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This book, “My Trans Teen Misadventure for Children. WTF???

114 replies

TheWorldisGoingMad · 07/03/2023 13:24

I know this post may offend and I'm sorry if it does. But I feel children need to be protected. If parents don't know what books may be in their school libraries, how do they counteract the information?

This book, “My Trans Teen Misadventure,” has been nominated for UK bookseller Waterstones Children’s Book Prize of 2023.

AIBU to think this is a dangerous book for children's mental health and body image. I find it seriously worrying that children have access to books like this from an early age. I feel sends a message to vulnerable girls that the answer to dis-ease in their bodies is irreversible medication and surgery.

OP posts:
GrammarTeacher · 26/06/2024 11:45

I disagree about this book (have you read the whole thing?). And that's fine. And yes I have had books I haven't recommended (or changed what I've taught) based on information about specific students. But in general I have no problem recommending this book. It isn't as shocking as people think and is aimed at the upper end of the YA age range.

LostTheMarble · 26/06/2024 11:40

GrammarTeacher · 26/06/2024 11:15

There is nothing inappropriate about recommending an age appropriate book to a student. If there was a specific issue around a topic and a student I would like to think staff would be aware.
For a non-related example we check before teaching A Monster Calls in case there's anything we need to know to support students.
Would you also have an issue with Heartstopper?

There is nothing inappropriate about recommending an age appropriate book to a student.

When the book in question is pushing self harm ideology in a positive manner, of course it’s an issue. As someone above has mentioned, would you recommend a book that pushes self hating ideals in other ways, such as pointing out how someone suffering with anorexia would ‘fix’ themselves? Of course it’s inappropriate to suggest literature on to children who are still maturing, that promotes the idea that their bodies are wrong but can be fixed with unnecessary medical procedures.

What is actually needed is books specifically for young neurodivergent people explaining why puberty seems so much more difficult to process, and that their bodies are not wrong or need to be fixed like those before them were lead to believe. Because thanks to adults like you, who are leading with their own belief systems and ‘be kind’ attitudes, you are inadvertently (or at least you’d hope) leading many children with autism or traumatic childhoods down a path of complete misunderstanding of what is the cause of their physical hatred.

GrammarTeacher · 26/06/2024 11:15

There is nothing inappropriate about recommending an age appropriate book to a student. If there was a specific issue around a topic and a student I would like to think staff would be aware.
For a non-related example we check before teaching A Monster Calls in case there's anything we need to know to support students.
Would you also have an issue with Heartstopper?

LostTheMarble · 26/06/2024 10:26

GrammarTeacher · 26/06/2024 07:25

I've read the book. It isn't grooming. For other reasons around age appropriateness it's not one I have ordered for the school library. It is however, one I've recommended to sixth form students.

If at 16/17, my (vulnerable to gender ideology grooming) ASD children were recommended this book by a teacher, I’d be hauling their backside through every safeguarding/complaint procedure going. I hope other parents have the sense to do the same when they find out how inappropriate you’ve been.

fliptopbin · 26/06/2024 09:44

Its interesting that people who have actually read the book deem to think it is not grooming or indoctrination, whereas those who have only read the free sample are going crazy.
Also, who resurrected the zombie thread?

ReadtheReviews · 26/06/2024 09:31

What about a book called My Teen Anorexic Years with a diagram that said 'fat thighs, mouth that needs to stop eating, stupid rumbling tummy' etc? Cool to market to 14 year olds?

GrammarTeacher · 26/06/2024 07:25

I've read the book. It isn't grooming. For other reasons around age appropriateness it's not one I have ordered for the school library. It is however, one I've recommended to sixth form students.

nothingcomestonothing · 26/06/2024 07:22

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Well I don't know about anyone else, but that's me convinced

Sondheimisademigod · 26/06/2024 05:54

TheWorldisGoingMad · 07/03/2023 13:24

I know this post may offend and I'm sorry if it does. But I feel children need to be protected. If parents don't know what books may be in their school libraries, how do they counteract the information?

This book, “My Trans Teen Misadventure,” has been nominated for UK bookseller Waterstones Children’s Book Prize of 2023.

AIBU to think this is a dangerous book for children's mental health and body image. I find it seriously worrying that children have access to books like this from an early age. I feel sends a message to vulnerable girls that the answer to dis-ease in their bodies is irreversible medication and surgery.

Well, you are clearly bedside yourself with rage, so what are you goung to do next? Plenty of replies here, varying views to help inform your decisionshould we be going for a full class action against the author? The publisher? The distributor? Waterstones? Our local library?
Or are you going to expose it on GMB?
Please do let us know and thank you so much for bringing it to our attention.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 26/06/2024 05:46

I see David Tennant's on the thread! Hmm

Cabbageandcoconut · 25/06/2024 23:42

I can’t comment on the book but I used my library card as a teen in the 90s specifically and only to root out eating disorder memoirs which I would use as how-to manuals. There were loads and still are. Presumably they were designed as warnings but it certainly wasn’t their effect on me.

FrothyCothy · 25/06/2024 23:15

Holy thread revival Batman

cherish123 · 25/06/2024 23:15

Very harmful for children.

fud18 · 25/06/2024 23:13

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

StephanieSuperpowers · 22/09/2023 11:37

DisappearingGirl · 22/09/2023 11:05

If this was a book about a teenage female saying I felt different, I struggled to accept my body, I didn't like girly stuff, and if you're like me that's okay - I would be okay with the book I think.

However a book for teens saying if you don't feel feminine then it's a good idea to have a double mastectomy and lifelong hormones - I am not okay with this.

Indeed. And I'm dismayed that teachers think that it's appropriate to fling this stuff around. There are children who might be on that pathway and might find it helpful, but if there are, it should be their therapist that recommends such a book to them, not a teacher who is just not qualified in this area.

DisappearingGirl · 22/09/2023 11:05

If this was a book about a teenage female saying I felt different, I struggled to accept my body, I didn't like girly stuff, and if you're like me that's okay - I would be okay with the book I think.

However a book for teens saying if you don't feel feminine then it's a good idea to have a double mastectomy and lifelong hormones - I am not okay with this.

WhichOfThePickwickTripletsDidIt · 22/09/2023 08:41

The argument that people who dislike this toxic, sexist, stereotype-pushing crap are the equivalent of homophobes from earlier generations is so obviously backwards, and yet it gets reiterated again and again and again.

Bottom of the barrel stuff.

OMG12 · 21/09/2023 19:49

nothingcomestonothing · 21/09/2023 19:25

Well that's confusing as PP said it's not aimed at girls Confused so I was hoping they were going to explain what a trans boy is and how they are not girls...

I doubt they can without getting into somrOlympic gold medal gymnastics. So thought I’d clarify what a trans boy is to help them out.

nothingcomestonothing · 21/09/2023 19:25

OMG12 · 21/09/2023 18:02

Presumably teenage girls who for some reason consider they are boys despite their sex remaining female.

Well that's confusing as PP said it's not aimed at girls Confused so I was hoping they were going to explain what a trans boy is and how they are not girls...

OMG12 · 21/09/2023 18:02

nothingcomestonothing · 20/09/2023 13:42

Please define a trans boy?

Presumably teenage girls who for some reason consider they are boys despite their sex remaining female.

nothingcomestonothing · 20/09/2023 13:42

ALLJ · 20/09/2023 13:16

Because it's not aimed at young girls, it's aimed at trans boys who are teenagers, not children teenagers.

Maybe read the actual book instead of just looking at this one page.

Please define a trans boy?

ALLJ · 20/09/2023 13:16

Because it's not aimed at young girls, it's aimed at trans boys who are teenagers, not children teenagers.

Maybe read the actual book instead of just looking at this one page.

Mommymoments · 22/03/2023 20:34

@ProfessorFusspot fantastic post. There's many companies profiting from the trans agenda.

ProfessorFusspot · 22/03/2023 20:03

ProbablyDogNappersHunX · 22/03/2023 17:48

Bullshit.

I just went and looked up the NHS cost comparison charts for oestrogen. The amount spent for a 28 day supply of oestrogen varies from £1.19 to £10.93.

Even if you assume someone takes it for the next 60 years, that's approx £928 for a lifetime supply of the cheapest option.

By comparison, Zolgensma costs the NHS £1.79 million per dose.

This is a baseless conspiracy theory. If drug companies were shilling for extra money, they'd be putting their efforts into shifting more expensive drugs than estrogen.

Cross-Sex Hormone Therapy isn't the same regime as Hormone Replacement Therapy. It's typically a cocktail of drugs carefully calibrated to enhance the visible characteristics of the target sex, reduce the visible characteristics of the original (birth, biological) sex, and mitigate undesirable or unexpected impacts. The effects of testosterone and estrogen are very different depending on whether they're applied to a body that has been producing them since puberty and now has depleted levels (e.g., at menopause) vs a body that has never produced them. And the level of knowledge about cross-sex hormone use is far lower than about same-sex; many treatements are still experimental and there is big money in research.

As part of a full transition, a hormone regime is carefully monitored and adjusted, initially at least month to month. The raw materials are typically quite inexpensive (could be as low as $30-50/month* for everything you need); it's the ongoing expertise and damage control that costs. There's a lot of money in insurance coverage as well, for those who can afford it. Unfortunately, some transitioners forgo a lot of this, especially in countries where many people don't have medical coverage or it doesn't cover this type of treatment or they're too young to access it, and use grey market drugs/DIY.

There's major money in cosmetic surgeries, and often the total cost there will include lengthy consultations, hospital stays, anaesthetics, medication, etc. in addition to the actual procedure. Your basic penile inversion currently runs around $140K plus another $30K+ if you want a facsimile clitoris. The standard surgery for women wanting to transition to male is only about $125K but does not result in sexually functional results. So again, more huge money is in research - a new method which MIGHT achieve functionality for FTM has been proposed but the price tag is something like $1 million per operation.

But these are the rarer surgeries, at least for MTF transitioners - supposedly in the UK, only 10% of the applicants for a GRC have had Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) of any kind. Breast reductions, mastectomies, and breast augmentations are a lot more common, as well as all kinds of cosmetic surgeries like facial feminisation/masculinisation, narrowing or widening of hands and feet, sculpting of various areas of the body (similar to cosmetic surgeries available to anyone, but in this case with a specific goal of superficial masculinisation or feminisation).

There's also, of course, a big market in selling a completely new wardrobe, accessories, personal care, cosmetics, etc. to someone who (1) is convinced that a new "appearance" is needed and (2) is insecure and sometimes even frightened about being identified as trans, or as the original rather than the target sex. Not throwing shade here, but crossdressers (whether or not they consider themselves "trans", although Stonewall UK says all crossdressers are) have historically been notoriously attractive customers for retailers because the element of secrecy meant one single customer might buy and dispose of a new outfit and "look" on a weekly basis or even more often. Hair is another big one, whether its removal of facial and body hair and often the need to cover up male-pattern baldness for MTF transitioners, or the encouragement of facial and body hair if FTM. You get the idea - anyway, it's not just estrogen!

*My numbers are USD, sorry - the current mid-market rate is 1 USD = 0.84 GBP if anyone cares to convert.

lifeturnsonadime · 22/03/2023 17:58

ProbablyDogNappersHunX · 22/03/2023 17:48

Bullshit.

I just went and looked up the NHS cost comparison charts for oestrogen. The amount spent for a 28 day supply of oestrogen varies from £1.19 to £10.93.

Even if you assume someone takes it for the next 60 years, that's approx £928 for a lifetime supply of the cheapest option.

By comparison, Zolgensma costs the NHS £1.79 million per dose.

This is a baseless conspiracy theory. If drug companies were shilling for extra money, they'd be putting their efforts into shifting more expensive drugs than estrogen.

And that's your take rather than horror that children are being brainwashed into believing you can be born in the wrong body, into believing mutilating surgeries and a lifetime of drugs is the answer?

Rather than saying that they are perfect the way they are and that it is impossible to change sex.