⭐⭐⭐⭐ Irreversible Damage by Shrier
| Full Title | Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abigail Shrier |
| Year Published | 2020 |
| Date Read | September 03, 2020 |
| Rating | 4/5 stars |
The central thesis of this book is that some proportion of adolescent women who trans identify is triggered not necessarily by gender dysphoria they are experiencing, but rather a fad that is only promoted by mental health issues (such as social anxiety or “not fitting in”) endemic particularly in late Gen Y / Gen Z teenagers. I don’t believe this should be an idea that is taboo to bring up, and I found the position reasonably-argued by the book. Three things stuck out to me as compelling:
* Trans identification is concentrated in friend groups.
* The rapid increase in the identification among girls, without a corresponding rise among boys.
* The significant increase in mental health issues, combined with a fall in sexual experience as well as general in-person socialization, for teenagers in recent years.
As a (hopeful) future father, it was very surprising to me to hear that children as early as kindergarten are being taught about how gender is a
continuum and shouldn’t just be thought of as binary male-female. I don’t have a problem with this idea in general, but I do think it is far too early to be introducing it to 5-year-olds — it feels akin to talking about sexual intercourse or viewing a horror movie. None of these topics are intrinsically bad, but to me are inappropriate things to be exposed to at that age.
On the education topic, the lengths to which colleges (& high schools!) would go to to hide a student’s trans identification from their parents made me extremely concerned. It made me wonder more generally about how good the relationship could be between parents & children in these households, if the interactions have gotten so bad that the women didn’t even feel comfortable to talk about something so core to their identity as gender. My perception is, the trans identification and the parents’ surprise and/or resistance was really a symptom of a problem that started much earlier and encompasses the
entirety of their familial relationship.
I think my ultimate takeaway from the book is to try to encourage positive habits among adolescents in order to avoid getting into this situation in the first place. Things like promoting independence of thought, of socialization among a wide group of people, of having experiences generally and not being afraid of making mistakes. The book provides a pretty strong argument to be wary of giving unfettered access to the entire Internet to adolescents, since it means they can fall into bubbles and start to act more as a cult member than just a consumer of information. I think this all basically falls into, how good is your relationship with your children? Are you consistently investing time and energy to make sure you’re there for them?
NB: I have a problem with the cover design of this book, which I believe is pretty deceiving. In an interview, the author dismisses this as “I obviously wasn’t involved with the design”, but in a
book that takes pains to differentiate teens/adolescents versus adults, it is quite surprising to use an image of a girl that looks a decade younger than the group of people Shrier actually writes about. It is unfortunate that this design was chosen, and I hope that it is changed in future editions.