2005-01-18 - 5:31 p.m.

Pro-Aspie and pro-anorexia movements

I came across this article on the discovery of the Ubermensch.

But can one be a Christian and still believe in the Ubermensch? That is debatable, but I certainly don’t, or at least not in any tangible sense as Nietzsche did, assuming that’s what he was actually on about, and neither really in any cyborg-ish variety that is a theme in a lot of anime DVDs. Nevertheless, I will indulge a little because I see some disturbing similarities between this pro-Aspie movement and the pro-anorexia movement on the internet, and besides, whether I like it or not I am a part of this Asperger’s community.

The popular media loves to give much attention to anorexia because of the feelings of contentment and self-justification it gives to the large market of overweight TV-viewers, which does wonders for their ratings. So it follows then that this same media would take the cautious line, saying, yes, anorexia is a problem, but surely its sufferers aren’t truly responsible for their own predicaments because if they were, they wouldn’t be dying, and as it is they need our help and sympathy.

Faced with this environment then it is only understandable that the pro-anorexia community on the internet is growing from strength to strength (all though I am sure that there are many people with eating disorders that are genuine about wanting to be cured).

Now, it appears that the pro-Aspie community on the internet have reached their own critical mass beyond which point they now flatly reject any suggestion that they should strive for change to their own condition. As the dubiously-named Aspies for freedom site puts it, “We oppose any attempts to ‘cure’ someone of (…) Asperger’s syndrome or any attempts to make them normal…”

The even-loonier Autistic Liberation Front believe that the fight to remain autistic is a fight for “human rights”. I’m sure they practice what they preach too by rejecting social security benefits and crime and growing their own fruit and vegetables.

Is this a joke? Hang on let me read that again. It appears not. I find disturbing the implication on these three sites that “all Aspies are pro-Aspies” in the sense of the term that I have used here (although to its credit the latter article also gives, albeit right at the end, the perspective of a family that has to live daily with autism).

I, for one, do want to be cured. It might be the case that for the moment science hasn’t discovered a cure, but that doesn’t mean I should go into denial about the significant problems I face in trying to live as best a life as I can in the mean time.

It is surely not long until we hear of a person, dying of anorexia, suing the public health system on the basis of anti-discrimination laws for not respecting her (surely it will be a her) culturally-founded decision to limit her calorie intake, citing the large pro-anorexia culture, before passing away and bequeathing her large payout to an organisation that shares her beliefs.

When a person with Asperger’s develops a similar attitude, the popular media won’t need to tell you about it.

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