Aspergers: Masculine or Feminine Traites?

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I've never like the idea of 'masculine' and 'feminine' in anything, because I don't really believe any behaviour can be characterised as more gender-appropriate to one or the other. People have told me, though, that I'm the most extreme person they've met when it comes to extremely masculine and extremely feminine traits existing in the same individual. When they've elaborated on what these things are, I've found that while pretty much anyone, male or female, I've been friends with or dated had these sort of traits, the Aspies I know, particularly Aspie women, are overwhelmingly this way.

This is an excellent theory. I often wonder how many (NT) people engage in certain activities and behave in certain ways because that's what they've been expected to do from a very young age, and have shied away from trying others because 'that's not what boys/girls do'. You mentioned enjoying crochet and quilting in an earlier post, for instance (I do needlepoint). There seems to be no logical reason why focused, constructive activities like these shouldn't appeal to the male brain... but they're thought of as female, and so consequently very few men ever do them, because the social pressure against it is so great.

Perhaps AS people are simply more true to ourselves; we gravitate towards hobbies and interests that we enjoy without being touched by the subconscious thought of, "This is for men," or, "This is for women."

You could say AS includes extremes of both genders.

The intense systemizing brain, the problems with social interaction, could be seen as extreme maleness.

However, the intense sensory issues that come with AS and other autism spectrum disorders could be seen as extreme femaleness (as females naturally have a sharper sense of smell and hearing than males, for example).

I think it is silly to insist AS is genderized. It's far too simple an explanation.

After thinking some more about the idea, I have a new theory. I think that human beings in general are social creatures. People of both sexes like the company of other people. Rather than women being more social or having better social skills than men, I think it's more a matter of men and women having different methods of socializing. Men tend to like socializing by engaging in activities that establish their position as a leader or competetor in a group. Sports, is an excellent example of such an activity. Groups of guys just talking can also be observed to be competing over who can tell the funniest joke or the most interesting story.

Women, being non-competive by nature, tend to engage in social activities that are geared towards the exchange of emotions and feelings, so that a deeper relationship is created between individuals. That is why girls will talk to each other about their relationships, watch romantic movies or soap operas together, and talk to each other about their problems. It's because these things help women bond to other people and build deeper relationships with the people around them.

So when some one has AS, it may be that they are impaired in their ability to engage in the social activities that come naturally to their gender, as opposed to being impaired in such a way as to be perceived as being more masculine or feminine. So AS males will be seen as being less masculine since they tend to lack personality traits such as being assertive, outgoing, a leader, etc. AS women will be seen as being less feminine, since they tend to avoid the same emotionally stimulating activities that other women like to engage in.

WOW....

1. I haven't seen evidence that females have any sharper sense.

2. At least with ME, it is mostly a SKEWED sense. Not sharper, not weaker, but skewed. BTW Women are supposed to be MORE sensitive to pain. Women are usually, as a group, spared from various environmental concerns. Though you can't really be sure, many women I have known are MORE sensitive to cold. In both cases, a woman is not discouraged from showing pain, discomfort, etc...

My point is simply that the hypo sensitivity to cold and pain that many, like me, have could certainly not be considered feminine. I'm certainly not claiming it is masculine though, when I was a kid, people would mistake it for masculine traits such as bravery and toughness.

Oh yeah, I'm male. LUCKILY, I have as many hyposensitivities as I do hyper, so anyone claiming I am weak because of them could end up looking pretty bad.