Chest hair and ASD

[Tom]

All the aspie men I've known were very feminine. Two of them even said they felt like girls. Lanky, tenor voices, not at all hairy.

Your sample is limited. You only have met the vamps. Others of us lean the other way.

 

[Rocco]

I've got to warn you, this is going to be a little bit rambly. The reason I started thinking about chest hair is because someone on another forum mentioned that ASD's were a form of hyper-masculinity.

I don't want to give more credence to those theories by granting them airtime, but oh well, you'll probably hear about them eventually. They bug me a lot, because at least part of the evidence for them is the under-diagnosis of ASD in girls. I simply do not consider it proven that ASD is actually less common among female persons, instead of just overlooked. I also don't care for the concept of "male traits" being autistic traits, because those are culturally defined. On the AQ test, neurotypical men get two points more than neurotypical women. Autistics of any gender tend to score higher by ten or twenty points. Boys in western society tend to communicate less about their feelings because when they do communicate them the same way as girls do, they are "corrected" and taught to do things the way men are expected to. Autistics tend to communicate less about their emotions because autism includes impairment in communication skills. As I have gotten older and gotten to know myself better, I have begun expressing myself a lot more freely. So yeah, that really bugs me.

But most of all, my body has always struck me as kind of odd for someone who is supposed to be "hyper-masculine." I think it's relevant to mention that my ascribed sex is male. But I never developed the thick, bushy mats of hair on my chest and back and arms, and even my leg hair is rather sparse. As for my chest, I did not have chest hair through my teens or even into my twenties. At one point I had eight long, black hairs poking out around my nipples. Seriously, I counted them. As of right now, I've got this area shaped like a bell curve stretching between my nipples sparsely scattered with dark hairs. I have arm hair, but it is very thin and light, and the back of my hand is not hairy at all. David Tennant has much hairier hands than I do (Seriously, look at the hair on the back of his manly hairy hand).

And although I'm focussing on hair here, my voice also never deepened all that much, so I'm often mistaken for a woman over the telephone.

One final note, I've sometimes perceived my "figure" as a bit feminine as well, but other times I don't feel that way or at least not very much. I doubt my body is physically changing shape, but that perception is also part of my experience. (My long hair has gotten me called "ma'am" in the past, but I am pretty much certain that that's cultural).

Has anyone else got this experience? Do you ever wonder where your "hyper-masculinity" is hiding? I know I have, because it's not on my chest.

I am very much similar. Age 34, I could not grow a mustache until after 30, very thin arm and leg hair to the point I have been asked dozens of times if I shave my arms and legs. Practically no chest hair, except a small area in the center of my breast bone. Happy trail, yes.
On a more personal note, pubes came around 16-18, arm pit hair didn't start until 21.
And I am also often mistaken for a woman on the phone unless I intentionally sound gruff or deep. My voice can go all over though, hi and low, great with impressions
I don't think I have an Adam's apple either..?

 

[Slothra]

Slothra I'd just be yourself, your face looks like you'd be a natural alto voice to me, mid alto probably, not too close to soprano or tenor either one. That's a good voice, not common to males but, not unheard of either.

Are you referencing Contralto? Do you have a sample of the voice you're thinking of?

I know I don't tend to have a FEMININE voice, but it's not masculine, either. It almost sounds nasally, like a muppet, to me.

 

[Beverly]

I was thinking of a voice similar to Russell Oberlin's voice. he is a wonderful male alto, love listening to him when I'm in a mood for opera.

 

[ancusmitis]

I am very much similar. Age 34, I could not grow a mustache until after 30, very thin arm and leg hair to the point I have been asked dozens of times if I shave my arms and legs. Practically no chest hair, except a small area in the center of my breast bone. Happy trail, yes.
On a more personal note, pubes came around 16-18, arm pit hair didn't start until 21.
And I am also often mistaken for a woman on the phone unless I intentionally sound gruff or deep. My voice can go all over though, hi and low, great with impressions
I don't think I have an Adam's apple either..?

I'm actually happy with my smaller amount of hair these days, although in my early twenties I felt like there was something really wrong and I couldn't imagine what it was. I tried looking for things like whether I had an extra X chromosome, or maybe I was mosaic, or maybe there was something else going on with my body to make it do that. But now I think that I am okay, although there are some things that I would change, if I had the chance.

 

[Cosmophylla]

I don't think we should discount the effects of hormones on hair growth. I'm 40, female, and have always been quite hairy. Not in the middle of my chest, but my legs have had noticeable, dark hair since I was 10. My forearms always seemed distressingly hairy when I was younger and I hated it until summer came and the sun tanned my skin and bleached the hair...then they would go back to looking like men's arms in the cooler weather. (Incidentally I have large hands for a female.) Anyway, back to hormones: I have had a hormone imbalance for a long time.

Genetics, and heritage, are also a factor. I'm part Viking...maybe that adds to my hair? Were Vikings hairy???

I know I don't tend to have a FEMININE voice, but it's not masculine, either. It almost sounds nasally, like a muppet, to me.

I've read that an unusual voice is an ASD trait. I consider my voice to be wretchedly nasal, as well.

 

[Warmheart]