Traditional / Old Fashioned Thinking

As an older person with Autism, I was brought up in very different times with different thinking, values, acceptance, behaviour, etc (1970's & 80's).

The World has changed so much since then - both for better and worse.
There have been so many advancements - particularly in science and this has benefitted us ASD'ers immensely.

One thing that is troubling me is that I hold a lot of "principles" that in this day and age would be considered "Old Fashioned", "Traditional", maybe even "Bigotry" or worse.
There are things that I struggle to understand or accept which are based on my traditional attitude. I was brought up in an era when....

  • Boys had girlfriends and girls has boyfriends
  • You were born a boy and died a man
  • Men married women
  • Humour was not censored
  • People weren't "cancelled"

I openly discuss or rant about these topics along with some others that may be considered taboo with closed friends and family who have all become somewhat numb to my outrageousness / inappropriateness.

I have however managed to "behave" in public (stayed on the right side of the law), but occasionally do mutter things with a level of cowardice.
My concern is that now that I am officially autistic, the shackles of having to mask may have been broken and that has the potential of me saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Parents
  • I was brought up in an era when....

    • Boys had girlfriends and girls has boyfriends
    • You were born a boy and died a man
    • Men married women
    • Humour was not censored
    • People weren't "cancelled"

    Do you believe that when we were growing up there wasn't homo/bi/sexuality or gender dysphoria/alignment etc?

    Homo/bi/sexuality is documented in ancient scripts.

    It's simply a part of life - always has been, always will be.

    With regard to the humour of the 70s, I'd rather not listen to racist, homophobic and sexist jokes, personally.

    I am very glad indeed that this seems to be less acceptable than it once was, at least in some circles.

  • I, for one was relieved when '70s "humor" was canceled.

    Having felt an outcast myself, it always made me squirm or angry,

    and I was raised among hard core extreme branch of the John Birch Society*

    who thought in such bigoted terms as to be unsuitable to site examples of

    in this, our AS(not-a)D sanctuary.

    *<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society>

Reply Children
  • thanks Debbie, as usual you see and hear me. I like to think that to be overly exposed to something creates antibodies to it. tee hee.

  • I was raised among hard core extreme branch of the John Birch Society*

    who thought in such bigoted terms as to be unsuitable to site examples of

    in this, our AS(not-a)D sanctuary.

    Thank  you for sharing that.

    That must have been quite tough for you as you come across as an open-minded well rounded person.

    I thought I had enough to contend with at home with my mum's mental illness and extreme anti-gay position and my dad's racism, but at least these views weren't 'institutionalised'.