Friday, November 30, 2007

B-I-N-G-O!

For autistic people, "Curebies" are those folks who see autism as a disease in need of a cure. This sometimes results in dehumanizing the person that they're supposedly so concerned about. Some clever folks have come up with a "Curebie Bingo" card so that you can play a game while Curebies rant to you about how damaged you are (And please do look at the link, or this post will not make any sense).
Now, does this sound vaguely familiar to anyone? People chugging on the sexuality Haterade (c) have no name, and hopefully their presence will be too short-lived for them to acquire one. I tried to create my own "Self-Appointed Sexuality Police Bingo" card, but my MS Paint skills are not quite that bomb-ass. But, if you'd like to make a custom card to take to your next Coming-Out/Bingo tourney, here are some options, none of which I am making up:
  • This is just a phase you're going though.
  • Don't you want to keep your options open?
  • You're going to die alone.
  • Who's going to give me grandchildren?
  • You must be gay. Why are you repressing it?
  • So you don't have a penis/vagina?
  • But sex is a natural human function.
  • Maybe you're just autistic.
  • You're just too ugly to get laid.
  • You're pretty/handsome. Why don't you want to date?
  • You must have been abused as a child. Why are you repressing it?
And etc., etc., etc. I'm aware that this is a controversial statement, but I think that autistic people and asexual people share more than we might realize. Whether autistic, asexual, or both, we are often forced to be outsiders. Whether for neurotypical (non-autistic) or sexual people, the world we live in was created with someone else in mind. It's up to us to change it into a place where we can all feel more comfortable.

8 comments:

feline_thespian said...

Hrmm...it's interesting to compare autistic people with asexual people. I mean, with the basis for comparison you're using, you could compare asexuals or autistics to gays, goths, nerds, furries...I mean, I'm not saying that you CAN'T or SHOULDN'T compare us to those things, it's just that autism is one thing I would never have thought of to compare us to.

I think the thing is, you can't "cure" the brain. In some cases, you can train it to act "normally", but there's no "cure", because it's a brain thing. It's just the way you are.

Ily said...

Well, now that some of the richest people in the world are nerds, I think they can finally be taken off the marginalized peoples list ;-)

icarus said...

you're famous on quench today :)

Ily said...

When I saw your comment I went, "oh no, what are people saying about me?!" Hee. But thank you so much for posting about me! Being famous on Quench is awesome! :-)

Ily said...

Thanks so much, chr.ru! I always love to hear that people are enjoying it :-)

Tomatl said...

Whoa, two years late on posting a comment :) I just found your fabulous blog and am doing some catching up. I've always thought we Aces could learn a lot from the Deaf Power movement (not that we in anyway face the same oppression).

But in the Deaf Power movement deafness isn't seen as a disability, it is a culture, and culture doesn't need a cure. They don't define themselves by the absence of hearing, but the presence of a rich deep culture. 'What's it like not being able to hear?' 'Uhm, what's it like being bombarded by sounds all day?' So many similarities!

Tomatl said...

Whoa, two years late on posting a comment :) I just found your fabulous blog and am doing some catching up. I've always thought we Aces could learn a lot from the Deaf Power movement (not that we in anyway face the same oppression).

But in the Deaf Power movement deafness isn't seen as a disability, it is a culture, and culture doesn't need a cure. They don't define themselves by the absence of hearing, but the presence of a rich deep culture. 'What's it like not being able to hear?' 'Uhm, what's it like being bombarded by sounds all day?' So many similarities!

Ily said...

I agree...I think the autistic community could definitely benefit the most from a study of Deaf culture and how they separate themselves from being seen as disabled.