctrinated by people with degrees that apparently have forgotten about basic biology and to be able to think critically for yourself. This book will help you do just that, and provides a factual perspective on this pressing issue.
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