[SPAM] Re: Gender issues and autism

[Guest guest]

That was my understanding too when I did a course on sexuality. People tend to

cling to the stereotypes of tomboy girl and feminine boy as being gay, which is

not necessarily true.

Gender orientation and sexual preference are independent things (at least they

were considered to be when I studied it). I don't really see how this " male

brain " theory fits. I think it is more about stereotypes of males being

thinkers. I have a stereotypcially " male " brain, but I am not gay or a tom-boy.

I'm not super feminine either, but I definitely don't look androgenous.

Miranda

> > This needs to be looked into farther. My son has Asperger's with

> > sensory issues - tactile dysfunction. I have to cut the tags out of

> > ALL of his clothes, make sure there are no strings on them, OH NO if

> > any of my hair is on them, and his shoes can't have the strings that

> > tie. He's 12.5. When he comes home, all of his clothes come off,

> > except for his boxer briefs.

> >

> > He's been called girly, gay, fag, even by his own father. Some even

> > say he will turn out to be gay because of the way he acts.

> >

> > I accept him for how and who he is and will never judge him, but I

> > never realized the connection between the 'male brain' before. You got

> > me thinking now...

> >

> >

> > The Asperger Child Inc

> > www.TheAspergerChild.org <http://www.TheAspergerChild.org>

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Sex, gender, and sexuality are still treated as different things.  I

enjoyed studying them, especially as half my subjects were in

anthropology, so we got to study and exotic groups.  Once I finish my

PhD next year (anthropology of Christianity, looking at how religious

authority works 'on the ground') I hope to have the opportunity to go

back to some research on gender and sexuality. 

The idea of the 'male brain' doesn't really have much to do with

sexuality, but rather with sex and gender.  It is about how males

think.  As I studied mostly under teachers who worked from a feminist

and/or a queer theory perspective, I am still working through how much

of the basis is stereotyping and how much is genuine science.

On 23/06/2010 6:25 PM, miranda.flemming wrote:

 

That was my understanding too when I did a course on sexuality.

People tend to cling to the stereotypes of tomboy girl and feminine boy

as being gay, which is not necessarily true.

Gender orientation and sexual preference are independent things (at

least they were considered to be when I studied it). I don't really see

how this "male brain" theory fits. I think it is more about stereotypes

of males being thinkers. I have a stereotypcially "male" brain, but I

am not gay or a tom-boy. I'm not super feminine either, but I

definitely don't look androgenous.

Miranda

> > This needs to be looked into farther. My son has Asperger's

with

> > sensory issues - tactile dysfunction. I have to cut the tags

out of

> > ALL of his clothes, make sure there are no strings on them,

OH NO if

> > any of my hair is on them, and his shoes can't have the

strings that

> > tie. He's 12.5. When he comes home, all of his clothes come

off,

> > except for his boxer briefs.

> >

> > He's been called girly, gay, fag, even by his own father.

Some even

> > say he will turn out to be gay because of the way he acts.

> >

> > I accept him for how and who he is and will never judge him,

but I

> > never realized the connection between the 'male brain'

before. You got

> > me thinking now...

> >

> >

> > The Asperger Child Inc

> > www.TheAspergerChild.org <http://www.TheAspergerChild.org>

> >

> >

>