Horrendous gender ideology book on the Waterstones Children's book award shortlist

[Vebrithien]

Couldn't find this mentioned anywhere here, but though it was too awful to ignore.

I've started a thread on the petition board, so please pop over there.

Waterstones have shortlisted a cartoon book that encourages pubescent girls to hate on their bodies, describing breasts as 'fatty lumps that need removing' onto their prestigious 2023 Children's book award.

The book is called 'my trans teen misadventure' and as well as validating teen anxiety, the book also openly promotes the use of puberty blockers for children, even though they have been banned in several countries on the grounds of safety.

The book even has an adult content advisory warning discreetly tucked away on the back, so it's anyone's guess why Waterstones think this is suitable for children.

What gets me about this is that because Waterstones have put it on their shortlist, the book will feature on sales displays that will be placed in areas with a high footfall of children and is likely to be picked up and browsed by them, especially because the story is in cartoon form.

It is a massive safeguarding concern, targeting young and vunerable children.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4768562-remove-this-inappropriate-and-unsafe-book-from-the-waterstones-childrens-book-award?reply=124827689

Couple more images, copies over from the earlier thread.

Hatred/disgust/and simple disgust with a changing body during puberty is incredibly common. Add in a bit of angst, autism, trauma and access to the internet and bingo you have an instant cure for all that ails you - cut it off and treat it with puberty blockers and cross sex hormones.

Sadly these treatments don't help. Depression and anxiety are not relieved because the underlying problems are still there. Suicide rates go up and many, many want to detransition when they realise what they have done.

So no, this book won't reassure 'trans teens', it will add to the media clamour telling vulnerable children that self mutilation is the answer.

I don’t even know where to start with @MishyJDI ’s “..being cis (🤮) is the only outcome”.

What “outcome”? “Outcome” to what, exactly?

“It validated teen anxiety” what do you mean by this?

I am not keen on Citizen Go in general. Are there other options for complaining/signing a petition?

That the totally normal ambiguous feelings that teens have about their bodies and going through puberty, can be completely solved by taking puberty blockers. Which have been scientifically shown to have significant problems.

And pushing the belief that a radical bilateral mastectomy is the best course of action for a teenager disconcerted by her changing body.

Off topic, but may I just point out that “radical” mastectomy is almost never performed nowadays- it was drastic cancer surgery involving the removal of not just the breast but all the underlying muscles of the chest wall.
What these girls are undergoing are bilateral “simple” mastectomies. But still absolutely shocking and with no rational indication for surgery.

Cutting your breasts off and shooting opposite sex hormones into your body is not the answer to adolescence.
It's uncomfortable and for girls even more so because boys behave badly.

How about instead of girls cutting off their breasts, parents and schools train boys to treat adolescent girls respectfully?
( and lock their phones against pornography)

@MishyJDI Completely agree with you! Until a couple of years back that is. I was 100% behind affirming my teen's gender wobbles. Understanding that sub 1% of folk felt this way. Hey ho. My kid was pretty rare and special. No worries. I love them and will support them through whatever. Then the realisation that this was their entire friendship group. So more like 30% of the school year. All of em the 'outsider' kids; autistic/ gay/ emo or alternative types. Basically not the mainstream, popular wannabes

So odd to think that only ten years or so ago feminists wrote books about the way young girls learned to hate their bodies and those feminist books tried to fight that trend.

Now we are told that if the misogynistic society makes you hate your body, you can have that body cut and reshaped and go on hormones and that way you will join those who shame that body. Freedom!

Have seen the book on Amazon (kindle version) and it is horrendous, suggesting that total mutilation is the way forward. Dangerous - would we promote anorexia in this way? Also sexist - the 'feminine' girl flicks her hair just like a TiM thinks women do. Yuk. Signed and put on Facebook.

Good point.

Quite incredible. They wouldn't dream of publishing a book for children with a single image or description that was negative about a child's appearance as regards their race.

Yet they will publish and even view as deserving of prizes a book that exists only to list all the things 'wrong' with a teenage girl's body in terms of her sex.

The misogyny is off the scale. Literally teaching vulnerable teenage girls to hate their growing bodies. It's so cruel.

That is monstrous.
Suggest sending it to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing. It was David Johnston, but dont know who it is or will be now.