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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content
This is a tragic read, but so important. We are told not to talk about these things and that to be concerned about the effect of the world's rapid obsession with "gender identity" is transphobic. But these are real girls whose lives are being ruined and we must do something to prevent more families from going through it. Thank goodness for brave and intelligent women like Abigail who aren't afraid to tackle the difficult topics.
Be brave and read this book. Even if you think you will disagree with every word, please just give it a go for all the young girls who are being caught in a craze - although a very real experience for some - and who are suffering huge consequences.
The book is an easy read as Abigail writes with accessible prose and is highly engaging.
Be brave and read this book. Even if you think you will disagree with every word, please just give it a go for all the young girls who are being caught in a craze - although a very real experience for some - and who are suffering huge consequences.
The book is an easy read as Abigail writes with accessible prose and is highly engaging.
i read this for a project and it's SO falsified.... i would def not recommend and let's pretend i never read this
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
The author is causing irreversible damage to the trans community and acting as tho more folks coming out as trans is some kind of epidemic... Spreading hate and misinformation, and speaking only to folks that confirm her bias. Cognitive dissonance at its finest.
Sick of CIS people acting like they're experts on trans experience. Literally go fuck yourself Abigail. Suppressing trans kids and teens will drive them to suicide and/or self hatred. Congrats.
The rise in trans folks is not a trend, there is more access to information and viaibility. I'm happy to see kids coming to terms with who they are instead of finally being able to transition at 30 like myself and others.
Sick of CIS people acting like they're experts on trans experience. Literally go fuck yourself Abigail. Suppressing trans kids and teens will drive them to suicide and/or self hatred. Congrats.
The rise in trans folks is not a trend, there is more access to information and viaibility. I'm happy to see kids coming to terms with who they are instead of finally being able to transition at 30 like myself and others.
Wow, this book was equal parts enlightening, haunting, disturbing and brave.
Abigail Shrier does an incredible job tackling an extremely hard subject, one that not many are willing to talk about. She does it in an incredibly nuanced way, though its not hard to tell where she stands while reading this. I'd recommend this to any parent, especially any mother. Shrier does a great job pushing back on some things we are told, particularly as women, to take as gospel. I admire her bravery and her willingness to go against the grain.
There are some parts of this that are truly hard to read, and I had to resist the urge to yell outloud at certain points. It's hard to imagine some of these things are taking place.
In any case, I will continue to follow Shrier's work and am excited to see what she does next.
Abigail Shrier does an incredible job tackling an extremely hard subject, one that not many are willing to talk about. She does it in an incredibly nuanced way, though its not hard to tell where she stands while reading this. I'd recommend this to any parent, especially any mother. Shrier does a great job pushing back on some things we are told, particularly as women, to take as gospel. I admire her bravery and her willingness to go against the grain.
There are some parts of this that are truly hard to read, and I had to resist the urge to yell outloud at certain points. It's hard to imagine some of these things are taking place.
In any case, I will continue to follow Shrier's work and am excited to see what she does next.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
medium-paced
I didn't want to give a book of this nature four stars, but I found it compelling, well-written, full of information and covered a lot of areas, that quite frankly many of straight people wouldn't have considered. What does it even mean to feel like you're in the wrong body? That's not something I suspect many people have really considered. Our minds inhabit a body and that body (whether we like it or not) is part of who we are.
I've read some of the other reviews and those one-stars and those comments about the author being trans-phobic or out to perpetuate hate and shame are totally off base.
I'm a parent of a girl. This book was written for the likes of me. It was written to elucidate parents on the seductive nature of this counterculture social media that tells you how awesome you'll be as a transperson. That somehow by injecting yourself with hormones that don't belong in your body in such quantity, that you'll be better for it. That by changing the outward appearance, you'll somehow become magically transformed in your brain. Your depression will vanish.
When you go to another country, you take you with you. Cutting pieces off and altering your outward appearance will not change who you (your mind / personality) are. You might alter some aspects of your brain with chemicals, but you will never be able to get rid of those neurological parts that actually belong to the bits you chop off.
Shrier's book takes some time to explore some of the things that actually go wrong with taking cross-sex hormones. She doesn't gloss over the details.
Given that this book was written a couple of years ago and there have been some de-transitioners giving interviews since then, they've been backing up what she has written. It might be anecdotal, but the studies she has cited aren't.
Read this book. Educate yourself and protect our future.
I've read some of the other reviews and those one-stars and those comments about the author being trans-phobic or out to perpetuate hate and shame are totally off base.
I'm a parent of a girl. This book was written for the likes of me. It was written to elucidate parents on the seductive nature of this counterculture social media that tells you how awesome you'll be as a transperson. That somehow by injecting yourself with hormones that don't belong in your body in such quantity, that you'll be better for it. That by changing the outward appearance, you'll somehow become magically transformed in your brain. Your depression will vanish.
When you go to another country, you take you with you. Cutting pieces off and altering your outward appearance will not change who you (your mind / personality) are. You might alter some aspects of your brain with chemicals, but you will never be able to get rid of those neurological parts that actually belong to the bits you chop off.
Shrier's book takes some time to explore some of the things that actually go wrong with taking cross-sex hormones. She doesn't gloss over the details.
Given that this book was written a couple of years ago and there have been some de-transitioners giving interviews since then, they've been backing up what she has written. It might be anecdotal, but the studies she has cited aren't.
Read this book. Educate yourself and protect our future.
5 starring this book because it needs to exist. The way children are being experimented on needs to be exposed. The perplexing fact that that this one portion of science and medicine is somehow above questioning or criticism is scary.
I'm posting this mainly because I am struck by how polarised most of the reviews of this book are. I suppose that is inevitable given how politically sensitive this topic is, but it is a shame none the less.
I don't think anyone who reads this book in good faith can think that it is hateful or transphobic. The author's main point is that there are a large group of young girls who are identifying as trans without the characteristics that are usually associated with gender dysmorphia as it is usually understood. Her worry is that these girls will make choices they later regret, not that people should not be able to transition or that it isn't the right choice for some people. To sum the book up oversimplistically, she is attacking the way society at large treats young women, not attacking trans people. Overall, I thought the book was striving to be compassionate and empathetic towards all it's subjects.
It may well be that the conclusions that the author reaches are wrong and that some or all of her fears are misconceived. However, it is very difficult, especially for a layperson such as myself, to say either way because even the scientific and clinical work on this issue has become so politicized and any work which challenges the prevailing orthodoxy is immediately attacked as 'hate'.
As a result, in order to develop a narrative, the author is clearly going beyond the evidence and building her book on anecdote and superstition at times. No one should regard this as an authoritative academic work on this issue. That said, the book doesn't claim to be. The author frequently eludes to the fact that she is being bolder in her assertions than many of the experts in the field would be confident being. Furthermore, I don't think that it is reasonable to say that journalistic speculation is hate speech. It might be off the mark, but it is (in this case I believe) a genuine attempt by a none-expert to question and understand these issues.
Overall I thought the book was really interesting. It's ideas will make you think, it has powerful anecdotes and interviews with a wide range of experts and trans people with different perspectives on these issues. There are also some very moving sections on what it is to be a woman which I found extremely illuminating.
Whatever your current views on these hot-button issues, I'd really recommend trying to put them aside when you pick up this book. Whether it is right or wrong, I think everyone will be able to get something out of it as long as they are prepared to approach it in good faith.
I don't think anyone who reads this book in good faith can think that it is hateful or transphobic. The author's main point is that there are a large group of young girls who are identifying as trans without the characteristics that are usually associated with gender dysmorphia as it is usually understood. Her worry is that these girls will make choices they later regret, not that people should not be able to transition or that it isn't the right choice for some people. To sum the book up oversimplistically, she is attacking the way society at large treats young women, not attacking trans people. Overall, I thought the book was striving to be compassionate and empathetic towards all it's subjects.
It may well be that the conclusions that the author reaches are wrong and that some or all of her fears are misconceived. However, it is very difficult, especially for a layperson such as myself, to say either way because even the scientific and clinical work on this issue has become so politicized and any work which challenges the prevailing orthodoxy is immediately attacked as 'hate'.
As a result, in order to develop a narrative, the author is clearly going beyond the evidence and building her book on anecdote and superstition at times. No one should regard this as an authoritative academic work on this issue. That said, the book doesn't claim to be. The author frequently eludes to the fact that she is being bolder in her assertions than many of the experts in the field would be confident being. Furthermore, I don't think that it is reasonable to say that journalistic speculation is hate speech. It might be off the mark, but it is (in this case I believe) a genuine attempt by a none-expert to question and understand these issues.
Overall I thought the book was really interesting. It's ideas will make you think, it has powerful anecdotes and interviews with a wide range of experts and trans people with different perspectives on these issues. There are also some very moving sections on what it is to be a woman which I found extremely illuminating.
Whatever your current views on these hot-button issues, I'd really recommend trying to put them aside when you pick up this book. Whether it is right or wrong, I think everyone will be able to get something out of it as long as they are prepared to approach it in good faith.