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A review by caughtbetweenpages
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
It's always hard to rate a memoir, but this one hit me very hard at a time I did not expect it to. Fern Brady's honesty and comic timing had me crying and laughing in such fast succession that I nearly threw up at one point (unrelated to the several times I nearly threw up from Things Hitting Too Close To Home and some stuff Beginning to Make Sense).
The first person (man) ever diagnosed with autism is still alive today. This developmental disorder is severely understudied, particularly as it effects women, people of color, and any other marginalized group of people (basically anyone not labeled by all the following: Cishet Man, White, Able-bodied, and Wealthy Enough for Doctors to Pay Attention). For women, there's a tremendous amount of social conditioning to put others first, so masking can hide symptoms (outwardly. It's devastating inwardly and the masking will eventually fail when that bubbles over, as Brady goes into detail about), and for whatever horrible reasons, conventionally pretty women get labeled quirky and eccentric and Manic Pixie Dream Girly instead of being helped.
Gah, I'm not wording this review well. Basically, Fern Brady is a treasure and you should support her writing and comedy and whatever else she does. I know I will be, going forward.
The first person (man) ever diagnosed with autism is still alive today. This developmental disorder is severely understudied, particularly as it effects women, people of color, and any other marginalized group of people (basically anyone not labeled by all the following: Cishet Man, White, Able-bodied, and Wealthy Enough for Doctors to Pay Attention). For women, there's a tremendous amount of social conditioning to put others first, so masking can hide symptoms (outwardly. It's devastating inwardly and the masking will eventually fail when that bubbles over, as Brady goes into detail about), and for whatever horrible reasons, conventionally pretty women get labeled quirky and eccentric and Manic Pixie Dream Girly instead of being helped.
Gah, I'm not wording this review well. Basically, Fern Brady is a treasure and you should support her writing and comedy and whatever else she does. I know I will be, going forward.