This is Part 2 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s.  In my previous post I reported how I was a late-bloomer in the relationship field. This time I want to talk about feminine and ‘macho’ things.

Even as a young child macho was a very negative trait to me.  Simply speaking I hated it.  I’m sure the word macho means different things to different people so to the right is the definition that I use. IN my mind macho is almost synonymous with being a bully. There is nothing manly about it. I knew being a boy I was supposed to be macho but the idea of aggressively dominating others with a self-conscious attitude was just not possible for me.  It was against every fiber of my being.

Instead I mostly often worried about others and their places in life.  Because of the machoism and the fact that I was a frail child,  most sports were something I avoided and still avoid seventy years later. Even watching it has not been on my agenda for a very long time.  

In fact because of the damage sports does to many I think it has an overall negative effect in this world. I have jokingly come to the belief that no one over the age of 15 should be allowed to play sports. There are far too many kids who spend all their energies trying to become the next Micheal Jorden when in reality doing that often means a wasted life because of the fact that they do it to the exclusion of everything else including academics. 

Thinking about others instead of thumping my chest and strutting around feeling superior was what I was.  I knew that was considered feminine and that probably alienated me from some  possible friends but I just didn’t care.  I was not a macho guy and I never would be.

Changing subjects to another area, I was almost forty years old before I married and the courtship was as fast as the marriage was late. Our first date was in December and we were married in April. My wife of thirty years said  to a friend after our first date” this is the guy I am going to marry” and indeed she did. 

A man with Asperger’s syndrome appears to have a ‘feminine’, rather than ‘macho’ quality – the ideal partner for the modern woman. The man with Asperger’s syndrome is usually a late developer in terms of emotional and relationship maturity, and this could be his first serious relationship, while his same-age peers have had several long-term relationships already….

Attwood, Tony (2006-09-28). The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Being anti-macho and having feminine characteristics was a strong part of my early life and remains so today. I am proud of that fact. But now I also recognize that it may be part of the Asperger’s Syndrome…