on fetishising autism
So, I think it's interesting how you fetishising/sexualising autism manifests. The few spaces I've seen that are "gratuitous" about it are basically infantilisation with some eugenics or reskinned raceplay mixed in.
But also, it's kinda common in online queer spaces to go like "man, I wanna get fucked by an autistic girl while she infodumps" and, like, that's still *a kind of* fetishisation, right? But also a clearly distinct form, arguably more positive.
re: on fetishising autism
@flesh I think a big difference for me would be the underlying worldview that is implied - whether someone more broadly recognizes autistic folks as autonomous beings that space should be made for in society and communities, or whether they revert to ableist and exclusionary views outside of a sexual context.
I think that correlates a lot with the *way* in which it is fetishized.
re: on fetishising autism
@joepie91 I think it's kinda yes and no, if that makes sense. Yes, the former is clearly underlaid with ableist views, but I don't think it inherently means the person in question believes such views (hell, the main target audience for that stuff is probably autistic).
Both can valid expressions, just in different direction and tone.
I just think it's kinda interesting how the two work out and how hard it is to "low-brow" fetishise autism without bigoted tropes.