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by faeriechangling
1752 days ago
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The first link was more straightup advocacy of stimming, the second is more of a reasoned followup after backlash to the first post 6 years earlier including the phenomenon of performative stimming. I'll jump to the blurb I was referencing in the 2nd link because the posts are quite long: "But sometimes I have also seen activists engaged in stimming that was not authentic — stimming deliberately used to get attention or to make a statement. I’m not sure if this staged stimming is good and true: I’m not even sure if it could properly be called “stimming” (if stimming becomes divorced from its joy, its delicious rush, its natural high, is it still stimming?). And when we aren’t stimming for joy, because our bodies want and need it, because it is physically releasing us from neurotypical oppression (the rule of quiet hands), then who or what are we stimming for?" Essentially making the point that stimming for the approval of others is still surrendering to ableism because you're performing for other people's acceptance when you should just be accepted. It's just that instead of trying to look more normal than you are, you try to look more different than you are. This is to me what gets at the heart of what bothers me about TikTok. It seems to create pressure on autistic people to confirm to stereotypes of autistic people. |
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To me, this is a deeper problem with identity politics itself.
When group identities are recognized over individuals, there is pressure is to display group identity, regardless of whether that is autistism, blackness, queerness, etc.
TikTok is a Petri dish that amplifies the phenomenon.