Asperger's Syndrome blunts sex differences in the brain.

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CockneyRebel
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07 Aug 2012, 5:39 pm

I'm actually quite happy about this. :)


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07 Aug 2012, 5:47 pm

Doubutsu wrote:
I'm a 'nothing' in woman's body.


YES. That is how I feel, exactly. Thank you for saying that, because I'm not sure I could have ever pinpointed that enough to say it


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CockneyRebel
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07 Aug 2012, 5:55 pm

I don't think that I'm male. I know I'm female and I hate it. If I had the money, I'd get a sex change and become male. I've hated being female since I was 3.


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yankeedoodads
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07 Aug 2012, 6:28 pm

I am male and heterosexual. Owing to a semi-joke from a (bi-sexual) friend, I once gave serious thought to being gay. (It would have handily explained by terrible luck with women.) I even tried deliberately telling myself that I was gay.

But, aside from obvious "lesbian in a man's body" jokes, I am straight.

Chronos wrote:
One explanation might be that people with AS are less likely to acquire gender traits that are shaped by cultural, social and environmental factors. In other words, those with AS might be more similar to humans raised in a hypothetical gender neutral society.


Socialization is likely a huge part of it.

But, that might also apply to regular folks. How many of them are straight because it is simply easier?

Quote:
Here is a theory about that. Maybe it's because they are forced to live in and raised to believe that we have a binary gender system so after years of people trying to force them to live like one gender that doesn't fit they think the other one would fit better?


There might be something to this. If somebody is trying to either fit in, or just make things work for themself, they would try anything, or any combination of traits, including gender traits.


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CockneyRebel
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07 Aug 2012, 6:31 pm

I live my life the way that I see fit for myself and not the way that the gender police want me to live my life, thank you.


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07 Aug 2012, 6:35 pm

Doubutsu wrote:
I'm a 'nothing' in woman's body.


second it.


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07 Aug 2012, 10:23 pm

This is something I have suspected for awhile - when I was a kid, I played with toy cars and made them act out relationship dramas, but I also played with dolls and made them act out space/spy adventures. Although I am lesbian I am not very butch, but I'm not very femme either. My (aspie) dad has a similar out-of-stepness with gender - although he is straight and was on the football team in high school, he generally has a greater sensitivity and more in touch with his feminine side.



Kalinda
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07 Aug 2012, 11:06 pm

Hm. I wonder if this explains me being both "tom boy" and taking care of baby dolls, watching power rangers, pretending to be a super hero, and also having trouble conforming to gender stereotypes. I think gender personalities can be learned? As I've grown older I feel more like a woman and less child-like, of course it's only AS and not diagnosed, but that and bipolar and schizophrenia symptoms deff leaves me quesitoning my sexuality.

I am a woman and sometimes I fear being a pervert because I have had a lot of confusion in my life including being assaulted. I do not think I am, though. I don't watch porn and I try to keep feelings of hypersexuality at bay. But maybe this is something AS and schizophrenia related, the need to be touched by someone to ground you in your sense of space and empathy. It kind of worries me, but I wonder if there is a way to overcome this. I don't act on these rare impulses, like hugging another person randomly. It's not very often I feel this way, it's kind of stupid.

Eloa, yea I kinda relate. Sometimes I'm just "not present" I learned that I am being considered to have flat affect symptoms of schizophrenia, but I've always been this way. My dad was thought to be "Autistic" when he was younger because he didn't start talking at a normal age.
I think he is pretty AS too. Probably explains how he can work on computers like that. I've been finding visualization and words help fill the gap perhaps this is like an attraction to objects but in a metaphorical sense.



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08 Aug 2012, 12:50 am

This is all very interesting to me. I just -- less than a month ago -- told my mother that even though I am female and have never felt the need to be a male, so many of my interests/behaviors are those that are traditionally attributed to men that I wonder if there is something "wrong" with me. These include being messy, preferring action/scifi films over romcoms and "women's films", detest clothes shopping (although I love shopping for books, hardware, office supplies and kitchen gadgets), hating weddings and never having an interest in marriage or children. I dislike talking with groups of women because I can't stand all the gossip and "Did you see Oprah/Dr. Phil/The View?" conversations. I just roll my eyes when my friends talk about their kids, and dressing up to go out leaves me cold. Beauty pageants disgust me because I feel that women need to show that they have more to offer than their looks. I LOVE sex, and have a strong sex drive. I have an interest in porn that most women don't, and -- although I love men and have no plans to abandon them -- I'm finding that, as I get older (I'm 52), I find the occasional woman sexually attractive, although I've never acted on it, and likely never will. If it wasn't for my D-cup bra size, I'm even BUILT more like a male -- wide shoulders, long arms, narrow hips, big hands and feet. However, my face, hair and skin is very feminine and I could never "pass" for a man. It sounds from this thread that my suspicion of being an Aspie might be right on the mark.



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08 Aug 2012, 1:12 am

CockneyRebel wrote:
I'm actually quite happy about this. :)


So am I.



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08 Aug 2012, 2:02 am

Been thinking about this thread. I would say that I am significantly influenced by fetishism.

When looking at an attractive male and female, I may merely admire or envy the males' physique and find the female more attractive.

However, if fetish material is introduced the distinctions are almost irrelevant. If either the male or female are wearing the fetish "gear" it turns me on immensely. I don't care if it's 2 guys in a film

I'm not going into specifics beyond that because I'm not sure if it bumps into forum rules. I only post this or figure it's relevant because it seems conditionally my views of of gender are flexible.

I'd also add I find some transgender people like Ana Mancini fascinating and attractive.



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08 Aug 2012, 6:29 am

Eloa wrote:
Doubutsu wrote:
I'm a 'nothing' in woman's body.


second it.


Third.


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08 Aug 2012, 9:26 am

I've never really thought about gender much. I'm female and as I was growing up I noticed things females were supposed to do like enjoy shopping and at first I had no interest in those things but I needed to create an identity so I went along with all the feminine things you're supposed to do and like and eventually it because part of me.


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08 Aug 2012, 10:42 am

The_Walrus wrote:
Not necessarily. It could show that most Aspies have "male" brains, so males are less likely to be androgynous but females much more likely. The article doesn't say whether the Aspies converged in the middle, or towards one "extreme".

BorgPrince wrote:
I don't believe sexual differentiation is so much as mitigated in the AS brain as it masculinized, i.e., male Aspies have an exaggerated male brain structure and female Aspies have a masculine brain structure. It explains a lot actually.

If you look at the full text, it has the specific results that indicate and a discussion and conclusion section that both state that the results do not support the extreme male brain theory.

Mindsigh wrote:
Okay, I'll admit that I didn't read the study, but I'm wondering where hormones come into the picture.

Well, outside of a concurrent glandular problem or hormone imbalance, the brain has a lot to say about when what hormones are sent where.

And, personally, I think maybe the most interesting part of this study is how it validates the rough consensus found in many topics here on WP. We're always a quarter step ahead of studies about us xd


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yankeedoodads
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08 Aug 2012, 4:01 pm

The problem is at least partially a communications gap. How many of us can clearly and credibly present insights to others, even discounting intentional stubborness by either party?


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09 Aug 2012, 1:57 am

I've always felt somewhat androgynous myself--a (somewhat) equal blend of both genders.


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