Scorpius14 wrote:
For me its more in reality than on the forum because women seem to be more understanding of my difficulties whereas the men (whom I don't trust at all with how I feel and I that I feel excluded from being a man) see it as a feminine attribute, most of what I do can relate to being the opposite gender, except for the most obvious parts. Relatives such as step-father, father, brother(s) - the predominately male part of my family doesn't understand my condition at all because well one main reason is i'm the only one in the whole family with no history of it, but also ignorance runs deep in the family, especially close relatives, but nonetheless both genders just dismiss me as unable, immature, irresponsible, while the male part of the family will just say theres nothing wrong with you and get on with your life and let common sense guide you.
Yeah, masculinity and autism don't really mix like society expects...at least that's what I pulled out of your post. This is one of my favorites from youth: "Be a man and look me in the eye." Doesn't matter that I just physically can't do it the way they want, it only matters that if I don't I'm not a "man". My experience is that females are more accepting of difference than males are. It could just be my perception as a male though-- females might be just as callous as men when dealing with other females due to competition.