Something that's been kinda pissing me off as of late? I'm going to preface this with the fact I'm an autistic woman. I saw people reblogging an anon ask from a TBB support blog. The anon- autistic like myself-was saying that it's really hurtful that people say Tech is a neurodivergent stereotype because they see themselves in Tech.
And, cool, I'm glad they see themselves in Tech. I'm glad they can see themselves in a quirky white man. Because, ultimately, the idea that Tech is autistic is a head canon based on the fact that he is neurodivergent coded. How do writers code someone as neurodivergent? Often through the use of stereotypes.
The idea that autistic people are intelligent & computer/tech geniuses, socially incompetent, look distinct from the general public, are unemotional, are rude, and are asexual, are all stereotypes. While the last one is a popular Fanon HC, all the rest are used to characterize Tech.
I want women to imagine that the only representation of a woman they see on screen is a white woman who exclusively wears dresses and who works in the home and who is married with children, which has been her life's dream. She is soft spoken and bad at math and thin and wears makeup. She's a real nurturer, but sometimes gets "overemotional" according to her husband.
You'd complain that it's not good representation. Because it's very stereotypical and even harmful. It's incredibly exclusive.
Then a woman who fits this description to a T comes along and says, "Well, it hurts when you say this is just a stereotype because this represents who I am, and I think it's an accurate portrayal of women."
And then everyone uses her testimony to say that this hypothetical woman on screen makes women feel "seen."
No one is saying Tech is an illegitimate way to be autistic. They're saying he's characterized by stereotypes and that these stereotypes are not representative of autistic people. People, not an individual person. If he's autistic, he's incredibly exclusive, representation wise.
And he's really the only type of "representation" (he's not even canon autistic) we get on screen.
-Sorry this was so long 💜
Exactly! It's a rehash of the same constellation of autism stereotypes that we've been seeing for decades now in media (and they haven't even bothered making it canon). There's nothing wrong with people finding those traits relatable but we need to acknowledge that they're pretty much the only way we see autism represented and it's not a complete picture.
And on top of all that even if it were the freshest concept with autism being stated canonically, it's significance would still be completely undermined by the whitewashing.
