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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   29233 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 19, 2024

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Meanwhile, female autists are more heavily socialised into following neurotypical norms and thus present in a neurotypical manner, so they do not register as being autistic.

Autism = male may yet change. In academia, a lot of women I know have embraced autism as an identity (along with ADHD) and talk a lot about it, especially when explaining why they are falling short of being Hyper-Achieving Boss Bitches, and why they should have special accommodations. (Female) autism seems to be more acceptable as a public explanation of shortcomings than anxiety or depression, even though the latter are presumably more widespread. In contrast, I don't see male autistic academics talk about it at all in even semi-public forums e.g. Facebook.

Female autists seem to have a very... rosy view of what being an autistic man is actually like. It is widely stated in their spaces that we are not punished for our transgressions against NT norms, that we receive early intervention and support and generally live happier lives. Personally, I did not receive a diagnosis until I was 10 and received no help from any government institution until I was 23, and this help I received purely because I had crashed out of uni and entered a multi year NEET torpor, and the reason for this is that I spent all of my childhood and and teenagerhood being bantered to death because I wasn't even given the support I talked about in the OP.

If they expect any kind of help outside of an academic environment, they will be bitterly disappointed. Those male academics long ago learned to shut their pie hole.

I think you're right. I have a friend in academia who's been trying to convince me that I'm actually autistic rather than my previous diagnoses of anxiety and depression. And I'll admit that it would be nice to have that diagnosis instead, even though I don't think I'm autistic, and certainly don't fall far on the spectrum if I am. Autism just feels like a more tangible/acceptable disorder than simply saying depression/anxiety. Though my friend seems more into the idea of it being an identity for me than anything else.

Men don’t win points for having a disadvantage labeled.

Neurodiversity is all the rage these days, but there a giant penis-sized asymmetry for how such labels work out for women vs. men in being perceived.

“What a loser” vs. “oh you poor thing” is the default response, because biology is real and our instincts have us value men differently for showing weakness, even when it’s not fair.

Yeah, pretty much. The fact I am alive solely because of technological excess and slave morality is really quite unsettling to me.

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