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A review by trywii
Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult by Mary Margaret Olohan
1.0
** Disclaimer: This review is focused on the book itself and its contents. This is by no means a review intended to belittle or dismiss the experiences of those who have detransitioned. **
This is now the 11th book I’ve read that solely focuses on anti-trans messaging, and I’m at this point where I feel like I’m experience my own Groundhog’s Day. Most of the issues with the book are ones I’ve already covered in my other reviews (check my ‘I read it so you don’t have to’ bookshelf).
To avoid redundancy, I’ll just make a list of the problems that I cover more in-depth in my other reviews and then discuss the unique points afterward.
The similarities include but are not limited to:
- Inclusion of many right-wing conservative groups, such as the Heritage Foundation, that have active campaigns against LGB rights and women’s autonomy (of which many detransitioners are)
- The suggestion that seeing trans people talk about their experiences online or watching/reading media with trans people in it will somehow hypnotize the viewer into being trans
- Suggesting that people with mental illness, are neurodivergent, or those who have suffered abuse can’t be trans or can’t advocate for themselves…even as adults!
- Using the same handful of detransitioners for interviews as all the other books (this isn’t a *massive* issue, but I find it frustrating that anti-trans books seem to only find the same people over and over for quoting)
- Making the argument that even adults shouldn’t make the decision to transition, even if they’ve gone through lengthy mental and physical health requirements to do so
- Citing persons and studies which have been thoroughly disputed and considered illegitimate
- The author describing the effects of hormone therapy like it’s a horror movie regardless of how these attributes are widely understood and often desirable to those transitioning
- Lack of acknowledging that many of the detransitioners mentioned have converted and that religion may have played a role in their desires not to be trans
- Pointing to online orgs and accounts that are either defunct, deleted, have members who have distanced themselves for some time now, or have far less traction than the author implies
There’s more similarities, but again most of it would be repeating what I’ve already mentioned in other reviews.
One unique point is the mention of a specific clinic’s before and after photos, of which the author describes the nipples of these people ‘hardly…human’, which was an incredibly weird thing to say. I saw the photos myself, and scrolling through I could only find two sets of photos where the nipples looked dark and not as aesthetically typical. The rest were perfectly fine, and there were at least a few dozen I managed scroll through before needing to continue reading.
Another unique point is the mention of a CVS pharmacist who had refused to give a trans woman her transition-related medication, and the author chastises the CVS for condemning the pharmacist. I find it odd that the author thinks that a pharmacist refusing medication to a patient on the basis of their own religion is a good thing. If one’s job requires the actions that are against someone’s religious beliefs, perhaps that’s not the right career choice for that individual.
There’s also the use of “transgender-promoting”, but the author doesn’t clarify what exactly that means or if there’s a difference between “promoting” being trans or simply a person who is trans existing publicly online and/or in-person.
Speaking of, for no sensible reason I can think of, the author brings up Dylan Mulvaney and her one (1) sponsored instagram post by Bud Light and treats it as if Bud Light was somehow smearing all the women of the world by having Dylan make a 30 second video on her page. It’s 2024, the clip was inoffensive and was posted over a year ago; If you’re still pissing your pants about it you gotta grow up.
“I believe the tide is turning…” The author says, although after reading so many books on the exact same topic, I have to wonder…is it? With the repetitive nature and the sinking amount of reviews of anti-trans books as time passes, I can’t help shake my head knowing the conservative push against LGBT people isn’t going to help detransitioners in the end.
These conservatives aren’t flying Chloe Cole across the US to advocate for accessible and affordable mental health care, The Daily Wire isn’t demanding that people take autism awareness seriously, The Heritage Foundation isn’t working tireless hours to work with schools on educating students about sexual violence amongst themselves and from adults and where/who to report to, Mary Olohan isn’t pleading with parent readers to keep an open mind when their child is expressive with their masculinity/femininity.
No, the end goal isn’t to help people follow along the path that best suits them; The goal is to push LGBT people back into the dark of the closet and quietly close the door.
This is now the 11th book I’ve read that solely focuses on anti-trans messaging, and I’m at this point where I feel like I’m experience my own Groundhog’s Day. Most of the issues with the book are ones I’ve already covered in my other reviews (check my ‘I read it so you don’t have to’ bookshelf).
To avoid redundancy, I’ll just make a list of the problems that I cover more in-depth in my other reviews and then discuss the unique points afterward.
The similarities include but are not limited to:
- Inclusion of many right-wing conservative groups, such as the Heritage Foundation, that have active campaigns against LGB rights and women’s autonomy (of which many detransitioners are)
- The suggestion that seeing trans people talk about their experiences online or watching/reading media with trans people in it will somehow hypnotize the viewer into being trans
- Suggesting that people with mental illness, are neurodivergent, or those who have suffered abuse can’t be trans or can’t advocate for themselves…even as adults!
- Using the same handful of detransitioners for interviews as all the other books (this isn’t a *massive* issue, but I find it frustrating that anti-trans books seem to only find the same people over and over for quoting)
- Making the argument that even adults shouldn’t make the decision to transition, even if they’ve gone through lengthy mental and physical health requirements to do so
- Citing persons and studies which have been thoroughly disputed and considered illegitimate
- The author describing the effects of hormone therapy like it’s a horror movie regardless of how these attributes are widely understood and often desirable to those transitioning
- Lack of acknowledging that many of the detransitioners mentioned have converted and that religion may have played a role in their desires not to be trans
- Pointing to online orgs and accounts that are either defunct, deleted, have members who have distanced themselves for some time now, or have far less traction than the author implies
There’s more similarities, but again most of it would be repeating what I’ve already mentioned in other reviews.
One unique point is the mention of a specific clinic’s before and after photos, of which the author describes the nipples of these people ‘hardly…human’, which was an incredibly weird thing to say. I saw the photos myself, and scrolling through I could only find two sets of photos where the nipples looked dark and not as aesthetically typical. The rest were perfectly fine, and there were at least a few dozen I managed scroll through before needing to continue reading.
Another unique point is the mention of a CVS pharmacist who had refused to give a trans woman her transition-related medication, and the author chastises the CVS for condemning the pharmacist. I find it odd that the author thinks that a pharmacist refusing medication to a patient on the basis of their own religion is a good thing. If one’s job requires the actions that are against someone’s religious beliefs, perhaps that’s not the right career choice for that individual.
There’s also the use of “transgender-promoting”, but the author doesn’t clarify what exactly that means or if there’s a difference between “promoting” being trans or simply a person who is trans existing publicly online and/or in-person.
Speaking of, for no sensible reason I can think of, the author brings up Dylan Mulvaney and her one (1) sponsored instagram post by Bud Light and treats it as if Bud Light was somehow smearing all the women of the world by having Dylan make a 30 second video on her page. It’s 2024, the clip was inoffensive and was posted over a year ago; If you’re still pissing your pants about it you gotta grow up.
“I believe the tide is turning…” The author says, although after reading so many books on the exact same topic, I have to wonder…is it? With the repetitive nature and the sinking amount of reviews of anti-trans books as time passes, I can’t help shake my head knowing the conservative push against LGBT people isn’t going to help detransitioners in the end.
These conservatives aren’t flying Chloe Cole across the US to advocate for accessible and affordable mental health care, The Daily Wire isn’t demanding that people take autism awareness seriously, The Heritage Foundation isn’t working tireless hours to work with schools on educating students about sexual violence amongst themselves and from adults and where/who to report to, Mary Olohan isn’t pleading with parent readers to keep an open mind when their child is expressive with their masculinity/femininity.
No, the end goal isn’t to help people follow along the path that best suits them; The goal is to push LGBT people back into the dark of the closet and quietly close the door.