Abigail Shrier

{{Infobox person

| name = Abigail Shrier

| image = Abigail Shrier on Talking Chimps.jpg

| caption = Shrier in 2020

| birth_name = Abigail Brett Krauser{{Cite web|url=https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2007/06/achievement_and.html|title=Achievement and Reasonable Pride|date=June 10, 2007|via=blogs.com}}

| birth_place = Maryland, U.S.

| education = Columbia University (BA)
University of Oxford (BPhil)
Yale University (JD)

| known_for = Irreversible Damage (2020)

| occupation = {{hlist|Author|journalist}}

| homepage = {{URL|abigailshrier.com}}

}}

Abigail Shrier is an American author and former opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal.{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2024/02/abigail-shrier-bad-therapy-book-unfortunately-liberal-parenting-can-be-highly-mockable.html|title=Who's Making the Kids Cry?|first=Anna|last=Nordberg|date=February 27, 2024|via=slate.com}}

Early life and education

Shrier is the daughter of Peter B. Krauser and Sherrie L. Krauser, both judges in the state of Maryland. She grew up in a Conservative synagogue, and was educated in a Jewish day school that was predominately Conservative.{{cite web |last1=Shrier |first1=Abigail |title=The Hollow Promise Of Jewish Identity |url=https://www.jta.org/2017/11/14/ny/the-hollow-promise-of-jewish-identity |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=14 November 2017}} She graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, and earned a Kellett Fellowship. She then attended the University of Oxford, where she received a B.Phil. in philosophy, and Yale Law School, where she was a Coker Fellow.{{Cite web|title=Abigail Shrier|url=https://www.writersreps.com/Abigail-Shrier|access-date=2020-11-26|website=www.writersreps.com}}{{Cite web|title=Abigail Shrier|url=https://www.regnery.com/author/abigail-shrier|access-date=2020-11-26|website=Regnery Publishing|language=en-US}}{{cite news |last1=Strimpel |first1=Zoe |author1-link=Zoe Strimpel |title=Abigail Shrier: Taking on the trans lobby has made me Public Enemy No 1 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/abigail-shrier-taking-trans-lobby-has-made-public-enemy-no-1/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=30 April 2022}}

Career

From 2018 through 2020, Shrier wrote opinion pieces for the Wall Street Journal.

In 2020, Shrier's book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters{{cite web |last=Schuster |first=Allison |date=November 5, 2020 |title=Review: 'Irreversible Damage: The gender dysphoria facing our Daughters' |url=http://hillsdalecollegian.com/2020/11/review-irreversible-damage-the-gender-dysphoria-facing-our-daughters/ |access-date=November 26, 2020 |website=Hillsdale Collegian |language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=Our girls are being irreversibly damaged by the transgender craze: Book review |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/our-girls-are-being-irreversibly-damaged-by-the-transgender-craze-book-review.html |access-date=November 26, 2020 |website=www.christianpost.com |language=en}} was published by Regnery Publishing. The book supports the rapid onset gender dysphoria hypothesis.{{efn|name=fn1}}{{cite web |last=Holve |first=Erin |date=October 11, 2020 |title=Abigail Shrier and the Dangers of Making Psychological Assertions from Limited Data |url=https://theorion.com/85233/opinion/abigail-shrier-and-the-dangers-of-making-psychological-assertions-from-limited-data/ |access-date=December 13, 2020 |website=The Orion}}{{cite book |last=Shrier |first=Abigail |title=Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters |publisher=Blackstone Publishing |year=2020 |isbn= |location= |pages=}}{{Rp|ch 2}} Shrier has previously criticised individuals who use the singular they, comparing it to idol worship.{{cite news |last=Shrier |first=Abigail |date=August 29, 2018 |title=The Transgender Language War |language=en-US |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-transgender-language-war-1535582272 |type=Opinion |access-date=December 13, 2020 |issn=0099-9660}}{{cite thesis |title=Pronouns, Prescriptivism, and Prejudice: Attitudes toward the Singular 'They', Prescriptive Grammar, and Nonbinary Transgender People |url=https://hammer.figshare.com/articles/thesis/Pronouns_Prescriptivism_and_Prejudice_Attitudes_toward_the_Singular_They_Prescriptive_Grammar_and_Nonbinary_Transgender_People/12231095/1 |publisher=Purdue University Graduate School |page=36 |date=May 5, 2020 |doi=10.25394/PGS.12231095.v1 |language=en-US |last=Hernandez, Ellis}} Shrier appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience to discuss her views on transgender people, a conversation that was also streamed on Spotify and subsequently sparked complaints from the platform's employees.{{cite news |last=Steele |first=Anne |date=October 31, 2020 |title=Joe Rogan's Podcast Sparks Tensions Inside Spotify |language=en-US |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-rogans-podcast-sparks-tensions-inside-spotify-11604156400 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |issn=0099-9660}} Her book was controversial for its views about transgender issues{{cite news |title=Threats over trans book |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/author-faces-threats-after-she-warns-of-trans-epidemic/news-story/1d7fd8acec64672a9441b8a797d4e9ab |work=The Australian |access-date=December 13, 2020 |url-access=subscription}} and has been described by the author{{cite news |last=Shrier |first=Abigail |date=November 15, 2020 |title=Opinion {{!}} Does the ACLU Want to Ban My Book? |language=en-US |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-the-aclu-want-to-ban-my-book-11605475898 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |issn=0099-9660}} and other commentators as subject to a campaign of censorship.{{cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Jonathan |title=Commentary: Why efforts to censor Abigail Shrier's book will backfire and hurt transgender people |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-censorship-cancel-culture-abigail-shrier-transgender-20201123-sifw7khysrdpnbnj66qxp6yiam-story.html |access-date=November 26, 2020 |website=chicagotribune.com}}{{cite web |last=Shapiro |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Shapiro |date=November 21, 2020 |title=Ben Shapiro: They want to shut you up |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2020/11/21/Ben-Shapiro-They-want-to-shut-you-up/stories/202011210016 |access-date=December 13, 2020 |website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |language=en}} It was first withdrawn,{{cite web |url=https://bookandfilmglobe.com/author-stuff/abigail-shrier/ |title=Target Pulls Anti-Trans Book from Shelves |last=Smith |first=Katie |date=November 13, 2020 |website=Book & Film Globe |access-date=December 13, 2020}} and then reinstated, by retailer Target. The Economist gave the book a positive review,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/11/28/a-book-on-transitioning-girls-is-denounced-as-transphobic |title=Miss gender – A book on transitioning girls is denounced as transphobic |date=November 28, 2020 |magazine=The Economist |location=Washington, D.C. |publication-place=London |access-date=December 13, 2020 |url-access=registration}} and included it in their 2020 list of Economist Books of the Year.{{cite magazine |date=December 5, 2020 |title=Cold comforts – Our books of the year |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/12/05/our-books-of-the-year |url-access=registration |access-date=December 13, 2020 |magazine=The Economist}} A reader erected a billboard in Los Angeles that read, "Get the facts, read this book", in support of the ideas in the book.{{cite web |last=Showalter |first=Brandon |date=October 27, 2020 |title='Puberty is not a medical condition' billboard unveiled in Los Angeles; push for other cities starts |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/puberty-is-not-a-medical-condition-billboard-unveiled-in-la.html |access-date=December 13, 2020 |website=www.christianpost.com |language=en}} Her book was criticized by psychiatrist Jack Turban in 2020 for misinterpreting and omitting scientific evidence to support her claims.{{cite news |author-link=Jack Turban |last=Turban |first=Jack |date=June 12, 2020 |title=New Book "Irreversible Damage" Is Full of Misinformation |work=Psychology Today |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/political-minds/202012/new-book-irreversible-damage-is-full-misinformation |access-date=August 12, 2020}} Time Magazine also reported that hundreds of Amazon employees petitioned to stop the book's sale on Amazon, criticizing its harmful portrayal of the transgender community.https://time.com/6080670/irreversible-damage-trans-book-amazon/

In 2024, Shrier published Bad Therapy: Why the Kids aren't Growing Up, which details her thoughts on the origins and solution to the American mental health crisis.{{Cite web|url=https://www.city-journal.org/article/review-of-bad-therapy-why-the-kids-arent-growing-up/|title=When Every Day is a Mental Health Day}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/f6f70c72-571d-4573-bf7b-d6dd0bf70997|title=Bad Therapy — is the 'cure' for children worse than the disease?|website=www.ft.com}}

In 2025, she was awarded the RealClearPolitics Samizdat Prize, alongside Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, and Jonathan Turley.https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/01/17/eyes_on_the_prize_samizdat_152211.html

References

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=fn1|WPATH Global Board of Directors, [https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2018/9_Sept/WPATH%20Position%20on%20Rapid-Onset%20Gender%20Dysphoria_9-4-2018.pdf WPATH Position on "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD)"] (4 September 2018); accessed 30 May 2019. "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD)" is not a medical entity recognized by any major professional association, nor is it listed as a subtype or classification in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Therefore, it constitutes nothing more than an acronym created to describe a proposed clinical phenomenon that may or may not warrant further peer-reviewed scientific investigation. At present, WPATH asserts that knowledge of the factors contributing to gender identity development in adolescence is still evolving and not yet fully understood by scientists, clinicians, community members, and other stakeholders in equal measure."}}

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