Gender Dysphoria

I'm 51 and was diagnosed with ASD at 49.

While discussing sexuality the other day, my daughters and I were trying to convince my (male) partner that transgenderism is a real thing and not a fad. During the conversation I said that when I thought about it I didn't feel specifically female, despite being assigned so at birth. The more I think about it the more I think that I am gender dysphoric. I have never felt particularly feminine, although I'm certainly not masculine either. If anything I think I've always thought that I'm a bit above all that! Does anybody empathise? I see that there might be a link between autism and gender dysphoria on this web site.

If I'm gender dysmorphic how could I not have noticed? I was shocked at my ASD diagnosis too, so is being wholly un-self aware an autistic thing as well?!

  • Agreed. It wasn't my intention to imply that; thank you for the correction if my post was ambiguous.

  • but yet wearing a pink shirt these days is seen as a sign of confidence and thus manliness lol get with the times aha

  • I think it's important to note that even if 100% of non-dysphoric trans people actually are dysphoric and just using wrong definitions, the act of saying "You need dysphoria to be trans" will make those people doubt themselves more, and potentially prevent them from transitioning, which is a shitty and harmful thing to do. That's (a big part of) why I'm firmly in the "You don't need dysphoria to be trans" camp.

    (Not saying anything about you, just your comment seemed like a good place to jump off from)

  • Research has indicated that there is a correlation between being LGBT and autism. Alexithymia- not clearly understanding one's own mental state is also sometimes a feature of autism, so there is a link in the way that you posit.

    I'm not an expert on the subject, but what you describe doesn't sound like gender dysphoria as typically understood, which is an intense aversion to one's own body, to the changes that occur during puberty, etc. As other posters have suggested, if the feeling isn't causing you any particular concern, there's no obligation to do anything. There are many interesting posters on this topic on YouTube- I've been watching Katy Montgomery recently, who does a lot of good videos.

    I do know what you mean about it not being important to you; for most people, gender is a very important part of their identity- think about what a big deal it would be for many man to wear a pink shirt, for example. This has always seemed irrational to me.

  • My research digging does seem to indicate some overlap between the Spectrum and non-binary gender or sexual identity, just like it overlaps with being left handed or having Synesthesia. Maybe there's a reason I gravitate toward people whose sexual identities are different...some similarity of thinking otherwise than the norm, perhaps. Or just co-incidence? Dunno.

    Personally, it has always seemed to me that gender and sexuality are slidy scale things, not either /or things. 

    The word 'dysphoria' seems to suggest something dysfunctional or wrong. I really can't buy into that. Your sexuality and gender can be many things, mutable or fixed, lean one way or another or neither or both. Just take it as it is and express it as it is and enjoy. Nothing is amiss. Nothing is wrong. It doesn't need any existential crisis or a diagnosis or a shrink...just go with it :-)

  • generally no one thinks about gender or bothers about it, you just are you, and your gender doesnt really come in your mind anywhere in who you are, people are not defined by their gender, so when these people come along and preach their new age religion it catches you that way, because they phrase it in a way in which gender defines you, to them gender is everything, the focus point... to a normal person gender doesnt define you and its nothing, its like, i have a hand, thats not important.... but some charlattan comes along and makes having a hand be the defining thing of your existance and makes you think about it and feel weird because they are weird for making that so much of a defining focus.

  • Having a weird/atypical relationship with gender can definitely be part of an autistic experience. As gender is largely socially driven, of course something that affects your perception of social constructs and interaction with social constructs would effect your perception of gender. 

    A lot of people feel uncomfortable with their gender once they start examining it, this does not necessarily mean that you are experiencing gender dysphoria, it just means you might be a little uncomfortable with the expectations and stereotypes with your gender, or you may be genuinely dysphoric and have just filed it into one of those little feelings you've been ignoring because you don't want to deal with it. 

    Knowing you're gender dysphoric also doesn't necessarily mean you have to do anything about it. If there isn't anything specific you dislike (pronouns, your body, clothing, female titles) you may be fine just going along with things as they have been. There are many non-binary (neither male or female) people who are just non-binary, without using they/them pronouns, confirming to any sort of androgyny, or any other sort of change. They just know that they are non-binary.

    Personally, I couldn't just ignore it or carry on as I was, but that was due to specific body dysphoria which had been around far before I had a word for what I was experiencing and issues around pronouns and titles, so I made some changes.

    Having a gender crisis isn't a bad thing, and doesn't necessarily mean anything has to change. But it's certainly possible to kind of bumble along without really noticing or labelling it for a while until it gets confronted. Have fun with working this out. Feel free to message me if you need an ear to rant into/chat