Towards a new paradigm: “Mimicry of the Oppressed” Part 2: Put your mask down, NT, so we can all be free
“Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people–they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress. … The oppressor is an important part of Freire’s conception of oppression. For Freire, the oppressor holds power over the oppressed and actively prevents them from having freedom. Oppressors rely on a permanent and unequal social system to keep their power and they manipulate the views of oppressed people to make the oppressed invested in a system that keeps them down. However, oppressors also deny themselves freedom in the process of denying others, which makes them unable to become free. Therefore, oppressed people must liberate oppressors in order to make society free.”
–– Paulo Freire.
In Part 1: The neurodivergent are not a ‘different’ part of a neurodominant idea of humanity. We are a different type of human. A separate people. The neurodominant do not have claim of ownership on humanity. Humanity does not belong to them, but the propaganda of colonialism and its modern permutation, Capitalism, keeps everyone clueless.
The hegemony of the neurodominant, who are themselves only now disentangling the mess they got themselves and the rest of us in, amounts to one thing – power and control. Decoloniality must extend beyond a neurodominant self-examination if it is going to reach the invisible people, the neurominority kept in the Between Places.
How is autistic masking actually mimicry of the oppressor in the Paulo Freire sense?
There are certainly some similarities between the concept of autistic masking and the idea of "mimicry of the oppressor" in Paulo Freire's work. In Freire's view, oppressed individuals often internalize the values and behaviors of their oppressors as a way to gain acceptance or protect themselves from harm. This can lead to a loss of cultural identity and perpetuate systems of oppression.
Non-autistic behaviors like "masking" to adapt to social norms are projected onto autistic individuals, even though the experiences may not be the same.
Clearly, we do not adapt to social norms. If you ask someone who is on the spectrum if they want to adapt to NT social norms, they might say yes, but their reason would be so that they no longer suffer the terrible treatment they have by NTs because they are on the spectrum and different. That would not be an admission of wanting to be like NTs. It is more a willingness to do anything to be free from NT mistreatment.
Non-autistic individuals may assume that autistic individuals are simply "shy" or "withdrawn" when they are actually experiencing sensory overload or difficulty processing social cues, but autistic individuals may be using different strategies to navigate social situations.
This can lead to NTs misunderstanding and harboring misconceptions about the experiences of individuals with autism, and can contribute to stigma and discrimination. It's important to approach the topic of autism with an open mind and a willingness to learn from autistic individuals themselves, rather than relying on assumptions or stereotypes.
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