Shinjuku Boys (1995). Tatsu, a transgender man, jokes with his barber about his changing appearance, and his newly masculine features.
TRANSCRIPT:
BARBER: So you go regularly to the hospital for your hormone injection?
TATSU: [nods]
BARBER: Does it hurt?
TATSU: Not at all.
BARBER: You have more facial hair. It must be the hormones. You’ll get a moustache soon.
TATSU: I’ll look distinguished! They’ve made quite the difference. I never thought I’d change so much. Most customers say I’m like a man.
BARBER: Really?
TATSU: [laughing] They say, “You look like a man. You’re not cute.”
BARBER: [laughs]
One thing I worry about in society is how autistic people seem to be more at risk for getting in trouble for things they didn’t even do all because of not understanding the situation in the first place
For example: I remember one time I was shopping at a supermarket, and after paying, a staff member walked up to me, and without explaining why, asked me if they could look inside my bag. I was only aware they suspected me of shoplifting (which I hadn’t) because of a previous post I’d read about another autistic in a similar situation. Imagine if an autistic person, unaware of the hidden context, declined to let them look inside the bag. They’d already be deemed as suspicious when in reality, they just didn’t want someone to look inside
Another time I was about to go to a university party organised by the university itself. I was carrying an empty Coca-Cola bottle ONLY because I was drinking one beforehand, and couldn’t find a bin. Without warning, a staff member grabbed my empty bottle and took it away. At first I thought they were just being helpful until I saw the stern look on their face, and then I was confused (only later did I realise they might have thought I would refill it with alcohol later on or something). When I was unable to get in due to not having enough money, I had a shutdown due to the noise and confusion, and was then screamed at to get out despite the fact I did nothing wrong
This is the kind of thing autistic people have to deal with. Society has to learn to understand that just because a person isn’t reacting the way you expect, and seems “suspicious”, doesn’t mean they are. There’s a high chance they’re an autistic person who may not be fully understanding of the situation at hand, especially when the other person isn’t explicit about what’s going on
My buddy made the front page of reddit for his unbelievably lucky escape from a tree falling on his car and it just feels like this gets more and more surreal.