“I Don't Feel Like a Gender,I Feel Like Myself”: Autistic Individuals Raised as Girls Exploring Gender Identity

Background:

This article addresses a gap in current research by considering perceptions of gender within autistic adults raised as girls.

Methods:

We report on an online focus group, in which 21 individuals who had been raised as girls discussed their gender identities. This discussion was part of a larger study, involving 43 participants from eight countries. We used an emancipatory approach wherein participants set their own agenda, thereby highlighting directly that gender identity was significant for them. The discussion was open for 2 weeks, after which the transcript was analyzed using Applied Thematic Analysis.

Results:

Participants reported not identifying with typical presentations of the female gender for a variety of reasons, linked both to autism and to sociocultural expectations. Participants described childhoods of being a tomboy or wanting to be a boy, having difficulties conforming to gender-based social expectations and powerful identifications with their personal interests.

Conclusions:

Consideration is given to the ways in which autistic individuals conform to, or resist, gendered roles, as well as the implications for identity formation within autistic individuals raised as girls. The innovative emancipatory design proved effective in giving voice to a group who have had little presence within the academic and medical communities and, through its use of online platforms, in engaging a large and internationally based participant sample. This article highlights both the importance of approaching autism from an intersectional perspective that takes greater account of context, and the unique contributions that autistic individuals can make to current understandings within autism research.

Lay Summary

Background: This article tries to look at a new part of autism research. It reports on what autistic adults who were raised as girls say about their feelings in relation to their gender—whether they feel more like typical women, more like typical men, or feel differently to both.

Method: The research used online discussion groups. Forty-three individuals who had been raised as girls chose to join the group and be part of the research. Participants from eight countries decided what they would talk about. This means that they chose the topic of gender identity as one that was important to them. We analyzed the comments that people made in the discussion about gender.

Results: Most said that they did not feel like they were similar to typical women and they gave different reasons for this. Some thought it was because they were autistic and some thought it was to do with people around them putting pressure on them to be more “girly.” Participants often said they had been tomboys or wanted to be a boy growing up and their personal interests were very important to them.

Conclusions: The discussion looks at how autistic people are sometimes forced to act in certain ways to fit in, and how this can make them feel confused and depressed. The research design was led by the participants and this meant that a group who have rarely been asked their opinion were able to have a say. Because the research was all online, the participant group could be larger than usual and came from all over the world. This article shows that it is important to understand a person's environment, to really understand how autism affects them. It also shows that autistic people can give important information that helps others understand them better, and the only way to get this type of information is to ask autistic people.