“The truth is out there for somebody to write; I just happen to be the one who wrote this book,” Abigail Shrier reflected, when Benjamin A. Boyce interviewed her. Shrier’s book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, approaches a problem afflicting teenage girls that few writers will daringly and defiantly name, much less explore. As Dr Lisa Littman has observed with rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), which Shrier discusses, we have seen, as it seems, “a spike in transgender identification among adolescent girls.”
“Like other social contagions, such as cutting and bulimia, ROGD overwhelmingly afflicts girls,” Shrier writes, in her initial exploration. “But unlike other conditions, this one – though not necessarily its sufferers – gets full support from the medical community.” Expanding on that earlier 2019 essay, “When Your Daughter Defies Biology,” she writes Irreversible Damage both compassionately and critically about contemporary female psychosocial development. Girls growing into their teens now seem plagued by the peculiar medical treatment of both female puberty and female gender-nonconformity as if, in essence, pathological. A clear passage from Shrier’s book, as is exemplary of her prose, captures precisely what, at present, we can ignore only at our peril:
“In America and across the Western world, adolescents were reporting a sudden spike in gender dysphoria – the medical condition associated with the social designation ‘transgender.’ Between 2016 and 2017 the number of gender surgeries for natal females in the US quadrupled, with biological women suddenly accounting for – as we have seen – 70 percent of all gender surgeries. In 2018, the UK reported a 4,400 percent rise over the previous decade in teenage girls seeking gender treatments. In Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the UK, clinicians and gender therapists began reporting a sudden and dramatic shift in the demographics of those presenting with gender dysphoria – from predominately preschool-aged boys to predominately adolescent girls.”
While reading Shrier’s book, I thought about Betty Friedan’s 1963 book The Feminine Mystique, not solely because both Shrier and Friedan approach a study of a demographic of people who are all female, more often than not primarily white and upper-middle-class. Rather, their studies intersect, as we see, in a kind of question – “Is that all there is?” – that has characterized ‘the female malady’ across time. It has been so, whether ‘the problem that has no name’ itself has been named or not.
“When we construe normal feeling as illness, we offer people an understanding of themselves as disordered,” Lisa Marchiano observes, as Shrier quotes her. Historically, ‘the female malady’ has involved many women being unspeakably wounded, trapped beneath treatments, disfigured and distorted, wailing behind the wallpaper. Or, perhaps, the cries of women and girls have been heard, named by men at the very least, but the treatments prescribed end up being in theory a remedy against ruin while, in practice, poison working under a pseudonym.
Perceptively, with her detailed research, Shrier orients the present craze among girls in America’s recent medical history of making any sense of discomfort into a disorder, something that, as Shrier notes, we see in the naming of ‘neurasthenia.’ “Neurasthenia, in other words, was a disease of culture as much as of the mind and body,” Julie Beck writes in The Atlantic of this condition, that early psychologist William James has called “Americanitis.”
Where some other analyses might outright accept or reject social and medical transitioning, perhaps on ethical, moral, political, or religious grounds, Shrier’s, in fact, does not do so, prioritizing, as much as possible, an evidence-based evaluation of help versus harm. During the course of her research, as Shrier tells us, she encountered “several transgender adults who are living good, productive lives, in stable relationships and flourishing in their careers.” She then adds: “I believe there are instances in which gender dysphoric people have been helped by gender transition.”
Far from being ‘anti-trans’ or ‘transphobic,’ then, Shrier’s work raises consciousness about specific problems faced by gender-dysphoric girls, a disproportionate number of whom now pervasively being medicalized, statistically, have autism or are either lesbian or bisexual. She criticizes ‘gender-affirming care’ as applied to perceivably gender-dysphoric teenage females now uncritically presumed as always needing a medical ‘cure’ to solve a medical ‘problem.’ Unearthing valuable insights into social psychology, bringing together interviews and research, I see Shrier’s work as essential reading about female psychology regarding girls and their development.
Irreversible Damage showcases the bravery and brilliance of Shrier’s storytelling, more strikingly the careful art of writing with compassion, such that the stories, woven together, truly feel shared as she tells them. Perhaps, like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Dr Karen Horney, Shrier might help some girl somewhere in liberating herself from the bleak prison of a persona built from pathologies. Her work might help us all, parents and children alike, learn to see, with new eyes, the physiological and psychological complexity of teenage girlhood that has been, it seems, neglected as that which must not be named.
Returning to The Feminine Mystique, a work both different from and similar to Shrier’s, Friedan writes: “For human suffering there is a reason; perhaps the reason has not been found because the right questions have not been asked, or pressed far enough.” The right questions, as I sincerely believe, should be those that open us to seeking clarity, rather than obscurity, for ourselves and for others. And so, with her strong wings, rising above “the level plain of tradition and prejudice,” in Irreversible Damage, Shrier presses us all to ask questions. Despite our own discomfort, she challenges us to engage in the free inquiry critical for us to come closer to understanding why so many teenage girls now flee from femaleness.
I suspect that a lot of young women are going trans because they either have inner-homophobia or they are survivors of sexual abuse and/ or harassment. Maybe even both are true.
This book is a good read, it should be included in “queer studies” in academia. I think to the average person, there’s a general lack of understanding as to how traumatizing being female can be. Not just by men but by women whose personalities slotted neatly into established female societal roles.
Just speculation on my part, but I think the prevalence of social contagion like the transgender fad in women is the desire to look for a solution. It’s hard to accept that the reality is you’ll always be a “non-default” person. Especially for gay women, I find Margaret Atwood’s statement on us serving as our own voyeurs from our socialization is more true than anyone would find comfortable to believe.
I think this site is one of the most important websites on the transgender issue as it covers the issue from the most honest angle that many parents of newly discovered “trans”ness in their children, or people who NOT KNOWING ANY BETTER, just say, “Yeah, they’re just people, too,”” should DISCOVER NOW! They are not normal and their influence is not benign. And this site focuses on proof that they are not normal people.
But to come to something that is workable, those of us besides the Tranny mafia, who really want to make this a better world – are left in a large quandary. The system is against real solutions and good people who speak out GET de-platformed or shouted down by BIG TECH or you know, those who are most actively in front of this issue. I would guess that Diana has experienced this personally because I have seen some of their articles and social media communications. These are the most abnormal of the special privileged group we call LGBT. Right at the tip of abnormal. For the rest of us who want simply a better place for our own children, mainly, and ourselves, where these people can do what they want, but not “affect” us, that would be one helluva good idea. BUT, It cannot happen.
I must say that my interest on this issue was piqued by an actual review of this book, and it was published earlier: https://quillette.com/2020/07/08/discovering-the-link-between-gender-identity-and-peer-contagion/. I was both fascinated and alarmed by this. You mean that your child can do stuff like that – just by going on a trend of the day? I mean many years ago, you danced the a-go-go and called that a trend. You could push it further by the 60’s Flower generation. But going trans on a teenagers whim to get more popular? I believed that I need to get deeper and that was how I discovered this site. This book, or actually a review by this book, brought me here. And, as some people say, you have fire on your ass…. This is not acceptable. This is not just a fight by feminists against confused men. This is truly inhuman treatment of the trans people, and a travesty to people who have to face this “right in the face.” A women’s toilet. The phrase, “Have we gone mad?” come to mind. And, I’ll give you a sneak peek on my thesis – the answer is YES! BUT EVERYBODY, not just the trannies.
If you want to really get a hold of this right by the horse’s tail, and I’m putting a written framework on this, and I’m sharing with you here what I believe are CAUSAL FACTORS. If you can put your finger on the actual causal factors and not symptoms, then you have an opportunity to start solving the issue. And you can’t just solve it by saying I’d like to avoid these people, and that’s all. Because one causal factor WILL NOT LET YOU GET WAY WITH IT. (Did somebody just replace the medical [and sacred, for many people] term Vagina with Front Hole? I really, really, really don’t get that, and I can understand why billions, yes, billions of women in this would have a visceral reaction to that. It is demeaning.) You may disagree with me, but you can add to this causal factor list. H
Abby Shrier HITS it out of the park with one of the few causal factors. One quickie generalization: This trans thing for daughters today is VERY associated with social media and attention getting and all the things that girls starting to become pubescent think & feel about – except this is not in the 1950’s with culture and social media the way it is today. She’s right but how can you solve this problem, as it is identified as a problem? Oh, BTW, I love reading, and I love getting a few glimpses of this book – I’m reading it by first reading reviews. (BTW, Diana your site is #1 in BING on this book’s review). Here are a few more reviews I found. It’s okay to do a bit more reading here because we can start to find solutions here – and I’m just placing some other interesting ideas on the book – besides this artycle and quilette – so you can just click on them if you find going deeper useful: 1) https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/naomi-schaefer-riley/transgender-children-craze/ 2) https://www.feministcurrent.com/2020/08/30/blasphemous-ideas-and-the-silencing-of-dissent-a-review-of-abigail-shriers-irreversible-damage/ 3) https://www.christianpost.com/news/our-girls-are-being-irreversibly-damaged-by-the-transgender-craze-book-review.html (It’s okay to read churchy people on this – some of the largest problems in the west are caused by forces that manipulatively make the average person very very apprehensive about churchy stuff) . I’d just like to leave it here and not write TOO MUCH about the rest, because it’s simply too much to stick in here.
I’ll give you a sneak peak by asking questions, that if you get answers to, you will see the other factors in play – and start seeing how to win at playing this game – or not lose so horribly up until now. 1)What does transgenderism do to a human being who transitions permanently? Why would certain forces in the world want that? 2) Why is transgenderism promoted in such a way that it clearly targets feminism, and not just in the creation of TERFs but outright full war that does no t make sense as in the end, IT KILLS BOTH MOVEMENTS? Unless of course it is planned that way 3)Why do transgender people feel the life-threatening need to become who they are – and nothing else can do? 4)Why do many but not all transgenders reverse (but we know there is Irreversible Damage) – and more importantly, what factors are in play that cause their reversal – BINGO, DING, DING! This is where the transgenders and everyone who has conflict of interest DO NOT WANT YOU TO LOOK. Shine your light here, because victory is here (and in the end, no more front holes, thank you!) Oh, go to this article: https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/16/feminist-pro-gay-mother-trans-child-critiques-bans-conversion-therapy/ I’ll stop here. Some important clues in the article above. 5) How are parents and parenting responsible for this (or the lack of good parenting, or parents, or any idea of what parenting is)? 6)Who benefits from promoting transgenderism – and why they are a massive behemoth. 7) And interestingly, WHY are we seeing hope in instances where there is pushback from governments – and society – on this issue and Diana is spot on with https://www.womenarehuman.com/mermaids-backpedals-on-wrong-body-narrative-after-uk-government-issues-schools-guidance/ and https://www.womenarehuman.com/government-says-no-to-gender-self-id-in-england-and-wales/ and our darling Mr. Trump is putting some legislation on-track. Hhhm, why now? Back to actually reading the book, finally. As of now…. Thanks! And, sorry, Diana. I am afflicted with adult onset ADHD…..
I apologize I you all need to read this review that goes into the BODY of Abigail’s book. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-transgender-craze-is-leaving-thousands-of-young-victims-in-its-wake/ Yes, the lefties among you would be shocked that I would recommend a site that has the word conservative in it. If you look up Big Tech, SNOPES and other sites that help you decide the site’s integrity (because they assume they know better than you – hmm, why is that?) any site with a “conservative” bias are all TRULY BIASED and UNTRUE. But, feel this. You all have a strong education background to read a site like this as opposed to Youtube & social media where actually many trans people get their info from, and many educated people today, yes, women are feminists. And do you feel that you have all the answers? If you are truly educated, what fear do you have to debate, think, analyze ideas that are ideologically, logically, experiantially from your closely-held views? BINGO, DING DING DING. This is another serious causal factor – and the root issue is not Transgenderism, but transgenderism’s grandmother. And, who would she be? Hhhm! Read the “conservative” aricle then FEEL article. Are conservatives and the conservative views your sworn enemy? Or have you been hoodwinked – just as all the trany children have been hoodwinked? Oh, and their parents, their doctors, the politicians (well, some of them are, many know what’s really going on), the diversity experts, and so on and so on…. Your head feels like exploding? Hmm…. Give it go. Conservative view… (And then you find out the truth…).
The truth? It hurts because you look at it, and say, “No way that is the case.” BUt when you feel it, you know it’s there. All that you hold dearly, unless you have gone much deeper, shows that you and virually 99% of people in the west have been led astray. You believe you know better – but if you do, you’d have all the answers that make you feel right about everything. As you know, many things just feel wrong And, that’s because the root cause is there – all there. And the truth is, in some ways the transgender people, and lets be honest, the nastiest of them are the natal males, as opposed to the many that Shrier looks at who are natal females (And why would that be?), are doing the same things that all the LGBT groups have done before – you know where diversity is celebrated, and the LGBT antecedents, and so on. They are all serially and parallely connected – until the switch gets pulled – and these groups start eating each other…. They really shouldn’t be, right, if these movements are fundamentally sound? THere is much deeper dysporia here. And the sad part is, we don’t know what the root is, because if we did, these groups wouldnt be fighting against each other….. I think you may not understand what I meant in what I just wrote, but as a human being, you can feel what I’m saying. The answer you’re looking for – and it is the dealing with the root cause that we can use to 1)protect ourselve 2) protect our children 3) communicate and being functionally effective with decision makers 4)communicate with the larger masses so that they understand 5)communicate with the people in dire need – these people who hurt themselves by going the tranny route. They actually do hurt themselves….. But eyes wide shut…. For everybody.
Rob Foo, I spoke to Donovan Cleckley, the writer of this article, about your comments.
These are his thoughts:
“Shrier and I have both been in correspondence. I transcribed her interview with Benjamin Boyce (with her approval), and she herself liked the parallels I have drawn between her work and that of Betty Friedan with the 1963 book ‘The Feminine Mystique.’ (Plus, both Friedan and Shrier are Jewish women who have noted issues impacting women and girls on the basis of sex.)
His immediate presumption that we are some simpleminded ‘lefties’ is annoying. I read The American Conservative regularly, alongside The Federalist, and have friends who have published in both.
Shrier herself is not homophobic (or ‘transphobic’). Homosexuality is not ‘the root’ of transgenderism. If anything, lesbians and gay men are suffering because of it.
Shrier herself defends lesbian and gay youth in Irreversible Damage.
Conservative publications, including The Federalist, perhaps also The American Conservative, seem to purposefully omit Shrier’s defense of lesbian girls, because it is inconvenient to them. But it is there, nonetheless, in the body of her book.
Shrier even cites my friend Julia Diana Robertson, a lesbian feminist, who has worked to protect gender-nonconforming lesbian girls and gay boys from what now seems like medical experimentation on homosexual people comparable to what is happening in Iran.
I think people’s problem is with thinking that lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people (the LGB) are actually the same as the T, and that ‘gender identity’ is somehow the fault of LGB people.
It seems like he is looking for a scapegoat for a social problem that is not the fault of the people whom it seems to be hurting the most.
If anything, the idea of feminine boys and masculine girls being ‘born in the wrong body’ has been a byproduct of homophobia, where gay men can become ‘straight women’ and lesbians can become ‘straight men.’ Like I said, cases in Iran indicate this phenomenon. Moreover, little boys being taken to clinics for being ‘too feminine’ speaks more to how enforcing masculinity on males has its own harmful byproducts, including pathologizing otherwise healthy children as needing to be ‘fixed’ with medicine.
Conservatives want to blame liberals, while liberals want to blame conservatives, as if one is ideological and somehow the other is not, but both ideologies have damaged humanity.”
I would also like to reiterate my own position. I am not against adult human beings exercising what I believe to be a natural human right, which is to choose a consenting, adult romantic / sexual / life partner.
I believe some humans are exclusively attracted to the same sex, and forcing them to engage in opposite-sex relationships if that is not what they want is a form of sexual coercion or rape, and will additionally lead to the unhappiness of their children and opposite-sex partners. I believe it ultimately causes more damage to society to force people to be with those they have no desire toward. Some people have religious objections, but other people are responsible for themselves, and no one can or should force others’ private lives to conform to their beliefs. I do not believe other people’s partner choices is relevant to me.
I am against the gender identity ideology movement, because it does force everyone to participate. People are socially or legally pressured to refer to other people with sex-based words we all know to be false, use taxpayer dollars to fund expensive cosmetic surgeries and cross-sex hormones we believe to be elective, sacrifice knowledge of healthcare for, undress with, take public showers with, share shelters and refuges and prisons with, and participate in sports with individuals who identify as the opposite sex – thereby sacrificing our own human needs and basic human rights to center the “validation” of others’.
To my knowledge, the right to feel “valid” in an identity has never been recognized in any constitution anywhere in the world throughout history, because this is not a natural and innate human right. To demand that others sacrifice rights that are natural and inalienable to bolster someone’s desire to believe something false is unacceptable. If these men wore their dresses and makeup and left other people alone – and ditto for the women with these alternative identities wearing their preferred fashions – I would not find it to be my business.
The evidence is clear that the motivation for going trans is different between men and women. For males it is overwhelmingly sexually driven. Before his work was suppressed Blanchardian typology identified the basic difference between MTFs being either effeminate gay men or the opposite of the spectrum heterosexual men who develop a fetish known as autogynephilia. These two cohorts strongly overlap with comorbid conditions like narcissistic personality disorder – it is these cases who become notorious for abuse (or online activism).
For women there apear to be two groups as well, the butch lesbian and the teenage girl presenting as ROGD. In both cases they seem to be motivated by departing from norms of femininity. The latter type is much easier to feel sympathy for and do not present an immediate threat to women’s rights & prerogatives.
However in either scenario the “narrative” presented is false – these people do not have a “gender identity” that is converse to their biological sex – that is just the rationalisation presented since society wouldn’t be willing to go along with the suspension of disbelief just to allow eg some men to practice their fetish.
As Diane says most people are willing to let people do as they wish – the problem is that the demands of the trans movement necessarily have to come at others expense. Should women have to cede their rights to female spaces just to a small minority of men can practice their paraphilia?
The ideology and politics and “theory” of gender etc are just there to serve as retrograde rationalisations – to permit some to deny objective reality – and force others to go along out of faux-inclusion. Many ideologues welcome transgenderism since it goes long with their political objectives like abolishing cis/heteronormativity etc. This movement hurts women – either as individual victims and as a whole, it is galling that the maistream feminist movement allowed itself to be captured by it.
Gender identity ideology coalesces perfectly with the modern mainstream feminist movement and mainstream liberalism, which say that humans become magically empowered by just doing absolutely anything that goes against rules or established norms, traditions or morals. This is empowering for two- and four-year-olds, perhaps. Sometimes the establishment can be wrong, but there needs to be deeper analysis. There is little analysis of costs and benefits of an action for each individual or demographic or society, encouragement of individuals to weigh such factors before deciding on an action, or encouragement of individuals to analyze whether they are making conscious choices or simply enacting what are coerced to based on social expectations, stereotypes, or perceived or actual options. Any questioning or discussion is dismissed as bigotry.
I would definitely agree that the idea that human behavior is very rigidly “gendered” is very rightist, and the left provided the very fertile ground in which this bizarre gender identity ideology could thrive unchallenged.
1. Diana, first of all, I apologize for starting this discussion. In hindsight, I should not have come here to “comment” – the reason why I say this is because there are certain things that are happening very quickly in the world, that will result in very quick and absolute resolutions. The largest issue that you take to heart right now which is how transgenderism is hurting women, daughters and people in general, these will be resolved among other pressing issues. What you find to be insurmountable, unfair and illogical will be resolved without you having to “fight for its resolution.”
2. I believe I am motivated in my heart to provide answers to those who truly seek answers. I purposely do this incompletely so that the powers do not interpret me as a direct threat to their plans – so I am being very circumspect in my discussion here by only providing widely available links. Those who are motivated to move beyond their safe spaces can venture out. I recommend, however, that one should not continue digging further – unless one wants to invest the time and effort to find out what’s really going on…. It may not be pleasant. Then, again, it might be uplifting!
3. Unless you are, by nature, curious, and love rabbitholes. If you like making discoveries that help you understand humanity better….
4. The people on this site are concerned about how transgenderism affect women’s rights – and that is fundamental. But, the fulcrum to the power of the solution is not at this level – which is what I am trying to say earlier. LGB is not the root of transgenderism. Feminism is not the root of LGBT – but they all use the same tools and are created similarly for same objectives as they exist for the same reason. Artificial self-selection. This is the real reason. You have heard of natural selection by Charles Darwin and everybody knows that. I give you a Net definition: QUOTE the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution.Compare with survival of the fittest. UNQUOTE What is artificial self-selection and how does the above definition apply to artificial self-selection? What do the majority of the social and physical challenges in the world affect in the theory of natural selection on that definition of “produce more offspring?” And do you see the shared, engendered and promoted values in modern society that in behavior, values and communication patterns reduce the ability to “produce more offspring?” Do you see what I mean? Why many current trends that reduce offspring in society are PUSHED by the most powerful and biggest “organizations” in the world – including western governments? So, in this way, do you see the chained links of feminism, LGBT and a host of other social “trends” and why many of the most powerful lawmakers are encouraging western societies to engage in practices that over the long term do NOT ASSIST in their ability “produce more offspring?” Let us not even talk about physical challenges such as obesity, opioid and illegal drug addiction, cancer, alcoholism, smoking and so on – but all related. Go to this place and read this. https://thesecrettruthabout.com/the-georgia-guidestones-mystery/ Someone put it there and no one has been able to tear it down. Why? How are the words written there influencing global policies in modern times? Covid-19? The Global Reset talked about at the World Economic Forum weforum.org. This is not a conspiratory theory. You have to do the math. Actually, I truly meant artificial self-de-selection…. Get the point?
5. How do you solve the problem that is the raison détre of this website? Well, you don’t solve the problem at the individual level – it is not solveable at your level. It will be solved by the powers that created the problem in the first place! The only thing you can do, is you need to increase your ability to comprehend what is going on, what is going to happen and how you can “prepare yourself” for the New World. Like powering up by reading up on the 48 Laws: https://www.grahammann.net/book-notes/48-laws-of-power-robert-greene (a summary) Also, https://www.grahammann.net/book-notes/the-33-strategies-of-war-robert-greene Read the summaries then look at the all the issues that you consider important in a new light…. When you research this, you will find many techniques are used by various sides in society. Learn to see what they do. Left and right arguments are all illusory are meant to deceive the gullible….
6. There is the most interesting rabbithole in the world. http://www.libgen.lc
7. I am sorry if at the end I am not being helpful to all of you who want direct answers or a direct “win” on this issue. But there are two books that I have found helpful to myself in how I see the world today. The first is https://www.unz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ErectusWalksAmongstUs-Unz.pdf This book is only for truthseekers – not for everybody. It’s all in there – if you have the ability to discern and calculate! The second is Toward a Meaningful Life by Simon Jacobson which can be found in the most interesting rabbithole mentioned above. The second book is for people who find this life challenging, illogical and sometimes depressing, and they DO truly want answers. This is certainly not a book anyone should read – unless they are ready for making REAL changes in their lives – with positive results waiting for them!
8. I hope that I have been helpful. I hope the powers also understand that I am trying to help others whom I think are in real need, and do all please forgive me for being “meddlesome.” Thank you!
1. Diana, and readers of this site, I ask permission to add to my comments above (permission that Diana can grant, or not, I do accept that!). I respect you all, and recognize that I have a very different outlook on this issue than most people do. I do not believe I am right nor righteous (although I do sound like one…) – but I think all of us have to take it down to our individual selves, and the family members for whom we are responsible as fathers/mothers/guardians – and that is each of us must and does have choices. Even on this “unavoidable transgenderism issue.” But here are more points that I hope can ADD to our knowledge. I say the following with respect, and a deep sense of sharing, let me say that I KNOW ALL OF US have our own deep life experiences, and all of us have the capacity to feel, interpret, believe what is undeniably true for ourselves (but others will have TOTALLY different values and conclusions). I think at the end, the powers seem to be directing things to a head – yes, well we all have free choice, but for each choice there will be consequences…. (They seem to just do a wink-wink, and say, “Do choose carefully…”).
2. This article is a MUST read as it is Abigail Shirer, the author of this book, who has written: https://quillette.com/2020/11/07/gender-activists-are-trying-to-cancel-my-book-why-is-silicon-valley-helping-them/. I won’t write about her points here. One point only: QUOTE Many suspect that all this transitioning of girls is effectively euthanizing a generation of young lesbians.UNQUOTE This is also a reason that second wave traditional feminists are so very worried about the fourth wave feminists, who call their older sisters, “outdated and fighting last century’s wars” for not embracing gender issues in the new modern light – which is if you don’t fully support transgenderism, you are not supporting a clearly oppressed group, and therefore, you cannot be a feminist, but a TERF. For modern feminists to insult Germaine Greer, Billie Jean King and J.K. Rowling and say these trailblazing women are not making a contribution – is a travesty for feminism – and this is in itself, PROOF, there is something very wrong here. I still make this statement: the creation of this problem, is not at this basic level, hence, the solution is also NOT HERE, in discussing transgenderism. You can’t solve the transgenderism problem by trying to understand transgenderism! The motivated intransigents WILL NOT LET YOU! All movements that were spawned in the 20th century in the “enlightened liberation” movement are related by the same causes and consequences – and the end result is not ALL BAD for humanity. Much good came from liberation from the feudalistic systems of life prior to the 20th century. It’s just that every movement or swing of the pendulum, as it is in the Hegellian Dialectic, things MUST GO OVERBOARD so that a trans-reflex rebound results in “the best of all worlds.” They just have to blow things up, for things to settle down for the best case. Sounds crazy? Hey, I don’t make the rules – I just see games being played, people being manipulated – willingly – to achieve “better human ends” according to the powers – not according to you nor I!
3. My comments above are root level approaches where people who have a personal stake in transgenderism and are trying to create better world solutions, can use to deal with this issue. When you talk to parents of transgender afflicted children, professionals in the field, or even transgenders themselves, and try to “talk sense” to them – it’s like talking to an obese 300 pound man and telling him, being “obese is bad for health” which long before, you could say out of natural concern, but with the PC climate today, you will be accused of fatshaming and if it happened at work, you’d face very serious consequences. DING! DING! See the connection? No, not that obesity and transgenderism are causally related BUT it’s that ingrained automated rabid response to common sense values that are CLEARLY physically damaging to a human being, and you will be castigate as a FATSHAMING Nazi or a transphobe! There is the connection. And, you need to understand the transgender problem at this and higher levels.
4. I read two books (yes, I really did!) that EXPLAINS this higher level phenomenon PERFECTLY. I know not everyone has the time nor the inclination but if you want to know more, why Abigail is faving this, and I don’t think she is able to figure out why she is rabidly being attacked at her level by directly addressing the transgenderism issue. If you want to know all the WHY’s please read The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. On the specifics of the antecedents that cause the Whys and Hows of transgenderism as well as related “Lefty Manias” but not at the root levels that I talked about in my previous comment, please read The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray (he is “flamed” by the Lefties). MUST read books for anyone who is a regular reader of womenarehuman.com. Just my opinion, of course. If you are concerned about this, then GO DEEP, and never have to deal with the crazies who will affect your life – unless you know 100% why and how they became the way they are. I would like to suggest to Diana that posts can be made shed light on these two books as they are FUNDAMENTAL in explaining all the antecedents that caused transgenderism.
5. There is one huge contributing factor that I do not think has been covered by anybody – but as I have a background in the life sciences, I remembered this concept which I think is a KEY determinant of transgenderism (but most scientists and professionals will not agree with me, I know!). Have you heard about INFANT IMPRINTING? To make this simple, you hear of cases of ducklings that were hatched but no adult mother duck was with them. These ducklings bonded with a female dog that “look after them.” After a short while, these ducklings imprinted the dog as their mother. Imprinting is a genetically expressed response that ALL animals including human beings are born with, for survival purposes. So, a newborn child recognizes its mother’s scent within hours of life – without opening its eyes. As a child grows then the imprinting response is widened for learning the natural environment. In “feudalistic times,” males and females have very set and defines social and family roles that even a small infant growing up can recognize and internalize, and of course, perpetuate. What happens when in the evolution of modern society, with the advent of “societal changes” father and mothers are TOLD that they should not hurt their children’s development by emphasizing feudalistic roles of males and females in past oppressive environments. So, boys don’t get to play with guns, and girls get to play with guns. Girls should not wear dresses and there should be unisex dressing. Boys should wear dresses for a change to “keep things balanced.” Once this “philosophy” permeates a society en masse small children growing up get IMPRINTED with certain mannerisms that do not jive with their genetic determinants (yes, the pros will not accept this statement, I know) and in response, if a child growing up is not able to “deal” with it, I would think has a high possibility of being gender dysphoric. Of course, the other side will disagree with me, vehemently, of course, but WHY IS IT ANSOLUTELY CRUCIAL that gender, sexuality and sexual behavior are being forced on younger and younger children IF NOT for the actual reason of IMPRINTING them to cause, in certain cases, homosexuality, gender dysphoria or otherwise, confused growing-up child? It’s a SET-UP! So all you good parents, who decide to support gender equality by “not emphasizing the stereotypical actions, values and oppression” of the earlier feudalistic morons (the patriarchy), well you have the new generation of feminists, beta cucks, LGBT and of course, other enlightening multiple gender people of the fully inclusive gender-identity acronym that has 51 alphabets (LGBT….51 characters in all). I am sorry. This is not a new political philosophy. It is madness dressing up as normality – just as a man who dresses up as a woman, says that he is a woman. Where did that come from? And the parents who wilfully bring their children to the many Drag Queen Reading Hour events in public library…. I guess the Rainbow Unicorns the kindergarten teachers are showing the children will help them truly self-actualize…. We reap that which we sow…
6. I could write more, but then, I am going to stop here. I am only talking about tools – but if you read these two books, and use the “theory of artificial self-de-delection” in the advancement of human evolution, you would be a mighty warrior in going head to head with anyone who talks reason with you. But, know this, everyone on the other side, will not talk reason – they have slogans, they have their twitter special forces, and they use the tyranny of making you lose your job, or your reputation. Hhmm, does this not sound extremely strange? Perhaps these crazy people are being manipulated to become this way, to achieve certain aims, and then what? What do you think is going to happen to these crazies (especially if you have ALL the power and resources to make this world a better place in the future…and you can choose – with or without – them)?
6. In our humanness, we make choices on everything that defines our humanity. In learning, we make good and bad choices. Sometimes, we make bad choices, and bad things happen like transgenderism affecting our family and ourselves directly. I recommend that you IMPLEMENT all of Abigail Shirer’s solutions in the book to protect your children and yourselves, first, before thinking about “other people.” Enough said here – REALLY read the book, as they say. By the way, you can purchase these books from your local bookseller, and online that allows you 7 days FREE preview. Or one can go to interesting rabbitholes to see what’s in there. Remember if you think the books are worth it, go ahead and make the purchase and support these “truthsayers.”
7. Thank you, Diana, and dear readers. I do this because in my heart, I am compelled to do so. I hope you will find life’s meaning…. No, you don’t have to thank me. It would give me the greatest satisfaction to know that you have read what I have written and have found some things useful.
Here’s a comment I found on YouTube:
“FUN FACT. Science actually supports the fact that gender and sex are different entities. The suicide rate is sky high with transgender people. 66.5 percent of trans youth report having depression and 33 percent report having anxiety. These numbers are astronomical compared to cis people’s. Trans people without parents support have a 65 percent chance of attempting suicide, that number drops to practically 0. Parent acceptance literally saves lives and to see uneducated people try to incriminate something you have no experience with is absolutely disgusting
We don’t decide who someone else is. We can guide and influence a person. Doctors trained in gender dysphoria are qualified to decide when transitioning will help a child. The parents must also give consent. If a misdiagnosed child starts to transition then stops, they generally have very little change to overcome. If a child cannot transition until adulthood they are forced to endure the wrong hormones for years.
It’s the same as telling a misdiagnosed child then can’t stop taking the wrong hormones until they’re adults. It’s torture beyond imagining. Let’s not forget many children are GREATFUL for their time as the opposite sex. THERE IS NO PERFECT SOLUTION. Yes! Exactly true! So choose the path with the most success. That’s what doctors continue to do. The regret rate for children transitioning on hormones (age 16+) is around 2%. For some 2% is too much; yet they don’t seem to realize that the reverse means 98% have regret to save the 2%.”
The person who made the comment also posted a link to a video on why puberty blockers are supposedly safe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XYfffLMEQ
Comments like those piss me off since they are not only supporting child abuse, but they are also giving out misinformation. The person who made that comment is acting like doctors who are trained in gender dysphoria (who supposedly are qualified to decide when transitioning will help a child) are always going to be right all the time when in fact a lot of doctors (including psychiatrists) tend to be wrong a lot and make a lot of mistakes. Even the highest of experts can be wrong. Humans are very complicated, and children’s brains are still developing, so it’s impossible to understand how their mind and brain exactly works since their brain is not done developing.
Also, people like that need to realize that puberty blockers and sex change operations are man-made things, and were only invented just recently. Humans survived millions of years without those, and they can still survive without them too.
The part of the comment “If a misdiagnosed child starts to transition then stops, they generally have very little change to overcome” is very incorrect since if a child has had a sex change, their genitals will never work the same way ever again.
If someday, the person who transitioned as a child isn’t happy about transitioning, there’s no way they could exactly go back to the way they were before transitioning. The damage done to their body is permanent. So that could caused them depression and make them suicidal.
The problem with transgender supporters is that they act like everything is black and white when it isn’t. As for the video about why puberty blockers are safe. The person who made the video is transgender, and many transgender people tend to be biased when it comes to stuff like that, so it’s hard to know if the stuff they are saying is true or not.