Do you lack gender bias because of AS?

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DavidCook
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23 Oct 2013, 10:56 pm

Gender bias is a horrible phenomenon, but I feel that because of AS, I am able to see through it logically that both genders should be treated equally in every way. Society has become better over the years with regard to gender bias, but not 100%. I am a guy with AS who firmly believes that gender bias is not just wrong, but immoral. What are your opinions on the subject?



Mindslave
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23 Oct 2013, 11:02 pm

Everybody thinks they lack gender bias.



andrewlavigne
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23 Oct 2013, 11:15 pm

For me, things like racism, sexism, etc. are intellectually distasteful to the extreme, as well as icky-feeling in all other regards. Nonetheless, I've spent 25 years growing up in a pretty sexist, racist society (North America, I mean), and I often find thoughts and biases floating around my head that I don't agree with. I can quite quickly and readily overcome them--this has been through a rather vigilant process of self-policing over the years--but they're still there.

Disclaimer: I haven't been diagnosed yet, but like most undiagnosed people around here, it's quite probably the case that diagnosis is a matter of confirmation rather than real discovery. [Since I'm sharing, it looks like I'll be assessed in early 2014.]

I don't know if autism has something to do with my not explicitly endorsing gender biases or not, but I can say that feeling like/actually being on the outside of society for most of my life has given me the free reign to do the sort of intellectual self-checking that keeps me from being an actively sexist or racist person.



ASPartOfMe
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23 Oct 2013, 11:21 pm

Probably more gender bias for because of social awkwardness leads to less familiarity. On the other other hand the understanding that I don't know a lot and that I read people poorly the makes me be more open to be corrected I would hope.


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23 Oct 2013, 11:31 pm

Mindslave wrote:
Everybody thinks they lack gender bias.


This is a good point. I know plenty of people who think they lack gender bias or aren't racist, but most of them are to certain degrees. I never considered myself prejudiced until after I started overcoming various prejudices.

I read somewhere that there is actually a high correlation between AS and prejudice because people with AS are less likely to question what they are taught to believe. I do think that having a strict adherence to logic is a keen way to see through prejudice, it's just a matter of knowing to apply it. Once you start questioning what you were taught, the ball starts rolling and never stops.

While I agree that gender bias is wrong and immoral, evaluating it this way is entirely subjective. I think the ability to think logically is mostly the ability to accurately perceive cause and effect, and there are lots of perceived cause and effect relationships in gender bias that don't pan out.



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23 Oct 2013, 11:59 pm

I lack gender bias because of my Gender Dysphoria. I don't like it when the gender police act as though I chose my biological gender, so I don't put people into gender coloured boxes. I know that I don't like it when people do that to me, so I know not to do it to them. I go by my preferred gender here on WP and I'd rather walk around town looking the way I do than dress like a woman and wear my hair up. My appearance and gender identity also play into my choice of screen name, rank title and signature. I've also grown up to be like my kindred soul/role model much to my mum's dismay. Emotional abuse and abandonment can cause a person to grow up to be highly sensitive.


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24 Oct 2013, 1:09 am

I'm a guy. I prefer to hang out with guys.
I'm an Aspie, i prefer to hang out with Aspies.
I think that's kind of normal.



Ganondox
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24 Oct 2013, 1:59 am

I think I have reduced gender bias, but I'm pretty sure my attraction to females gives me some gender bias.

Quote:
I read somewhere that there is actually a high correlation between AS and prejudice because people with AS are less likely to question what they are taught to believe.
Hmmm, is this due to naivety where they assume other people are being honest because they are honest?


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24 Oct 2013, 5:40 am

Ganondox wrote:
I think I have reduced gender bias, but I'm pretty sure my attraction to females gives me some gender bias.

Quote:
I read somewhere that there is actually a high correlation between AS and prejudice because people with AS are less likely to question what they are taught to believe.
Hmmm, is this due to naivety where they assume other people are being honest because they are honest?


I challenge.

My father was just awful. Racist, Sexist, the works. But I just never was. Even as a little boy, I though he was wrong because his biases (biasi?) were just not rational.



Mike1
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24 Oct 2013, 7:41 am

I don't think I have much of a gender bias, but maybe a little. My ideas about what make a guy a dick and what make a girl a b***h are different, because guys and girls are conventionally different in a lot of ways, but there seems to be about an equal distribution of both of them. I don't really have much of a preference between the two. If someone is generally likable, I can probably get along with them pretty well, regardless of gender. The problem is that it seems that most people aren't that likable, once I get to know them, like one of my friends. He's a loyal friend and is generally nice to me, but damn he pisses me the f*** off sometimes. I just want to punch him in the face whenever he interrupts one of our activities to have a corny, loud-mouthed conversation with one of his female friends over the phone, especially when he talked loudly through almost the entire duration of an hour-long TV show that he had said earlier that he really wanted to see. He couldn't get the channel that the show was on over at his house, so he came over my house, ate my snacks, and watched it on my TV, all while disregarding me while I was trying to watch the show. I think a lot of NTs just get used to people lacking courtesy and build up more tolerance for it, for the sake of remaining social. I just deal with it, because I know that I'd have a hard time finding another friend, and me and him also have a lot of good times together. I never really get used to it though.



LucySnowe
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24 Oct 2013, 8:55 am

Yeah, I agree, everyone thinks they aren't gender biased, but society isn't quite as progressive as it would like to be. So I even see it subtly. I write book reviews in a community forum of people who do the same. One thing I noticed was about how people refer to male vs female authors. The men are always referred to by their last name; the women by their first. But I don't do that; I've always referred to female authors as Austen or Wharton or whatever. So other people's behavior is inconsistent to me; they talk a lot about not being gender biased, but it's not ingrained deep down.

I also wonder if it's truly possible for people to be completely gender neutral?



Codyrules37
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24 Oct 2013, 9:06 am

no. Chicks can't drive.



LucySnowe
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24 Oct 2013, 9:16 am

The other thing I think is that in today's world, people tend to trick themselves into thinking that they aren't biased--the concept of gender isn't just limited to male and female any more. But the focus is still on the external, the physical; the bias is still there. I have to say that I'm also guilty of this.



Davvo7
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24 Oct 2013, 9:17 am

JSBACHlover wrote:
I'm a guy. I prefer to hang out with guys.
I'm an Aspie, i prefer to hang out with Aspies.
I think that's kind of normal.


That is interesting.

I'm a guy, and I prefer to hang out with women. I'm an Aspie, I prefer to hang out with women who don't like macho a***holes and accept my way of being as being 'normal'.
I think that is kind of 'normal' too.

Ain't life grand! :)


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24 Oct 2013, 9:25 am

LucySnowe wrote:
Yeah, I agree, everyone thinks they aren't gender biased, but society isn't quite as progressive as it would like to be. So I even see it subtly. I write book reviews in a community forum of people who do the same. One thing I noticed was about how people refer to male vs female authors. The men are always referred to by their last name; the women by their first. But I don't do that; I've always referred to female authors as Austen or Wharton or whatever. So other people's behavior is inconsistent to me; they talk a lot about not being gender biased, but it's not ingrained deep down.

I also wonder if it's truly possible for people to be completely gender neutral?


Gender bias is wrong because it is ignorant. Gender Neutrality can often be just as ignorant. These Gender-Neutral Pronouns that people say are "better" are ridiculous. Pretending that men and women are the exact same in every way is complete ignorance.

Some people say words like "He" and "She" are biased. :roll: You shouldn't have a problem using them unless you think that one of them (the He or the She) is inherently better than the other.

Some people take Political Correctness so far that they begin to oppress diversity.



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24 Oct 2013, 10:31 am

woman still belong in da kitchen