Came across this really interesting paper from 2016 looking at how ASC (autism spectrum conditions) present differently in women, and how girls and women become expert at masking their conditions.
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-016-2872-8
There's a section at the end on 'forging an identity as a woman with ASD' which concerns young women’s perceptions of social gender stereotypes that they had felt pressured to, struggled to, and at times, refused to fulfil.
It says: Young women’s opinions varied regarding gender-stereotypical roles. Whilst some openly rejected gender-based theories of behaviour: “[I don’t] really accept the validity of gender stereotypes” or ‘status quo’ behaviours...
And it talks about how several were sexually abused in relationships because they adopted passive personalities and didn't know how to say 'no' and also how they struggled to build friendships with neurotypical girls because their conversation and small talk was so nuanced with expressions they struggled to read, that they preferred friendships with boys who were more straightforward:
Another remembered feeling intimidated by neurotypical teenage girls and had experienced rejection for being seen as “one iota different from them”. In contrast, a number of young women said they felt more at ease in their friendships with males. This was not thought to be related to biological sex, but to society ‘allowing’ men to be more straightforward, and this being a communication style that suited women with ASC better:
“I just feel so much more comfortable with men because they’re more, you can take them at face value and its not that fear of them judging you or having alternative motives and thoughts and they kind of say things straight.”
Which strikes me as a clue to why ASD girls might be seeking to transition to boys, so they can express themselves in a way that suits them, in a more 'male' fashion, but without the pressure of being hit on by the boys.
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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
Autism in women and gender stereotypes
61 replies
Z0rr0 · 05/07/2020 17:34
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