Wolfheart wrote:
mv wrote:
Guys, benefit of the doubt. I suspect that English is not her first language. I'm going to assume she meant "dumb" in the old, not-politically-correct sense meaning "mute". {Think "deaf and dumb"}
Yes, I know AS men can speak, she might have meant that they are too shy to speak or have social difficulties making them appear mute more than not.
I can understand what you're saying, maybe her comment wasn't intended to be malicious or offensive but it came across that way to me. Nonetheless, it doesn't make it any less of a generalization and dumb isn't exactly the best word to use. If it was a male generalizing females on the spectrum, how would you feel?
No, I agree that generalization in general is bad, I just (literally) pictured her looking in a Hindi-English dictionary and there being that very old word "dumb" for whatever Hindi word means "mute" or "reticent to speak".
We all have cognitive and experiential biases which come screaming through our chosen words. I was trying to inquire whether her word choice could instead just have been a bit poor based on a very limited knowledge of English.
I've given up on correcting (native English-speaking) people here with their ridiculous assumptions about women, spectrum or no, and how we supposedly all act one way with one set of motivations. It's rare for me to even venture into L&D because there's so much ignorance and vitriol here (and yes, I will generalize there).