Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanessa
Socially awkward, prefer to be on my own. Yep that's me.
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Preferring to be alone is not a sign of a mental illness or being on the spectrum. I agree that something’s up with Jordan but the way you’re making that point is reinforcing the erroneous modern Western idea that social introversion is a bad thing, a negative trait to be overcome and more inherently abnormal. That’s not the case.
I’m more on the lookout for pathological gossips and narcissistic types myself (people who do the most harm) than random dudes who just happen to be a little socially awkward. Stop this over-pathologisation of introversion. It is not inherently a disease.
Jordan sure is a dick but that’s not because he has autism or Asperger’s (assuming he’s even on the spectrum any more-so than the average male). As far as we know that’s just him. Maybe his mum’s in denial or isn’t but has respect for his dignity and right to medical confidentiality (which we all have), maybe she just knows him a lot better than we do (she did give birth to him after all) and knows that he actually doesn’t particularly belong to any neurodivergent fold. Maybe he’s just a dry, toxic weirdo. Maybe he’s actually more positively normal than we give him credit for but this is just the persona he’s adopted for Big Brother. It’s hard to say, because none of us actually know him well enough. But when you do know someone, it’s more a matter of what you know than think or assume about them, because you actually know and don’t need to guess so much about their personality or neurotype. You know because you know, not because such-and-such is just what you think or what someone else who similarly doesn’t know the person thinks. If the people closest to him think he’s normal, then what they say is going to be worth more than the opinions of complete strangers looking at him through a very narrow lens on reality TV. They’re the ones who know him. We don’t, not really.
I know we’re obsessed with labelling everyone and pathologising every natural quirk under the sun these days but let’s not. I like and respect you, V., but this thread really isn’t it.