I really like this article because it's capturing how so many of symptoms of autism have been written off as personality traits associated with the MPDG trope. If I was a boy, I doubt I would have had that label, they would have been red flags.
I was diagnosed as autistic at age 40, (along with ADHD and dyspraxia).
Looking back, there were lots of signs of me being autistic, but many of them were essentially dismissed as characteristics of the manic pixie dream girl trope. For me, manifestations of my autism were written off as quickly, cute, and enduring as a woman. I always felt mixed emotions, because on some level it was some acceptance of my autism, which I can't control, but it was also a gross misunderstanding of who I am and what I was going through.
Examples, my sensory issues greatly effect the way I dress and my clothing choices, this was interpreted as my way of dressing as "making a statement" or dressing "quirky" and "cute" rather than it being actual sensory issues that limit my clothing choices.
If I say something that's a little different, usually a different perspective then I'm just being interesting and cute, instead of the fact my autism allows me to see different points of view.
Many routines and norms in society don't actually work for me, and I have to figure out my own methods of getting stuff done, and then I'm labeled as a "free spirit" who is non-comforting and "has to do everything her own way."
I'm not the way I am because it is part of my personality, and I'm not doing this to be cute. But it should be okay that I am this different. I'm not chasing to be this way, but it's okay that I am this way. It seemed like the only way to be accepted as person and not othered was to lean into the MPDG trope. I sadly hid behind it, accepting no one would understand who I really am but at least this trope allowed me to do what I needed. It's an empty and sad label because it takes real struggles I have and turns them into a choice via a personality I don't actually have.
Thanks for writing this.
