Are Autistic Men More Likely to be Misogynistic?

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I 100% agree with this post.

Yes I agree; this is a good post.

I think most of it is frustration, I think there are few real misogynists (and also few real female misandrists). These words are thrown around too often on the Internet and it's not helpful.

The trouble is, men are valued (by other men and by women) by how popular/successful they are with women. Therefore, if a man can't get a girlfriend he not only misses out on love and sex but he has a very low social standing, Does this work the other way around for women? It probably does. It's wrong but you'd have to be pretty sure of yourself to rise above that way of thinking and how many Aspies have that much self esteem?

As per the quoted post there are also bad experiences to be gotten over. I was ridiculed probably more by girls than boys as a teenager and somehow it just hurt more coming from girls. At that time in my life I thought that I was gay (although I could not disclose this to anyone) so I couldn't be accused of bothering the girls or judging them on their appearances. I certainly was judged and ridiculed though, mostly on my looks (I'm not attractive and looks matter more for a man than most people would care to admit), for not being macho enough, for having a working-class background, for not being a "cool" rebel (drinking and smoking etc) and so on. Sure, I was a bit immature and a bit awkward but I wasn't really a horrible guy. However, I became a social "untouchable" and would get abuse for saying "Good morning" to the wrong person. Curiously, it was often the less attractive girls who would round on me, presumably trying to climb the social ladder by pushing me down. The most attractive people of both genders were secure on Mount Olympus and could afford to be magnanimous.

All of this has left awfully bad wounds and although I try hard to apply adult reasoning to the experiences they are really hard to get over. Being able to discuss them periodically with people who have been through the same thing drains them of some of their poison. It's distressing to see that it is becoming harder to do this, that these experiences are seen as being invalid because I am male. At best it's seen as a bit funny, at worst the memes come out and we're all fedora-wearing neckbearded MRAs etc etc. This isn't going to help anyone.

I don't think many men really think they are "entitled" to a girlfriend as the current Internet reasoning has it. I never did. If anything I felt the opposite - that I was totally unworthy. Guys want to girls to like them though, even if only as a a friend, It feels nice. Can we give shy and awkward guys a bit of a break and not immediately label them as potential serial killers? There probably are some of these hateful, manipulative "Nice Guys" out there but are there really all that many? I think there's far more REAL nice guys who are shy and awkward and inexperienced and immature and who may even never be cut out for a real relationship but nonetheless don't deserve all the sneering and hate.

I wish all this rage could be channeled into polite debate. Can't we just agree that "sh*tty behaviour is sh*tty" and needs to be got rid of, rather than blaming it all on one or the other gender?

Someone further up the thread pointed out that they've seen the "alpha male" types treat women like a neccesary evil so that they can have a sexual relationship with someone. All they want is sex, but it comes attached to a woman they don't particularly like, but their hormones want the sex so they spend time with the person they don't like because they are attracted to her. Not very mature, but it happens.

Geekonychus' post is one I would upvote/like if we had that function. Yes, I totally agree that it would be easier to empathise with the dude who is being called a creep if you are a decent bloke who has also been called a creep even though you meant well, but in doing that, missing the point that the guy they are defending isn't like them and is actually a complete total and and utter creep.

I'm female and I disagree. I don't think aspie men are more hostile to females than males in general. If anything, I would think that in percentage there are more aspie males who respect females as equals than there are NT males who do. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misogyny in the world, though.

I also think the aspie males who are misogynists might be more likely to be open about it anywhere than NT males would, at least in this part of the world. I doubt most aspie males look down on females, I think it's more down to romantic and sexual rejections causing resentment. Some might add 'coupled with emotional immaturity' here, but I think that's a general reaction in people, so I think it's a human reaction a lot of people would have. Aspies are just more likely to express it freely.

No, no... not a thread like this.

Elliot Rodger happened. Let's not feed the neurotypical masses, guys.

The average frustrated Aspie (and frustrated long-term single man no matter what his neurology is) bears NO relationship/correlation to Elliot Rodger.

Elliot Rodger is in his own homicidal/suicidal category.

We should not lend any credence to the man, who I hope is not having a pleasant time in his purgatory.

What is misogyny, eggsacly?
Do misogynistic men hate women?
If I hated men, what would be my thought process about them?

Misogyny = hatred of women
Misandry = hatred of men
Misanthropy = hatred of people in general

People tend to be biased and it's really hard to objectively judge if a comment is misogynous/misandrous.

I can only talk about it from my own perspective. I'm a gay autistic man. I can only see women as totally equal human beings as men. I have no respect for those women that expect to be treated differently (preferentially) just because they are females (and those men that support that idea). I might be seen as a misogynist when I show that attitude, although I'm simply opposing sexism. I have been called a woman-hater because I treated them equally.

There is no evidence to support your statement that autistic men tend to be misogynist any more than men without autism.

No, but I can understand how on the surface it might seem that way at times. Given that most men with Autism are socially awkward - no doubt many have run into feelings of rejection. The sad feeling of once again being rejected by someone they are attracted to might give the impression of misogyny.

A few people who express their views strongly can skew the impression one gets of the typical view.

There are a small, vocal group of people here who routinely express the fringe view that there is no such thing as global warming and if there is any climate change, it is not caused by human activity.

I am pretty sure that this is not representative of WP membership in general, but I have sometimes wondered if there is something about autism that makes people more susceptible to belief in these ideas. Then I consider that those threads are a sort of echo chamber, with like-minded people reinforcing each other.

I have seen some exchanges with misogynist perspectives bouncing back and forth between a few angry males and I think this dynamic could create the impression that the problem is worse than it is.

There are times when I think aspects of the social communication problem that is a core feature of autism creates misunderstandings about how people develop and maintain relationships that can feed a misogynist perspective. But I think these ideas circulate in the neurotypical population, too, so autism is not a necessary or sufficient explanation for developing those views.

Anyone else find the poll resutls hilarious?

So? That fact is there is still a huge amount of variation among people on the factors we actually consider to matter.

Behind the scenes of *any* geeky convention there is always a discussion of poor impulse control and sexual harassment.

Geek culture is such an enigma. There is certainly a problem of frustration and poor impulse control, but there is also a desire to be seen as progressive. On the internet, the latter has better control in smaller, tight-knit groups, where people are concerned for their in-group reputation.

Three times more males than females even responded to it.

Why is this hilarious? I see no problem with this logic as no one is that unique as we are just system of biological functions. Thus, we have similar thought processes as we grow up with certain memes and genes. The " 0.05% difference still translates to 3 million differences"* as resulting how we can be so similar yet have differences. I am sorry that your childish belief that everyone is unique and special is wrong. I know it is hard to expect free will does not exist and people enjoy thinking as a tribe and not individually. But, once you accept this fact people will become easier to understand as people usually follow the invisible puppet master of our genes and instincts.



* http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask166