Do any of the crossdressers here think they might be on the Aspergers spectrum?
Interesting read the other day (unrelated to my husband so was a surprise) about a specialist/researcher or whatever who calls Aspergers the 'extreme male brain'. There are varying degrees as we all know, but men in general have been proven to be more systemisers than empathisers and have a pattern of rigid behaviours and a need for repetition and to analyse etc. Aspergers men are systemisers on speed essentially!
Many Aspergers men also have fetishes. Crossdressing is common on the list.
I'm convinced my husband is on the spectrum. Not high up, though he definitely has family who are true aspie, of this I'm sure! But he's terrible at reading people and situations and his crossdressing is not the only rigid habitual behaviour he has. He's definitely a weird perfectionist about things. Communication sucks. I'd say he's lower end spectrum but definitely on it.
What about the rest here? Is there a connection? Seems that many crossdressers are in the technology industries, and smarter than the average bear. They'd probably be considered 'nice but nerds' if you looked close enough. Obviously other types crossdress, too, but I don't think it's any coincidence that often they are either obsessive military or sport types. I really haven't noticed there being all that many who loved barbie dolls and creative crocheting as a kid (cliche alert lol) as they seem to be another species entirely and are usually trans or gay, or both.
So, despite the odd desire to occasionally look female, do you think you have an extreme male brain and could be on the spectrum? And could there be a connection?
Hi Sindy
Your husband denies his has Asperger's so how can he tell you about something he doesn't think he has? If he'd been medically diagnosed with it then I can understand you might hold it against him but as he's not ...... you're a tough woman to please lol.
The Oxford English Definition of a fetish is:
'A form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc.'
This does fit some crossdressers but not all. I think that this is the context that it is used for Asperger's - paraphilia.
Your definition is a bit more broad and could be used in the following context ‘the western fetish for all things North African’ so I think it's unfair to try and use a broad version of fetish to pull all crossdressers into Asperger's.
Katie