let me start by saying i recently learned of my autism late in life, so i’ve had no awareness of some of my behaviors as autistic until recently.
it’s often said that people with autism have a strong personal sense of right and wrong. neurotypicals may label it as stubborn but i see it as principled. obviously, nts can have an equal sense of right and wrong, but it does appear to be uniquely within autism that it can present as a detriment. for example, i will often sabotage myself if it means i’ll be forced to do something i find reprehensible or objectionable, like i’d rather risk homelessness than take a job in health insurance if i was unemployed.
how has this affected you throughout your life?
for me it has been both a benefit and a massive hindrance. over time i have learned ways to recontextualize certain situations and circumstances, but there are areas i am simply unwilling to compromise on.
It has made me inordinately sensitive to systemic societal hypocrisies. Especially differences between how the genders are treated.
Like, yes, there are still a lot of issues with how women are treated that needs improvement. But holy hell, compare a serious problem that isn’t gender-specific - DV, homelessness, suicide, workplace deaths, even rape - and how that issue gets handled depending on the gender means the average man instantly becomes a second-class citizen behind any woman. Or worse - not even worth consideration in any capacity, despite men being either equally victimized or the majority of victims. Men are literally being treated as trash for the crime of having been born male.
And no, in general it’s not other men doing this to men. They are forced to look away and do nothing to help other men, or risk being accused of being “misogynists” themselves because helping male victims “takes resources/attention away from women in need”.
This is why, as one example, political support for so many men’s issues is absolutely radioactive and invariably terminates careers at the very next election. So nothing ever gets done, while the other side has help galore shovelled at them from all directions.
It’s why, despite fully supporting women’s rights, I call myself an egalitarianist. Because I am not a gender bigot. I fight for rights on both sides, because that is the dictionary definition of “equality”.