Abigail Shrier — Irreversible Damage
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters is a book by American journalist Abigail Shrier. It was published on June 30, 2020, by Regnery Publishing. In the United Kingdom, Swift Press published it with the subtitle Teenage Girls and the Transgender Craze. We have not been able to find a Dutch translation.
The main article on this subject is Abigail Shrier.
What it is about
Shrier describes the sharp increase in the number of teenage girls identifying as transgender. She spoke with parents, young people, doctors, and women who came to regret their transition. The book draws on Lisa Littman’s hypothesis of rapid-onset gender dysphoria and argues that peer groups and social media play a role. Shrier warns of the lasting consequences of hormones and surgery.
Reception and criticism
The book is highly controversial. Critics point out that the ROGD hypothesis has not been scientifically confirmed and argue that Shrier relies primarily on parents’ accounts. Amazon employees asked the company to stop selling it. Supporters see the book as an early warning in the debate about young people and gender care.
The author and the publication
Shrier trained as a lawyer: she studied philosophy at Columbia University and the University of Oxford, and law at Yale Law School. From 2018 to 2020, she wrote opinion pieces for The Wall Street Journal. Swift Press’s British edition was released in December 2020 as an e-book and hardcover, and in June 2021 as a paperback. In the book, Shrier compares the increase with earlier waves of eating disorders among teenage girls. She also discusses school policies and social media influencers.
What happened after publication
Retail chain Target removed the book from its stores following complaints, then later brought it back. Shrier explained her views on Joe Rogan’s podcast, which led to complaints from Spotify employees. Jack Turban accused her of misrepresenting and omitting scientific evidence. In contrast, the book received praise from, among others, Kenneth Zucker and Helen Joyce, who recommended it to parents in The Economist. The Economist included it on its list of the best books of 2020, and The Times named it one of the best books of 2021. The hypothesis underlying the book goes back to Littman’s 2018 study; more about the researcher can be found in this archive under Lisa Littman.