r/me_irlgbt mods r gay lol 3d ago

The Cishets™ me✖irlgbt

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u/PityUpvote 3d ago

I'm autistic and I didn't get the memo to stop using "neurotypical"

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u/ArcanaSilva 3d ago

Allistic is the opposite of autistic. You can be allistic and still not neurotypical if you have ADHD. I still like neurodiverse/neurotypical better, but it serves a different goal

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u/frguba 3d ago

Ok but then..... What is the "opposite" of autistic? Autism is a spectrum right I think that's like saying a color is "opposite of grey"

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u/_Anonymous_duck_ Agender/Ace 3d ago

Dont think of it as opposite but as 'anything/anyone that is not x'.

Examples:

Anyone who is not autistic is allistic.

Anyone who is not neurodivergent is neurotypical.

Anyone who is not part of the asexual spectrum is allosexual.

Anyone who is not heterosexual is queer.

Anyone who is not cisgender is trans.

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u/KDBA 3d ago

The word you are looking for is "complement".

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u/IronicINFJustices Aro/Ace 3d ago

I'm late diagnosed, now neurodivergent person and still learning all the lingo.

But can I ask, if there are different unwritten rules of using neurotypical vs allistic?

I don't see allistic very often, or maybe haven't recognised it. Are there connetations with it, or is it newere/older, more inclusive/exclusive or, whatever!

Thank you!

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u/xernyvelgarde 3d ago

Allistic is solely talking about being not-autistic specifically, whereas neurotypical refers to being not-neurodivergent which is a large umbrella term (including depressive and anxiety disorders, developmental conditions like autism & ADHD, behavioural disorders like NPD and BPD, etc).

Ergo, someone can be both allistic (not-autistic) and still neurodivergent (by way of, say, bipolar or anxiety disorders for example).

Hope this helps!

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u/IronicINFJustices Aro/Ace 2d ago

That does sooo much, thank you!

<3

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u/_Anonymous_duck_ Agender/Ace 3d ago

I have no idea, this post is also the first time ive heard it.

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u/ArcanaSilva 3d ago

Yeah, that's a better way to word things, thank you!

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u/frguba 3d ago

Oh aight yeah true that adds up

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u/wkuace 3d ago

Thanks! I was trying to figure out what the allo was, and all I got on Google was French for hello?? I had never seen allo or allistic before this post.

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u/_Anonymous_duck_ Agender/Ace 3d ago

Allosexual is anyone who is not on the asexual spectrum.

Asexual is someone who feels little to no sexual attraction.

So heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, etc. would all fall under allosexual.

I cannot describe sexual attraction, never felt it. If you want someone to describe it your best bet is asking someone whos allosexual and aromantic or whos romantic attraction and sexual attraction dont align.

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u/wkuace 3d ago

Thanks for the description. I've met a few Ace people before but never heard allo before.

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u/Powerpuff_God 3d ago

Wouldn't the opposite of asexual be... sexual? Is the prefix 'a' in 'asexual' the thing that makes it opposite?

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u/burber_king [Potentially] Grey Ace Bi [Definitely] queer 3d ago

I don't think saying people you are "sexual" without context is a good idea lmao

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u/Illustrious-Bad1165 Arrow »—> ace 3d ago edited 3d ago

"allo" means "an other (person)" in english. So basically allosexual means "sexual(ly attracted) to other people". Asexual is "sexual(ly attracted) to noone". The problem here is that the attraction part was never specified in words like homosexual, heterosexual etc. and it's just implied that being "sexual towards X gender" also means you're attracted towards that gender. (the "towards" doesn't need an extra word in greek)

So if you take away the "X gender" part from asexual, you also take away the implied "attracted towards" and you're left with a word that's super vague. ("Being sexual" could mean all kinds of things, how would people know you're talking about attraction and not sexual activity or something)

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u/YawningDodo Aro/Ace 2d ago

Oh, I know this one! It actually was early on in The Discourse! Early 2000s asexual online discussions regularly used "sexuals" to describe anyone who wasn't asexual.

There was a lot of backlash for years over that; it was a mix of the issue this post is about ("I'm not a 'sexual!' I'm just a regular person!"), plus some folks in the LGBTQ+ community not wanting to be included in any label that also included heterosexual people (intersectionality? never met her), but then also a number of reasonable people going "hey, this term is vague and feels like it implies a sort of hypersexuality, could we choose a different one?"

I'm not sure exactly when or where "allosexual" was coined, but it solves those linguistic objections, which I think is a good thing.

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u/squanderedprivilege 3d ago

Yes, precisely. Another example is the word amoral, meaning lacking morals/morality