Thing that needs to stop # 545,000
This keeps happening over and over again on the internet:
Step 1- A straight white man, usually apparently able-bodied, usually from a class-privileged background, behaves badly toward one or more women.
Step 2- One or more women point out that his behavior is/was bad.
Step 3- Someone defends him by saying that he probably has Asperger's syndrome and therefore doesn't understand why the women are so mad at him.
Weirdly (or maybe not), I have yet to see an instance of this in which the man who behaved badly had ever been actually diagnosed with AS by a professional. I have seen instances of it in which the man in question never, to the knowledge of anyone involved, demonstrated any symptom of AS or any other autism spectrum condition. I have seen instances in which the man's past behavior and demeanor have been so very much the opposite of what is typical of people with AS that they might be taken evidence that we should eliminate AS from the list of possible explanations for his actions. Case in point, at least some of the supporters of a certain notoriously charismatic, emotionally manipulative, socially adept faux-feminist whose name rhymes with Yugo and who has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are now speculating that his problem is really Asperger's syndrome.
I think it is not insignificant that I have NEVER seen anyone use "But she doesn't understand your rules because she has Asperger's!" to defend a woman's behavior, even though women, contrary to what much of the internet seems to think, have been diagnosed with AS. I've known some women in fandom to defend their own wankiness this way, and I've known a few other women in fandom to express reservations about snarking a fellow fangirl for rude or wanky comments because she has AS, but I've never seen anyone use this as an excuse for lying, stalking, or any kind of serious wrongdoing on a woman's part. I've also never seen it used as an excuse on behalf of a man who was not heterosexual and white, although people who are neither of those things have been diagnosed with AS. I don't think I've ever even seen it used in quite the same way to defend a white heterosexual man who was being a jerk to another man-- when he's messing with another man, it occasionally gets pulled out as an explanation for why he can't let some minor offense slide, but when he's messing with a woman, internet-diagnosed Asperger's gets used as a "get out of all criticism free" card.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/57974.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Step 1- A straight white man, usually apparently able-bodied, usually from a class-privileged background, behaves badly toward one or more women.
Step 2- One or more women point out that his behavior is/was bad.
Step 3- Someone defends him by saying that he probably has Asperger's syndrome and therefore doesn't understand why the women are so mad at him.
Weirdly (or maybe not), I have yet to see an instance of this in which the man who behaved badly had ever been actually diagnosed with AS by a professional. I have seen instances of it in which the man in question never, to the knowledge of anyone involved, demonstrated any symptom of AS or any other autism spectrum condition. I have seen instances in which the man's past behavior and demeanor have been so very much the opposite of what is typical of people with AS that they might be taken evidence that we should eliminate AS from the list of possible explanations for his actions. Case in point, at least some of the supporters of a certain notoriously charismatic, emotionally manipulative, socially adept faux-feminist whose name rhymes with Yugo and who has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are now speculating that his problem is really Asperger's syndrome.
I think it is not insignificant that I have NEVER seen anyone use "But she doesn't understand your rules because she has Asperger's!" to defend a woman's behavior, even though women, contrary to what much of the internet seems to think, have been diagnosed with AS. I've known some women in fandom to defend their own wankiness this way, and I've known a few other women in fandom to express reservations about snarking a fellow fangirl for rude or wanky comments because she has AS, but I've never seen anyone use this as an excuse for lying, stalking, or any kind of serious wrongdoing on a woman's part. I've also never seen it used as an excuse on behalf of a man who was not heterosexual and white, although people who are neither of those things have been diagnosed with AS. I don't think I've ever even seen it used in quite the same way to defend a white heterosexual man who was being a jerk to another man-- when he's messing with another man, it occasionally gets pulled out as an explanation for why he can't let some minor offense slide, but when he's messing with a woman, internet-diagnosed Asperger's gets used as a "get out of all criticism free" card.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/57974.html. Please comment there using OpenID.