Spectrum Women by Barb Cook

Author:Barb Cook
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784508067
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2018-07-28T16:00:00+00:00

Talk like a man, look like a lady: Women and communication

The added bonus of being a woman and a spectrumite usually makes communication even more difficult. In general, the female gender is known to rely more heavily on forms of non-verbal communication, such as nodding, eye contact, and facial expressions. Apparently, there is also a preference for communicating sitting down or standing around with others, particularly face-to-face. Well, not this female. My spectrumness has often been the issue in many of my social experiences with neurotypical women. People comment on my lack of emotion, my directness, my strong opinions, and, apparently, my desire to be moving while I talk. All of these things seem to come together in social communication situations somehow to negate my femaleness.

Bossy, stubborn, manipulative, and cold are only a few of the number of negative attributes I hear simply because of my communication style. Spectrum women hear about our “male brains” all the time, and I have had enough. Being direct does not make you masculine. Having an opinion doesn’t make you less ladylike, and walking while talking doesn’t remove my caring female nature. A distinctive style of communication does not make us less feminine. Spectrum women are strong, direct, assertive, and clear in our ideas. We do not have to be soft. We do not have to wear heels and lipstick. We do not have to sit in intimate, face-to-face, gentle conversations to maintain our femininity. I may talk like a man, but I do so with the pride, courage, and strength that only a spectrumite can possess.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.