u/JustAnEvilImmortal

Hello everybody, something I've seen lately that is really bothering me is the use and a lot of the time incorrect use of agab labels. I understand that there are a lot of trans and nonbinary people in this community, I myself among them, and that many people want to talk about their experience in a gender neutral way or in a way that doesn't feel like you are misgendering people but the way people use agab labels here is inadvertently very much misgendering other trans people or perpetuating bioessentialist standards.

What I am talking about specifically is people substituting "girl autism" with "afab autism" which, in my opinion is oversimplifying a complicated issue and is also directly excluding a lot of transfeminine people from a conversation which definitely should involve them. Not everyone who was born with a specific set of bits was socialized the same and has "the same" kind of autism. Even when people were still calling it girl autism there was a lot of conversation about the fact that not even all cis girls fall under that definition.

TLDR: saying afab autism instead of girl autism might be more inclusive for some folk but is very exclusionary toward others and is also implying that all people who have one set of genitals experience autism the same which they don't

edit for clarity: I'm opposed to the usage of agab labels as a whole and only used it in this post as an example that using "afab autism" for me, who would in this case be considered part of this group, is incorect. People have started using them as woke stand ins for gendered words and in a lot of cases are inadvertently misgendering a lot of people and perpetuating bioessentialist rhetoric

edit 2: i removed it now but I included that part about me feeling uncomfortable with it as a trans person entirely because it is overhwhelmingly trans masculine (I'm not trans masc, I am trans neutral but I move through life as a trans man and for the sake of the post I might as well be)people using the term this way and I though a perspective from someone who doesn't feel included by the term and thinks that it is exclusionary toward others might be someothing a trans masc person might be able to empathize. This isn't about me, I'm just an example, even if i had the kind of autism that is typcially called "girl autism" (someone in the commenst pointed out high masking autism would be a better word than girl or afab autsim and I agree) I would still be opposed to the usage because it is not inherently more inclusive. just because something includes you doesn't mean it doesn't also include a lot of people whom it shouldn't and exclude those it should

Edit3: I also want to clarify that even under tgis post people are usibg agab wrong. It does not mean someone who has a specific set of chromosomes nor does it describe someones socialisation or genitals. It means the gender that was put on your birth certificate after you were born. It is not a fixed biological state but something that was assigned to you by a doctor/the state and it can differ from your actual "biological" sex. Saying afab instead of girls is not accurate, perceived gender and agab can differ, even in seemingly cis people. using agab as a woke stand in for man/woman is just assuming that someone with one set of genitals (even though agab isn't (entirely) about genitals but ppl are using it in this way) has one set experience. If you are a girl or were by society treated as one that is one thing but saying you were "raised afab" doesn't mean anything because people don't see you as a nebulous set of sex characteristics and also excludes trans and intersex women from a conversation that should be inclusive of them.

Also because someone complained that I didn'texplain words they could have easily googled:

afab= assigned female at birth

Amab= assigned male at birth

Agab= assigned gender at birth