Gender and Religion: Getting in Touch with the Feminine

Aug 19, 2008 07:58

While doing some research on autism spectrum disorders, I happened to notice in several sources that although such conditions, which include autism, asperger's and other developmental disorders, appear more predominantly among men, women who had the disorder seemed to have some variant of the x chromosome, one of the pair was damaged or was missing ( Read more... )

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My daughter pauzhaan August 20 2008, 04:10:46 UTC
She's 19yo, TS mosaic. Diagnosed through amnio.
There are many traits she she has in common with Aspberger's.

Her intact X came from me. About half of her cells has an X from her Dad, the other half only has my X.

It's such a long story... surgeries, learning differences, medical tests, interactive mri's...

She is very emphatic, kids and seniors love her. She will "love up" an old mangy dog as much as she'll "love up" a fluffy puppy.

She has a couple of good girlfriends and many male friends through snowboarding and skateboarding. Lot's of 12 yo riders have mad crushes on her.

She's a student at the community college. She works the front desk at the Sky Hotel. She's very good a customer service despite problems with reading non verbal communications. We taught her to listen very carefully to what people have to say and not to make assumptions.

We are Humanists and my husband and I have taught our children that they have a responsiblity to the Earth and humanity. We taught them to have compassion and respect.

Her life is very full, she is tenacious and a high achiever.

This past winter season she started doing some big snowboard competitions, and is now an internationally ranked freestyler. Maybe you'll see a pro-snowboarder with TS in the next couple years.

We do not believe in a personal god or an afterlife. She sure seems to be very comfortable with reason and science too.

You are very welcome to ask any questions. I don't think she fits your theory though. Without a doubt, we are a functional family. The influence of a stable, involved and intact family can not be discounted.

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Re: My daughter fringekitty August 20 2008, 12:42:36 UTC
Someone dear to me has Turner's Syndrome also. I can see the social difficulties she has, but she doesn't seem to be very aware of them, so for her they aren't difficulties at all. It seems if she were to fit that chromosome profile as was discussed in the research I referenced above, she should be lacking in empathy, which she is not. However, she does lack the ability to express that empathy well in a social fashion. She is also a very spiritual person, which also doesn't seem to jive with the studies' implications.

Regardless of where the science is regarding gender, chromosomes and personality, I do think such study gives us food for thought. One of these days, children will be taught about all the different combinations of gender, from x to xx to xxy to xy to xyy. Kind of makes assigning gender roles on the basis of "male" and "female" a bit obsolete.

The influence of a stable, involved and intact family cannot be discounted. I couldn't agree more!

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Re: My daughter pauzhaan August 20 2008, 16:54:31 UTC
Have you seen the tv show, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles"? There is a "terminator", sent to protect the teenage John Connor. The terminator, Cameron, is a beautiful girl, about 18 in appearance.

There are certain things the terminator does that is so much like my daughter! Kyla takes things very literally, and gives very literal answers, just like the terminator. Unlike the terminator, Kyla does worry about hurting people's feelings.

Kyla is very spiritual also. Sometimes after an especially good day, she'll talk about how she felt totally appropriate in the universe. When my kids were little I told them all the time that they were each a "child of the universe" (no less than the trees and the stars). I wanted them to have a sense of belonging that took me decades to develop.

We use a lot of Buddhist philosphy in our family life although we do not call ourselves Buddhists as we are not vegetarians.

Life is good.

I have Turner Syndrome on google alert, and that is why I found your post. Religion has always fascinated me as it's such an integral part of our human heritage. (mystifies me, but fascinates me)

My personal favorites are Buddhism and Zorastrianism.

I hope your dear friend is doing well!

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