Strong Female Character

“Growing up, I’d been told repeatedly that I was very, very clever but also very, very bad—and yet neither of my parents understood why I now enjoyed doing a job that involved people alternately cheering or booing at me.”

Brady’s use of epizeuxis—repeating the word “very” several times in quick succession—has the effect of evoking the particular way her parents spoke to her as a child. Throughout Strong Female Character, vernacular language is infused with Brady’s more formal writing style, reminding readers of her specific cultural background and setting.

“I didn’t think it was a taboo or hard to talk about mental health, but it was clear that whatever was wrong with me wasn’t remotely part of the mainstream conversation.”

In the months leading up to her diagnosis, Brady uses highly negative language to describe her mental condition. This negative self-image is reinforced by the appalled responses of people who she tries to talk with about the issue. Overcoming her internalized feelings of shame or disgust with her autism is a major struggle throughout the text, something that she still must make an effort toward by the book’s end.

“It was like having a whole new filter on the world. I struggled to see any positives from the label but by looking at autistic women I admired I began to realize that an autistic brain could provide an escape route from the traditional paths laid out for women. In turn, the problems experienced by autistic women sparked wider conversations around how society views women generally.”

Brady views her experiences as a woman with autism as part of a broader tapestry of women’s experiences, highlighting the Intersections Between Misogyny and Ableism. Because a woman with autism may not intuit or automatically internalize the gender norms and moral imperatives for women in society, said norms can then be viewed from a more outwardly, critical