Telling the difference between aspie and transgender traits

Page 2 of 2 [ 18 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

green0star
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2016
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,415
Location: blah

21 Oct 2016, 8:38 am

TheHaywire wrote:
Well if you act and feel like the opposite gender, are you in the wrong body? Some would argue that you are either cis or trans, but I think it is a lot more complicated than that.


If you're not trans and definetly not cis then chances are you are genderqueer like me. I don't think I ever related to the idea of being a female nor being self identified as one. After learning that I am genderqueer, to self identify as a cis female would make me feel worse then a defective human.



Anemone
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,060
Location: Edmonton

13 Jan 2017, 4:29 pm

Older woman here. There's been research showing autistic people tend to have more androgynous brains. Some of us may be average all the way down, while others may be strongly male and strongly female in different domains. It can be confusing.

A lot of what people are calling gender is socialization, but there appear to be hormonally mediated differences too. The default norm is feminine/female. Male hormones masculinize both sexes. Female hormones do not appear to de-masculinize people to the extent that male hormones tend to masculinize people. Hence trans men have higher male rates of violence, and so do trans women. Masculinized people in general (both sexes) tend to be more aggressive/boisterous (need more exercise) and be more career/job oriented than standard issue female mammals.

I would assume that if you're autistic, you're androgynous, and likely to be labelled trans at some point. I would also assume that there's no point in transitioning, because you'd be just as androgynous from the other side. And gender dysphoria may be cruel, but transitioning does not guarantee relief. So don't do that to yourself. It may distract you from your problems, but it isn't likely to fix them in the long run.

If your body works well enough that you're still alive, you should assume there's nothing wrong with it the way it is (except in ways you could fix by eating better and living a healthier lifestyle, and of course except for other non-related disability). Focus on what you're good at, and the dysphoria/confusion will matter less over time. Making dysphoria a special interest is probably not a good idea. Reading up on personality differences might help, though.

I'm not sure what "transgender traits" are. The whole thing seems like empty words to me. In a fair world, "gender" and personality wouldn't really matter, but biology does, especially if you're female. You may as well own your biological body and shrug your shoulders whenever someone questions your gender presentation.

I think the hardest part for me as an autistic woman is that I'm expected to do women's work, but I'm no good at it. It makes me unemployable, basically.