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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Autism and Trans (blog)

12 replies

AfternoonToffee · 29/06/2021 11:48

The following blog has just been posted in one of my FB groups.

sensooli.com/blog/is-there-an-overlap-between-being-autistic-and-trans/?utm_campaign=Pride%20Month&utm_content=170967460&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-201318843243603&fbclid=IwAR3dJ_wtT1b92zW7SDVExDh8S56VlP5BuE1ApGqWDsdSonTt9rW1nE9BGaI

Apart from my initial thoughts that it is incredibly one sided I don't think it has actually addressed any of the questions of why and just concludes that we should just let them do what they want to do.

I want to respond but am struggling to verbalise my thoughts.

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peadarm · 29/06/2021 12:37

The main line of thought seems to be that people on the autistic spectrum are more likely to be ‘trans’ because they can see through social conventions. One might have thought this would mean understanding that a male displaying “typically ‘female’ traits” isn’t a big deal. And doesn’t mean they’re a woman. But the author instead correlates it to the gender- conforming view that stereotypical traits define male and female. And that in reality many more people are ‘really’ trans than realise it.

WomaninBoots · 29/06/2021 12:48

What a load of tripe. Lots of words. Says nothing concrete.

NonnyMouse1337 · 29/06/2021 13:37

It's quite a garbled and confused piece. Very poorly written. It doesn't explain what the male and female traits are and assumes the reader will automatically know what traits the writer is referring to. The explanations given are also bizarre and inadequate in explaining human behaviour.

All human beings are socialised from an early age into roles and stereotypes based on sex (there is a biological basis for this but a lot of it is also cultural/traditional).

Humans are also socialised from an early age into other kinds of cultural, religious, tribal and traditional values to fit in with the communities that we live in - our manners, our clothing, our language, accents, what we eat and how we eat, and so on. We aren't consciously aware of how we pick these things up. Some of this is taught explicitly - like parents teaching young children how to use a knife and fork to fit in with general western culture, or learning to use chopsticks if you live in East Asian cultures, or learning to use your hands in South Asian cultures etc.

But a lot of stuff in human cultures is implicit and neurotypicals seem adept at picking up these 'unwritten rules' and social mores and adapting their behaviour accordingly. They absorb ideas about how the sexes might behave and dress and interact with one another. No one conforms to all the expected rules and stereotypes for their sex, but it seems many neurotypicals eventually find a balance they are comfortable with - they adopt norms they are ok with and avoid ones that they don't particularly like. In fairly liberal and free societies, people are able to do this without any severe penalties or consequences thanks to past efforts to build a more tolerant and accepting society.

The difficulty that autistic people have is that it's very hard for us to understand and pick up on the myriad subtle and implicit rules and norms that are established in any particular society. It's not that autistic people entirely escape socialisation - they are also influenced by it. However, in many aspects of life, unless it is explicitly explained to us why something should be done in a particular way and if it makes sense, then an autistic person might not realise there are societal expectations around certain activities, behaviours, clothing, hobbies etc.

On the positive side, it means many autistic people are quite happy being different, they approach life from a different angle, wear what they like and enjoy the things they do even if it makes them stand out.

On the negative side, it can have a significant negative impact on the autistic person as they are acutely aware of not fitting in from an early age, finding themselves caught up in misunderstandings or inadvertently confusing/upsetting people, they are more likely to be bullied because they stick out from the crowd and so on. Add on issues like sensory stuff and it's unsurprising that many autistic people feel uneasy about themselves, their bodies and their place in society and might have great difficulty in reconciling with all the loaded expectations and rules that permeates every human society. Some may settle on a 'trans identity' as a way of explaining to themselves and others why they are the way they are. And if a society is more 'accepting' of a trans identity rather than allowing individuals to simply be themselves, then the temptation to adopt a trans identity is even more appealing.

Wallpapering · 29/06/2021 13:51

Firstly, it has been suggested that autism is inherently a gender defiant disorder-.

Thank fully it was short read blog post to what appears as business opportunities to also sell everything covered in rainbows.

Is this in Autism fb grp? Has anyone else commented on it? As my reply would depend on that due to most of these fb are too woke that it’s tip toeing around wording to make valid points before you eventually get kicked out group.

Personally I’d just want to let it go only because am so vexed bigger fish to fry in stuff being pushed out to women and girls with Autism so it’s also exhausting fighting every small fish so resent when have to

WarriorN · 29/06/2021 14:18

Nonnymouse has it entirely. 👏

Some of the children with asd I've taught have absolutely no interest in conforming with peers their age.

You'll have 11yr olds still completely enthralled by in the night garden and wanting all the merchandise. They don't care it's seen as babyish by neurotypical peers.

They'll wear the comfiest clothes as they hate anything scratchy. Don't care if the waistband is up high, that's comfy.

So not much difference when the young boy who loved Disney princesses and glitter from an early age like his older sister doesn't understand why he can't have long hair and wear dresses too. (Would only play football when I showed him a male football team in pink and a women's world final football match.)

Erin Brewer describes being diagnosed with adhd and so not behaving "like a girl" and being frequently told "its a boy's condition" as having an impact on her gender dysphoria, as well as an awful sexual assault.

WarriorN · 29/06/2021 14:26

REFERENCES
Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trend Cogn Sci., 6, 248

Well, to start with, this reference has been debunked, I think even by Cohen himself.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
Now that we understand what it means if someone is trans, we will look at what the research says about autistic trans people

Except it's the flimsiest explanation of trans ever:

I will, therefore, explain that the word ‘trans’ simply describes a person who’s experienced gender is different from the one they were assigned at birth.

So the whole thing is based on sexist stereotypes.

WarriorN · 29/06/2021 14:26

Sorry, bold is being a twat.

peadarm · 29/06/2021 16:09

....I learned a new word reading that blog: allistic. As in cisgender allistic.

Neurotypical was perhaps too easy, it can be worked out from existing words. Need to be a classical scholar to keep up....

AfternoonToffee · 29/06/2021 17:05

Thank you for all your thoughts, I'll read TT link as well (sorry been tied up with work)

Last time I looked it was all 'let people be who they want' and 'isn't it wonderful that they are embracing this.' If it wasn't a medical pathway, maybe, but it is and that is just waved away with little thought.

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NonnyMouse1337 · 29/06/2021 17:28

AfternoonToffee there is a Gender Critical Autistics group on Facebook if you are ever interested. Smile

AfternoonToffee · 29/06/2021 17:40

Thanks Nonny It is my ds who has autism.

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