Neuro-queering feminism: Creating space within feminism to address autistic experiences of gender oppression

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The emerging recognition of autistic women and gender-diverse people has highlighted the need for an intersectional approach to understanding their experiences of oppression. However, the axis of neurodivergence has so far been underaddressed within existing intersectional frameworks as the experiences of oppression of autistic women and gender-diverse people have historically been marginalised within both autism research and feminist theory. Addressing this marginalisation within these respective fields is important as autistic women and gender-diverse people experience unique forms of oppression that are underpinned by both patriarchal and neuro-normative structures. This theoretical paper uses neuro-queer feminism as an intersectional framework to examine the experiences of gender and neuro-minority-based oppression of autistic women and gender-diverse people. Neuro-queer feminism is outlined in terms of its usefulness as an intersectional framework for expanding the existing boundaries of feminist scholarship to include neuro-minority experiences of gender oppression, particularly in relation to autistic women and gender-diverse people. The applications of neuro-queer feminism are also discussed in relation to how feminist theory and practice can draw on the neurodiversity paradigm in addressing autistic experiences of gender oppression, such as gender-essentialist constructions of autism and gendered violence.