10:02am May 19, 2014

Questions about Autism Women’s Network?

I’ve been meaning to ask this, and since I was finally able to post about my relationship to the idea of ‘woman’ without the world imploding on my head, maybe I can finally ask it.

Does the Autism Women’s Network allow people like me? See above link for what I mean: In my case, genderless people who in specific, highly conditional circumstances don’t mind being identified with women as a sociological category? (As in, 'woman’ isn’t my gender identity, but I was raised female, face sexism, and feel like that means in some cases I don’t mind being lumped under 'women’ for certain specific purposes.)

Also, if relevant, groups of autistic women have been the only groups of women I’ve ever encountered where I didn’t feel massively out of place. Of course I assume that’s because lots of autistic people who are by default assumed women, are pretty gender-atypical whether they identify as cis women, as trans, as nonbinary, genderless, or something else entirely.

I also seriously hope trans women are included in the Autistic Women’s Network, for obvious reasons. Given the politics of the people I know who are involved, I’ve always assumed they are, but I’m now realizing I’d better ask just in case. (If they’re not, I don’t want to be there either.)

So basically if you read over my post and don’t feel comfortable including someone like me, I’ll certainly be disappointed but I’ll accept it. But understand that my acceptance of 'woman’ for myself is conditional, and doesn’t at all make me feel that transfeminine people aren’t 'real women’ or something. I feel like being raised female gives me one entry point to the idea of 'woman’ but it’s not the only entry point by far and shouldn’t be taken as meaning that transfeminine people who were raised male, are any less women than cis women. (And how much someone accepts the gender they were raised in as a category they’re willing to belong to, is totally a personal thing, it’s never universal. So I’m also not saying everyone raised female has to accept the idea of 'women’, conditionally or otherwise.)

Notes: