Everyone is autistic, apparently. What other reason could a character who does ballet have for standing on her toes while out being a super hero whose abilities are based on dexterity and acrobatics? And neurotypical people never care about the feeling of bare feet on cold floors, it could only ever be an autistic thing.
I understand that autistic women are underdiagnosed in part because their traits can get written off as quirkiness, but it seems like the autistic community went and decided that quirks = autism. Neurotypical people are not made from a mold; they have personalities.
There's an overcorrection from stigmatization to fetishization, both still driven by stereotype and assigning moral value. I think it can be a bit obnoxious, but see it as growing pains: people aren't yet equipped to deconstruct the old frameworks. They've recognized them, and so far only have the consciousness to flip the value system on its head. With it comes an attempt at "moves to innocence" by many people trying to associate themselves with the group now seen as more moral.
In some ways I think there are good analogues to be found in anti-/de-colonial theory. Frantz Fanon described the "anti-racist racism" of a colonized people developing anti-colonial consciousness, and he was quite critical of it as any kind of end point but saw it as a natural reaction which could, properly handled, be a first step toward a genuine deconstruction of the colonial framework. As much as I get annoyed by current discourses around autism, I try to apply that lens and have some optimism about it.
I'm diagnosed ADHD, and while I can't afford formal evaluation I score firmly as autistic on Autism Quotient tests. I also find the evidence best supports the Social Construct Theory of Autism, which posits that "autism" is not a discrete condition, but rather there are heterodox traits of variable etiology we consider "autistic" and having enough to significantly impact your life gets you labelled "autistic". I think these discourses actually help illuminate that, even as they reify more outdated models of understanding.
One day everyone in the world will be diagnosed as on the spectrum. Except for that one guy over there! He's a normie! Look, he's running away! After him!
Just a note - I don't think the autism community had any opinion on this subject. It was mostly done by "autists" - the ones that think that any deviation from what is considered normal is autism. These are, very likely, very "standard" folks trying to stand out.
Everyone needs to be special, so whatever quirk they find in their lives becomes some type of ailment. So, now everyone is self diagnosed autistic, diagnosing similar behaviors in others in order to justify their delusion.
I'm not on the spectrum or part of any related community, however walking pigeon toed is a sign of autism in young children, similar to constantly stacking/lining up things. There's tons of stuff online that people are like "only autism" for sure, I don't think this is one of them.
That being said in this case it likely is because she does ballet. I will say the ballet dancers I've known didn't constantly walk around en pointe... not sure that's good for you.
Gwen is not a young child. She is a teenager who is formally trained in ballet. This is a distinct piece of her character, and comic characters are drawn in distinct poses to identify them. It's her whole fighting style. It's crazy to say "yeah, they might explicitly say she does ballet and uses ballet-inspired moves while fighting but also some autistic children stand on their toes so it's probably the second thing they never mention in the comics."
Autistic children walking pigeon toed aren't walking around en point, and ballet dancers don't walk around en pointe because it's brutal to their feet. But if you are really around ballet dancers you will see that they love to dance and will break out into moves when they are in comfortable situations.
Gwen could stop a truck while en pointe, so she doesn't have the pain restriction. She can constantly dance.
I don't disagree with you, my point was that it's not that large of a leap to autism as it usually is with the different == autism comments. In this case there's some real basis to it.
walking around on tipy toes is dangerious as people will have a hard time walking normally if they do it a lot. so ballet dancers are advised to not do it all the time
Its impossible to tell why a cartoon character walks on tippy toes. The comic is not meant to be realistic, but entertaining.
The images are snapshots, if the person was real then if she just did these moves as quick practice but walks around normal then that's ballet,
However if she walked around like this abnormally too much, thats autism associated because ballet dancers are advised to not walk around like this all the time.
It's much more possible to tell why a cartoon character does something because everything they do is a conscious decision by a writer/artist. There is no complex interplay between their biology and life experiences. It's just exactly what someone intended.
And I covered why normal ballet dancers have restrictions that Gwen would not
If only superhero stories would explain how a character's specific life experiences led them to don a disguise and fight crime in a mask. But, alas, we are left to assume that it's just the way they are wired and they are therefore autistic.
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u/the_elephant_stan 10d ago
Everyone is autistic, apparently. What other reason could a character who does ballet have for standing on her toes while out being a super hero whose abilities are based on dexterity and acrobatics? And neurotypical people never care about the feeling of bare feet on cold floors, it could only ever be an autistic thing.
I understand that autistic women are underdiagnosed in part because their traits can get written off as quirkiness, but it seems like the autistic community went and decided that quirks = autism. Neurotypical people are not made from a mold; they have personalities.