What is AutiGender?

[Hedgehog Instigator]

ok thanks though I don't understand it because we're either born with male anatomy or female so it's kind of obvious to me which they'd be so I guess its something psychological like body dysmorphia if they believe they're the opposite sex to what they were born or are some new kind of gender they've invented.

The problem is that it is being viewed as gender dysmorphia. there, are more things than a vagina and a pens differentiating the sexes. Women typically have a larger hypothalamus than a man. And they have found in autopsy transfemales have larger hypothalmi than cismales.

 

[AO1501]

ok thanks though I don't understand it because we're either born with male anatomy or female so it's kind of obvious to me which they'd be so I guess its something psychological like body dysmorphia if they believe they're the opposite sex to what they were born or are some new kind of gender they've invented.

My daughter is anatomically female, always has been and is quite ok with remaining so. However, she has never felt that she belonged as female, and always in fact behaved and thought of herself as male. She doesn't want to be male, but she doesn't think of herself as female. So she considers herself non binary. And it suits her perfectly. She is also autistic, and I suspect that has influenced the way she sees herself in this respect, though she has not said so.

 

[Thinx]

I identify as non binary gender. And my understanding is that there is a higher proportion of minority sexualities and trans or non binary gender people in ND people than NT people. My opinion is that this may be due to some ND abilities to be open to ideas and less conforming to norms.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

I identify as non binary gender. And my understanding is that there is a higher proportion of minority sexualities and trans or non binary gender people in ND people than NT people. My opinion is that this may be due to some ND abilities to be open to ideas and less conforming to norms.

I literally just said this to my boyfriend.

 

[KImi]

My daughter is anatomically female, always has been and is quite ok with remaining so. However, she has never felt that she belonged as female, and always in fact behaved and thought of herself as male. She doesn't want to be male, but she doesn't think of herself as female. So she considers herself non binary. And it suits her perfectly. She is also autistic, and I suspect that has influenced the way she sees herself in this respect, though she has not said so.

I used to be a 'tomboy' as a child but whether thats cos I had a brother who I copied to learn how to play etc I'm older than him but never played properly until he reached the age he played properly (imaginatively/building stuff etc) I guess my parents assumed I was learning from his development. Maybe if they'd have had another girl after me I'd still have copied them to learn social behaviour When I reached puberty though I was told it was no longer appropriate because I was becoming a 'young lady' and my mum found me some female role models to copy and learn how to do make up and typically feminine things. When I was a child though in 70's/early 80's there wasn't as much of this pink versions of everything for girls (such as pink lego sets for girls, regular colours for boys). Blue was my favourite colour as young child and pinks/purples when I got older.

I'm glad they didn't assume I wanted to be male and put me through years of therapy to prepare for gender re-assignment!

 

[KImi]

I identify as non binary gender. And my understanding is that there is a higher proportion of minority sexualities and trans or non binary gender people in ND people than NT people. My opinion is that this may be due to some ND abilities to be open to ideas and less conforming to norms.

Maybe it depends on their age too and when they were born? I find I'm quite set in my ways and routines but I'm not far off 50. Even with my dogs..my female wore pink but I wouldn't dress my male dog in a pink coat or even a collar that had any pink on it! I used to be a tomboy myself as a child but if I got another female puppy now I can safely say she'd end up with a lot of pink accessories as it's been my favourite colour for a while!

 

[AO1501]

I used to be a 'tomboy' as a child but whether thats cos I had a brother who I copied to learn how to play etc I'm older than him but never played properly until he reached the age he played properly (imaginatively/building stuff etc) I guess my parents assumed I was learning from his development. Maybe if they'd have had another girl after me I'd still have copied them to learn social behaviour When I reached puberty though I was told it was no longer appropriate because I was becoming a 'young lady' and my mum found me some female role models to copy and learn how to do make up and typically feminine things. When I was a child though in 70's/early 80's there wasn't as much of this pink versions of everything for girls (such as pink lego sets for girls, regular colours for boys). Blue was my favourite colour as young child and pinks/purples when I got older.

I'm glad they didn't assume I wanted to be male and put me through years of therapy to prepare for gender re-assignment!

My daughter (youngest daughter in fact) had an elder sister who is and always has been a very 'girly girl' female, but even with that role model, my youngest remained a very typical tomboy. We thought that she would eventually grow out of it, but she kept on climbing trees, playing boy games, collecting boy's toys, and being interested in boy-type subjects.

There wasn't any flexibility in gender identity at that time, so there wasn't a word for how she fitted in, but it was obvious that she would stay distinctly male as she grew up. Once society began to develop a more accepting attitude to gender identity, 'non binary' fitted her perfectly.

Many of us who are very comfortable with our anatomical gender find it hard to understand that it isn't as simple as that, but experiencing some of the complexity of gender identity, it is hard to deny that binary is just not sufficient.

 

[As sweet as-pie]

Sorry, I should have been clearer by what I meant by "references". I meant references of that specific claim - that autism affects gender. I don't know much about psychology research, do you know if peer-reviewed journals with evidence of a causal relationship exist?

https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/09540261.2015.1111199

I'm pretty sure the correlation is good evidence as any, honestly. But that might help. ^

 

[tducey]

First I heard of this. My Autism really hasn't affected my gender all that much.

 

[the_tortoise]

https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/09540261.2015.1111199

I'm pretty sure the correlation is good evidence as any, honestly. But that might help. ^

Correlation is not causation.

 

[Eruva]

I haven’t read any of the links, but my first thought is that gender roles are kind of made up social rules, and since autistic people tend to reject made up social rules, gender is less likely to mean anything to us. That’s sort of how I feel anyway. I live as a female because I was born a female and so it’s convenient, but I don’t feel that it has anything to do with who I am.

 

[Gracey]

Maybe it depends on their age too and when they were born? I find I'm quite set in my ways and routines but I'm not far off 50.

I too am just shy of fifty.
Brought up in a traditional, old school household but I still ‘banged my own drum’ so to speak.

I have ideals that were handed to me by parents and grandparents and observations from schooling during the 70’s

I had to read ‘Janet and John’ books in school and everywhere else there were really clear messages of what an acceptable male and female role was.

I love @AO1501 post above about how her daughter just ‘is’
Not classified, packaged, labelled and sent off into the world.

It would have been great if non binary was a thing fifty years ago.
I’m not disordered or confused about my body, I just am.
It’s my brain that knows the offside rule in football, can map read, abhors gossip and prefers facts, can fault find on an engine quicker than my qualified mechanic husband (great hearing helps) I appreciate physics, the human body and engineering, I don’t appreciate inane conversations about t.v soaps, reality shows or make up application.

I could go on and on.
My point is, I’m content with my many capabilities.
Fifty years ago it could have been said I’m in the wrong body.
These days I would be considered as a fluid gender. (I think?)

Growing up I noticed my differences because of the attitudes of the era.
I don’t remember ever wanting to be anything else but ‘me’
No urge, disorder or distress to change.


Not sure about the term autie gender though?

 

[55853]

https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/09540261.2015.1111199

I'm pretty sure the correlation is good evidence as any, honestly. But that might help. ^

It's not. Correlation shows statistical association, but does not provide any evidence at all about the reason for that relationship.

I would give the famous example on when correlation was misused, but I'm aware that's been discussed enough on this site that it's been asked not to be discussed, so you're probably aware of it.

Two things could be correlated for any number of reasons. A could cause B, B could cause A - but that's rare and correlation will not tell you which one caused the other. A and B could be completely unrelated and correlation is a coincidence. A and B could be both linked a dependence on C (or C + D + E + ...).

It goes on, but can be summarised by saying "correlation is not evidence of causation". I thought this was something everyone had drilled into them at school.

 

[Gracey]

...I thought this was something everyone had drilled into them at school.

I don’t remember it from the school I went to.
?

 

[Bolletje]

I don’t remember it from the school I went to.
?

It’s pretty much the first lesson in statistics, yet also something the media consistently gets wrong when it suits a narrative.
For instance: Nicholas Cage movies cause people to drown!

 

[55853]

I don’t remember it from the school I went to.
?

That surprises me, for me it came up at a fairly early level in science and maths. Is it possible it was taught but you've forgotten, or do you reckon it was never covered?

 

[Thinx]

I like the Fluid gender idea too. I tend to say non binary now because it also captures that same idea that gender isn't one thing or the other. My perception and experience has been that a lot of norms around gender are produced culturally, like there's anatomical difference, but it doesn't predict if I ll prefer pink or blue that's a cultural norm, I learn as I grow up that pink is supposed to be for girls, also dolls and toy prams etc. I read a good book about the research on the brain in this area some years ago now but it was saying that the brain differences between anatomical males and females don't amount to much in terms of any significant effects on choices in this area, choices people make are more about cultural norms and fitting in, but she also suggested that the cultural norms may affect the soft wiring rather than hard wiring of the brain. Cordelia Fine was the biologist who wrote that one.

In many ways I feel I am expressing my opinion of gender when I say I m non binary rather than anything about biological anatomy. I m saying yes I have female anatomy but this doesn't define me in other ways. There are many ways people may be though, I m just saying how it is for me.

 

[Thinx]

I never liked Nicholas Cage and now I know why....

 

[Progster]

I was and still am a tomboy, I don't have a sense of gender, of being female, but I have a vagina, not a penis, so I can't say that I'm male whatever my preferences might be. Luckily, I had parents who let me be who I want to be and didn't try to force femininity upon me. I think that having Asperger's might well have played a role in this.

 

[WereBear]

I was a tomboy, got into computers when it was a rare thing for females to be into, and dress comfortably, not fashionably.

It is possible that my autism led me to be more non-conforming than my sex was expected to be; I simply wasn't interested in the domestic arts, the restrictions on my intellect made me want to identify with boys, who were more open to scientific discussion and seeing what I'd found for my microscope, and if something is comfortable and flattering, I'm all over it.

Some of it is cultural, certainly. I fit in a lot better as a woman in New England than I ever did in the Deep South. And I never felt any gender dysphoria; I was a woman, and if they didn't like it, they had far too restrictive a view of women.