Illustration of a girl standing at a window. Image sourced from Pixabay
In the past several years, it seems as though autism, or ASD, is being discussed more and more frequently, allowing for a decrease in the stigma surrounding it. It’s because of this more open discussion and education that we’re also seeing more people being diagnosed with autism or beginning to wonder about a diagnosis for themselves. Unfortunately, there’s still quite a lot that isn’t widely understood or is even completely misunderstood about this neurodivergence, even by medical professionals. This can and often does result in the frequent underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis of autism, particularly in women. In fact, for every one girl that is diagnosed with autism, four boys are diagnosed, according to the Duke Integrated Pediatric Mental Health.
There are a handful of reasons why autistic girls and women are overlooked; the first is that many of them don’t fit the traditional stereotypes placed on people with ASD, which are overwhelmingly male centered. It’s these stereotypes that often prevent individuals and even doctors from recognizing the symptoms and characteristics of ASD in girls. According to pediatric neuropsychologist Susan Epstein, in an article by Child Mind Institute, “The model that we have for a classic autism diagnosis has really turned out to be a male model. That’s not to say that girls don’t ever fit, but girls tend to have a quieter presentation, with not necessarily as much of the repetitive and restricted behavior, or it shows up in a different way.”
Wooden sculpture of a tree person in Freetown Photo credit: Olivia Andersen
While studying abroad last semester, I visited Freetown Christiana in Denmark. Before visiting, I wasn’t familiar with the community’s beliefs or practices. My prior knowledge about Freetown was that it was an anarchist society based in Copenhagen. Freetown, the place itself, is about 17 acres encompassing a lake, small forest areas, and an extraordinarily culturally vibrant community. At the entrance, a path takes you through the hippie commune with fantastic street art, food, and intriguing counterculture. Freetown Christiana is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood located in the center of Copenhagen. Christiania is a way of free-living first established by hippies and social dropouts on a former military barracks site in 1971. Today, it is home to about 1,000 inhabitants living in an organized commune. Also known as the Green Light District, it is usually a safe and open place for everybody as long as local rules and people are respected and tolerated. Some rules practiced today are no running, yelling, or taking pictures in non-designated areas. This alternative community has proclaimed a Freetown to build a society from scratch. Christiania’s people sought a place for freedom, finding a sustainable balance between the community and Copenhagen.
Located in Copenhagen’s center, the community has faced several challenges because of its lack of government. The creation of this self-governing community presents anarchist perspectives that eliminate formal social norms. Christiania’s normative background is rooted in the commitment to create and sustain a self-governing community where everyone can develop and express themselves as responsible community members (Loddo, 2023). These commitments manifest into norms called ‘Christiania’s common law’ or ‘Christiania’s grundlov.’ The people set intentional community guidelines to protect them against tourists and crime. Abiding by the social law enforced by the people, they live freely nonviolent lives among tourists who visit Freetown. By setting these boundaries, they explore the ideologies of an anarchist society, working dependently to provide a sustainable community that reflects their collective beliefs—practicing community-based self-governing principles of fairness, equality, and lack of taxes. This nontraditional way of living has provided a safe place for community members for decades, creating a society that lacks central government control but rather, enforces a social law. “Christiania Law is a social law that is not enacted through the formal procedure but changes with society’s evolution” (Loddo, 2023). Practicing these ideologies, the people of Christiania grasp a more profound sense of community that shapes and guides their beliefs, setting informal norms. Through shared social experiences, they use collective knowledge to form conditions to protect community members. Placing these boundaries ensures safety among community members. Freetown is home to many famous artists who focus on bringing awareness to societal issues and pushing for equality.
With the announcement of Justice Stephen Breyre’s retirement, it opens up a new possibility for a female Justice to be appointed to the Supreme Court. I feel that it is important to discuss the first woman, Sandra Day O’ Connor and remember her legacy as we await the announcement of Justice Breyer’s successor. O’ Connor once said, “The destiny of the woman must be shaped to a large extent on her own conception of her spiritual imperative and her place in society”. O’ Connor strove to achieve her dreams and became an inspiration to women all over the nation. Her hard work created the perfect path that allowed many women to follow in her remarkable footsteps. Her legacy extends beyond her time in the Supreme Court, many find inspiration in her upbringing and her actions during her retirement. O’ Connor understood her place in history, and so she made all decisions carefully and precisely in order to allow more women to become involved in politics. Women’s involvement in United States politics has been a long, uphill battle. Dating back to 1920, when women first gained the right to vote, women have been striving to achieve higher positions in politics. Julia Maruszewski published a timeline of women’s achievement in politics, from the first woman being elected to Congress, to swearing in a female vice president. O’Connor symbolized a huge breakthrough for the feminist movement by being the first woman Supreme Court Justice in 191 years. This meant that O’Connor faced great criticism and she was keenly aware of the historical significance of her position.
The vastness of the internet gives us all access to more information than we’ll ever know what to do with. Those of us that experienced the introduction of technology during our childhoods can’t imagine living in a time before Google was readily available at our fingertips. Having constant access to anything and everything you can think of might sound like a negative thing, and at times it can be a bit much. But it also allows us to learn about things we might not otherwise. In the case of social media, we can learn things about ourselves and other people. The popular video-sharing platform, TikTok, has recently become a popular place for all kinds of advice, though the most noticeable is the increase in relationship advice and how to identify toxic traits in partners.
Most social media platforms focus on presenting perfectly manicured versions of our lives. We post our best days on Instagram and Facebook, often not sharing the reality of those moments. But TikTok has proven itself different as a social media platform with its large number of creators dedicated to exposing the real parts of life and relationships. One thing that I learned about fairly recently on TikTok is the idea of weaponized incompetence. Though the term first showed up in 2007, it’s not really a new thing.
The language of poetry is deeply evocative. Poetry is cathartic. When minds are racing, and hearts are beating poetry gives form to experiences that can’t be spoken aloud. Women have long been emphatic about expressing feelings of oppression, discrimination, gender roles, race, and mental health. Women have also created poetry about daily life, motherhood, and romantic love and frustrations. While there are many great male writers, Ernest Hemingway being a personal favorite, women’s writing deserves to be known just as widely. In high school, the poetry and literature we read tended to focus on male writers. For the curriculum, only ¼ of books were written by a female author. I don’t believe it’s done intentionally, however, there is a quiet but collective belief that women are secondary to men. Though, times continue to evolve and with that, more women of all ages have stepped up to represent other women, to advocate for and inspire them.
Just to name a few, poets that have greatly influenced female writing include Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Anne Saxton, and Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary was a women’s rights activist as well as a writer, -most known for writing A Vindication of the Rights of Women. This work was famous for the criticism placed on the lack of women’s education in the 18th-century. She wanted women to be seen as relevant to society and not valued only for their domestic duties of raising children and maintaining a household.
Journal from pexels.com
Each woman used her own style and technique to communicate through poetry. Emily Dickinson often wrote about her frustrations surrounding religion, law, and nature. She was very inspired by other writers in the Romantic Era. Today, Dickinson is considered one of America’s greatest original poets. In her writing, she showed incredibly sharp-sighted observations a noteworthy ability to explore social and literary concepts. Despite not having any formal education, she wrote because “it is liberating but also knocks our feet off the ground”, as she once described. I think anything women do is backed by passion that is unique to us. These poets continue to inspire from the 17th century into the modern day.
Poetry can be a struggle to read and understand when the diction is something resembling Shakespeare’s style. However, many poets today handle the language of poetry with grace and authenticity. Rupi Kaur, is one of today’s most renowned poets. She reached millions of people with her 2014 publication “milk and honey”, and continues to do so today through her new works, “the sun and her flowers”, and “home body”. She creates a space where all women can relate to each other’s ache, and the need to feel heard and seen. Women in poetry utilize writing as a tool of agency and expression. Just as Dickinson felt, writing is liberating.
Whether you are a writer or not, I believe all women should read literature and/or poetry. It can give names to experiences and feelings that are difficult to understand. Poetry benefits the reader and the writer. It gives rhythm to silence and brings creativity and imagination to the forefront. Reading helps improve ideas, skills, and self-development Being mindful of the present world and daily life and routines is also something that poetry captures well. Mundanity becomes meaningful in just a few lines.
writing in a cafe from pexels.com
One thing I noticed is that writing quickly connects us to other people. Many of the most famous writers were friends! Many participated in the same workshops, visited each other’s homes, and wrote letters to each other from afar. Likewise, today, with the use of social media, local and university courses, and events- writers can continue fostering a community. Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield are widely remembered as bitter foes but in truth, the two had an affectionate albeit turbulent friendship. Both women were ambitious and had a mutual understanding of their literary talent. They challenged each other with insight and critique. Woolf was even hurt by one of Mansfield’s critiques, and yet it was one that ultimately improved her next three works.
Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton both attended Boston University and took the same poetry classes. They discussed writing and enjoyed discussing and pushing back against the expectations for women of that time. It will always be incredible to me the power behind women standing together. When we share works with each other we become inspired. Proofreading and receiving constructive criticism strengthens everyone. Others bring a different perspective, new ideas, and a nuanced imagination. Women in the poetry world are brutally honest and this level of depth has a profound influence over the culture of writing.
Reading/Writing from pexels.com
Still to this day, many writers have captured the struggles of isolation and loneliness because of COVID-19. This is how we stay connected. For eons, the written word has always been a way to preserve history, to have the self-remembered. Every woman should read or write poetry (even if its “bad”). The goal is to have fun expressing and play with language and create your own. As a place to start, here are 11 Beautiful Poetry Collections written by female poets.
Haiti. The world’s first independent Black republic and one of the world’s most impoverished nations. Wrecked by the disastrous earthquake of 2010, Haiti has yet to recover from it. Women and girls have been left struggling more than ever in the aftermath of another 7 magnitude earthquake that occurred in August of this year. In the wake of political, social, and economic unrest, – the struggle of gender-based discrimination and violence gets even further pushed out of sight.
When I think about the freedom women in the U.S. have today that is not available to women in Haiti, it’s disheartening. Even now, women are still fighting for complete autonomy and equality – this is a universal struggle. As a Haitian-American young woman, I find my heart divided between the grief of two nations. Everything I deal with now, women in Haiti struggle with even more.
One of my favorite things about visiting new places is finding spaces where nature flourishes, vibrant and breathtaking. Growing up in southern California, the idea of nature never immediately brought to mind images of forests or dense woods. Nature for me was the wide-open valleys and horizon built of jagged mountain tops. But no matter where I went, I was always struck by how powerful nature was and how I felt connected to it. Reading under a tree, watching ducks and geese on a pond, or just sitting in a park enjoying the atmosphere are all comforting to me. So it’s no surprise that the connection between women and nature is a popular topic among feminists and environmentalists.
Domestic violence is frequent behaviour that establishes power or control through fear and intimidation. It occurs on repeated occasions spurred by jealousy, anger, or stress. This behaviour includes physical assaults, verbal abuse, emotional or sexual manipulation. According to 85% of domestic violence victims are women and every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. Next time you’re in a room of women, take a look around. 1 in 4 women have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime. The numbers of these cases are jarring and in the year 2020, due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the number of cases has significantly jumped. Stress caused by unemployment has accounted for the increase in domestic abuse.
For most women, seeking help for domestic violence can be too vulnerable and shameful. If she has to carry on with her day, job and/or family, it is common that women decide to handle the abuser alone and put a face on for the rest of the world. It is estimated that at least 65% of women take measures to hide or cover-up their scars or bruises and unfortunately there are beauty brands that enable the hiding other than encouraging women to show their wounds and speak up.
For many, October marks the beginning of chilly weather and the reemergence of chunky sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes. Halloween is just around the corner and the shifting of leaves from green to shades of gold and red make for stunning photo opportunities. But the beginning of October marks something else as well: LGBTQ+ History Month. This month serves as an opportunity for members of the community to remember the obstacles that those before us overcame so that we can have the freedoms we have today.
Despite all the accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community, biases, stereotypes, and misunderstandings still linger. But you may be surprised to learn that stereotypes exist within the community as well. There are a few identities within the community that face bias from other members of their community, like people on the ace spectrum. But today, I want to talk about the backlash that bisexual people encounter from within this community, especially bi women.
Every woman I know seems to have a never-ending list of healthcare horror stories. My own doctor visits have been no different. In my sophomore year of high school, I went to the doctor because I suspected I had shin splints, a common affliction for runners. My doctor nodded at my concern, told me he thought I might have shin splints, and sent me home with a prescription for Ibuprofen. Another visit prompted by persistent wrist pain brought me to the doctor again. Three hours in the waiting room and one x-ray later brought him to the conclusion that it was, in fact, “all in my head.” This phrase will come as no surprise to any women who have had to deal with the healthcare system. It’s just one common phrase among an endless supply of other rage-inducing comments. There’s nothing we can do. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. Are you sure it’s that bad? Have you tried taking over the counter medication? As if we haven’t exhausted every option available to us before making an appointment.
But we do make the appointment. We listen to the doctor’s advice: change your diet, exercise more, meditate. We listen because these are the people who are supposed to take care of us when we feel like we need help. When that doesn’t work, we make another appointment with another doctor. Then another and another, often with the same disheartening results. I know how hopeless it can feel, wanting to make a new appointment but being afraid it will only yield the same response as always. Many women stop trying, having been gaslit by healthcare professionals so many times that they become convinced they are just overreacting.
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