Alex Frith’s Growing Up for Boys prompted outcry over passage saying breasts develop ‘to make the girl look grown up and attractive’

A book aimed at explaining human biology to boys that said one of the purposes of breasts was “to make the girl look grown up and attractive” is now being pulped.

Publisher Usborne was criticised over an extract from Alex Frith’s Growing Up for Boys earlier this week. Covering topics including girls, sex and relationships, the guide is intended to offer boys “advice on what to expect from puberty”, but readers took issue with a section on breasts that says: “Girls have breasts for two reasons. One is to make milk for babies. The other is to make the girl look grown up and attractive. Virtually all breasts, no matter what size or shape they end up when a girl finishes puberty, can do both things.”

Usborne apologises for puberty book that says breasts exist to make girls 'look grown-up and attractive' Read more

Once the paragraph was highlighted on Facebook by blogger Simon Ragoonanan, who writes about fatherhood at Man vs Pink, it was widely shared and criticised. Fen Coles at Letterbox Library described the lines as “ill thought out, regressive and irresponsible language”, adding that “the language used, bearing in mind this is a book ‘for boys’, strongly suggests that girls’ breasts exist for boys, for their admiration, for their gaze”.

On Tuesday, Usborne apologised for the content and said it would revise it in future issues. But it has now taken a step further, saying that it had “made a mistake”, and would be removing remaining stock from its warehouse and pulping it.

“Again we are very sorry indeed for any offence this has caused,” it said in a statement. “This particular chapter aimed to explain and demystify to boys what girls go through at puberty, and to promote mutual respect and understanding.”

The publisher said it recognised that the content needed revising, which was already under way. “Usborne stands against gender stereotyping, or any kind of objectification of women and girls,” the statement added. “It is our aim to create books that are engaging, educational, child-friendly and accurate, and which communicate the values of respect and understanding. We welcome all feedback that helps us to achieve this.”