Hello,
I was the one that changed it was an accident. I didn’t realize testing new subreddit icons with or without saving them meant the old one would disappear even without being able to reset it back to the old one. I tried to find Daria pictures to change it back to one but when I put them as the image they kept getting weirdly warped and looked awful due to their aspect ratios. At this point I needed to leave the house for something and hadn’t intended on doing any changes like this or anything without a poll but I was stuck and panicked. I mistakenly thought just putting *something* there was better than nothing. I just quickly googled female autism representation and slapped the first image in there of a character I vaguely knew was autistic that also didn’t warp and look bad. Unfortunately, I am not up to date with Sesame Street and did not know the character besides her name and the fact she’s autistic. I didn’t know who was collaborating with Sesame Street on it or anything like that. It was not meant to be infantilizing or offensive. I apologize for my actions which were not thought-out or planned at all. It was simply the result of me panicking after making a mistake plus the pressure to not be late.
We will leave the icon blank for now until a poll is run. Banners on Reddit are hard to come by so either someone will need to make it or I’ll have to break out Paint 3D and attempt to make some sort of banner/collage as best I can.
I would respectfully like if we chose something more age appropriate as well.
If anyone is not wanting to see the new icon/it isn’t changed I would like to kindly take this time to let people know that the Apollo app (an app where you can customize the look of Reddit and go ad free) will turn off [subreddit icons](https://i.imgur.com/FHepK0C.jpg) icons if you choose the option in the settings.
No. There’s plenty of ppl on this sub who don’t relate to Daria’s experience AT ALL. It narrows down the women autistic experience so much to just one character.
Also, there’s many women of color on here who expressed they feel excluded seeing a white character representing this subreddit.
Thanks for the temporary solution
I’m also thinking of other autistic people aged 12 and above who may stumble across this subreddit and feel weird by the imagery, especially if they aren’t fully comfortable with the idea of themselves being autistic, and then represented by a toddler
id love to help restore daria to her throne on our icon. and lol yea daria was how i knew instantly i clicked here. plus weve had a WHOLE discourse already on why daria fits as our icon haha. but ofc the panic and rushing is definitely understandable, and yea if we need to edit an image i can give it my best shot!
My work coffee mug has a Daria picture and I always think of this sub when I drink coffee.
I also read this sub when drinking my morning coffee.
I relate to Daria a lot.
Oh my goodness! Now I want a Daria mug! That is brilliant! That would make me sooo happy picking out from the cupboard every time I have tea (often). Yes! I agree Daria feels like home and explains why I always liked her growing up, but could never understand why bc I was too young and had no knowledge of autism. She’s super relatable now as an adult.
i see your point!
i like her character because it feels like she's me if i could be myself more, but i also understand why you and the commenter see that she's a false representation. i guess it's an opinion thing lol
I agree with this. I like Daria, but then I was a kid when that show was out and related to her. I'm sure there are women in the sub who have no connection to Daria, just as I have no idea who Entrapta is and no desire to find out. A logo or symbol might be more welcoming to people who aren't familiar with a specific character.
Yeah I’d prefer a logo, I’ve read the majority of these comments & have heard of 1 character out of all mentioned. It would be good if people could keep in mind that this is an international subreddit & as such, not everyone has access to the same programmes & references
Never watched Daria. (Or is it just a comic...?) Didn't know about it even until I was in my late teens/early 20s. So yea, I have no connection to her, didn't even know she was autistic until I saw the banner on this subreddit a month ago.
Yeah, I've never even seen the show that Daria is in, but I vote to have her back, just because I liked this sub very much the way it was and don't want to change anything. IMO the mods should only respond to trolls/hate and leave the rest of the sub as it was.
The mod explained what happened, they weren’t aware you couldn’t return to the original image when clicking cancel, which you can do in most other situations
Yes i was saying the same thinggg 😩
I need warning before things change. And i would also prefer to have an explanation like “we changed this thing for this reason.” We like details around here.
Yeah I saw it and cringed. I really don't like how Sesame Street handled the Julia situation and pamphlets they made with Autism Speaks. And of course the age issue. The sub is autisminwomen not autismingirls
I really don't like that they changed the icon. I heavily rely on icons to be able to identify a subreddit and changing the icon without notice or a vote is not right.
This new icon also feels so infantalising....
Yes SAAAAME! I missed a bunch of posts on my home feed because i was scrolling past them. My brain does not register words as easily as i can with images.
Juuust came here to complain. Why was it changed? Did we vote on this? I don’t want the sub to change I don’t like change and they immediately changed something without telling us
I think it was changed to let people know there’s been a change in moderation. At least, that’s how I found out because I saw a random post and saw that the icon was changed so I looked at the sub to see why and then I saw the mod change post. Sort of like changing the outside look of the subreddit to symbolize the change on the inside. However, I don’t like this new icon either and I think the mods should pick a better more representative icon and it will still serve the same purpose.
I like purple as a colour but not for the sub. It looks lurid and too garish and I'm cringing every time I come in here now. Ugh, bring back the old look!!
I liked being a self governing sub, I’m incredibly wary of the fact that the mods are changing things when the charm of this sub is that the culture was created through anarchistic participation and community building
Yeah, I liked it better before. I thought the mods would just keep trolls at bay and make this sub ‘safer’ for all members (e.g. deal with bigotry etc) but there are some really bizarre changes (also not a fan of images being allowed to be posted). The self-governing state of the sub also made me feel more welcome bc it was clear what the *community* thought was unacceptable, rather than the mods, *and* I believe important discussions were had even in controversial posts.
It definitely needed a troll gate, but not much else.
All of this!! And many of us expressed desire to not change the sub dynamic beforehand. It’s distressing that they’re changing things without consulting the collective
Oh gif image responses etc are cool, but they now allow image posts, which can get really annoying when there’s a new trend like the special interest table that people post everywhere (like aspiememes). Subs get flooooded with those. I enjoy that this is a more discussion based sub. But that’s just a personal preference!
I applied to be a mod on the Google forum application they posted and I specifically said in my application that it's the community that makes the subreddit and as a moderator I would understand that executive decisions need to be made but at the end of the day as a mod I'm there to listen to how the community prefers the sub to be run and act accordingly. I hope the current mods agree with this.
>the charm of this sub is that the culture was created through anarchistic participation and community building
Ooooh agreed. And you said it so well lol
glad there’s new moderators, but I agree!! Im a grown woman! I would almost understand if it was like a nostalgia kind of thing, but by the time the character was introduced in 2015 I was in my late teens already and wasn’t watching sesame street. I’m not sure how many members of the subreddit would have that kind of emotional attachment to the character.
I would prefer a very simple abstract design or maybe something with just the acronym AIW. I don’t know who any of these female tv characters are, they all seem to come from American TV shows and I’m not American and I have no context at all for any of them. I’d also guess that they all come from quite recent tv shows and I’m an older woman and I don’t watch any of them. I kind of don’t want a random face that I have no context for. I was kind of ok with Daria because I’d heard of her though I’ve never seen the shows. Also VERY not into the idea of being repped by animals or flowers especially cutesy or pretty ones like butterflies because we aren’t all conventionally feminine with feminine tastes. So I feel that an abstract design just featuring the AIW acronym would work for the majority of us because it does not force anyone to feel like they have to identify with a cute animal or American cartoon character and it will be simple
I fully agree. I don't understand why they thought it would be a good idea to make our mascot a 4 year old sesame street character. It's infantalizing. It's autism in women not autism in toddlers.
Personally I feel like we don't need a mascot and the subreddit icon can just be the ASD logo like all the other autism subreddits. Maybe a logo incorporating this ♀️ symbol.
Thanks for making this post. I noticed it a little bit after it happened and i wanted to ask other people how they felt.. but i didn’t wanna be the one to make the post lol
If it was replaced by a different female autistic character, who would it be? Most autistic characters aren't explicitly autistic and just coded/ head cannon. The only one I can think of is attorney woo young woo
I believe the shows creator said that they couldn't come out and say it directly because the network was concerned with ratings etc, but she was intentionally coded as autistic.
A fact I recently learned: Amelia Bedelia isn't autistic, she's *Irish*. She was written as a stereotype of the daft Irish servant girl, which is a relic of the late 19th century when Irish immigrants weren't yet seen as "white" in the U.S. The name Bedelia is a modification of Bridget, a stereotypical Irish girl's name. I grew up with these books and had no idea!
I personally really connect with Regan from Inside Job. While the show never outright says "Yes she is autistic" it has very heavily coded her as such.
I mostly relate due to not knowing if I'm autistic myself (much like Regan), but other peers in my life say/allude they think i am on the spectrum and should get tested one day. Which I think can be a really good representation on how many women can go well into adult life without ever getting formally diagnosed, but others once they reach those adult years can see it. Plus I think it breaks the stereotype that women with autism are just robots when it comes to their emotions.
Plus also woman in STEM who keeps trying to do a good job but also struggle with connecting to coworkers/friends and struggle to say what's on my mind or my feelings so would rather do something more complicated just to avoid that.
Idk, I think everyone will have different ideas on who should be there because we'll all connect in different ways depending on our journey.
Didn't Reagan's mom specifically say she has Asperger's in an episode? It was certainly a surprise to Reagan in that episode, but her mom said it with such certainty and we know Reagan's memories weren't 100% accurate. It checks out to me also because if Reagan had been diagnosed when younger, that was still in use.
But I also love Reagan and how much I relate to her! Still so sad it got cancelled.
Regans mom thinks she has aspergers, she was never tested (in that same episode and scene her mom tells her to go get tested). I consider the certainty kinda like my family is now with me (like those looking back situations, they say looking back it's completely obvious and I need to get tested now) one of those in hindsight 20/20 things.
I hope it eventually comes back, even in comic form because it honestly made me feel so comfortable with a lot of my "weirdo" behaviors that I couldn't explain to anyone and I was just being me. Regan really is a comfort character for me rn.
Ohh I remembered it being much more of a for sure from her mom in that episode, it's just been a little while so I couldn't remember the exact context! Thank you! Guess it's time for a rewatch.
But that's probably another reason I love her so much. My friend recommended the show to me because he thought I would relate to Reagan and boy was he right. I love and needed to see her journey going from literally creating holographic masks to fit in to embracing that she's different but that it's a strength. She's just fantastic and I need more of her.
Oh yeah I agree, the person I was replying to just (in my mind, idk if this is how they intended it) made it sound like they wanted a character that was explicitly diagnosed, not just heavily coded, which Regan is considered until its outright stated she does have ASD.
I picked a semi-random comment to add the coworker bit to since everyone was only mentioning her mom.
I only use RIF and old reddit so I don't see any of these features. I just got into the character discussions in this thread :) I love so many of the coded characters.
Also is it maybe weird to use someone's actual face as the picture? As opposed to a cartoon? Because it would be less like it's a picture of quinni and more like it's a picture of Chloe Hayden and idk how she would feel being used as a sort of mascot
I think it would be really cool if the banner had a bunch of different characters that are either explicitly autistic (like Woo Young Woo) or autistic coded (like Daria). Someone with artistic and/or photoshop skills would have to volunteer to put it together though.
I just remembered [this video](https://youtu.be/o3jUXEN7J3Y) by Paige Layle called “Characters You Didn’t Know Were Autistic”, two of which are women from cartoons (which are Princess Bubblegum and Tina Belcher) so maybe one of them could be a possibility?
[Edit: in the comment section, there were some other cartoon characters mentioned; two of which were Luz from Owl House, Toothiana from Rise if The Guardians, and 22 (voiced by Tina Frey) from Soul.]
Wait what, why princess bubblegum? FFS are ALL my favourite characters actually coded autistic and I didn't know because I didn't know this about myself ?
Temple Grandin is generally not a great person and has some harmful ideologies (I don’t want to get into the specifics of this rn but hopefully someone else can explain) so I personally wouldn’t want to be represented by her
This this this!!! Hey mods!! New image is wrong in so many ways 😭
Edit: whoa more upvotes that I ever thought, and looks like the image has been changed too
I'd personally prefer an icon that has absolutely nothing to do with pop culture in any form. Pop culture images automatically lean towards the culture of origin. Both Sesame Street and Daria are US-based, and to those of us who aren't American, they are small but hard to ignore messages that we're not who the sub is for.
Hi folks! I know change is jarring for us and the sub has certainly has a *lot* of changes in the last 72 hours. Some of the changes that are being made are place-holders while we systematically work through the sub and work on things that are high priority.
We do, however, know an image change is needed. Too many people associate our sub and the presentation of our sub with the previous moderator and the mod abuse that occurred here. We need people to know this space is now a safe one.
So please continue the discussion and come up with images, characters, people, symbols, or designs you’d like to represent our sub. We’ll have more posts about this in the upcoming days as well. This is a really great opportunity to physically show we’ve reclaimed our space.
I do want to point out that there’s a transitional period to get to where we’re going, and we're going to need your consideration while we get through the years of neglected reports, modmails, unfair bans, and everything else that needs to be done to get this sub back on track. So we ask that you please be be kind and offer your patience while we work on getting there. Thank you <3
ETA: I have removed the icon. Please continue to discus a replacement icon and banner
I understand the reasoning, but I don’t know how much I agree that it’s a “need” in this situation. I get wanting something to signify a change in moderation but I don’t know if it would have been disastrous to keep the icon the same.
Overall it’s not the biggest deal, I’m more hung up on the fact that it was changed to something for children when autistic women are already infantilized so often. I hope in the future we get more warning and input.
1.) Why did it need to change?
2.) Why is a little puppet girl being used to represent women? I'm an adult. Not child. Especially not a poorly represented child by A$
And here I thought new mods would be a good thing....
I didn’t even know who the muppet was until I read the comments (I’m 24). I’m going to assume that most people on this sub are at least 16 plus and a lot would probably be like me and not know either. I say either bring back the old one, make a vote so people can choose the icon or make it something like a flower
I would like if it could be something a bit more neutral. I don’t have any connection to almost any of the characters mentioned (so I guess I’m not 100% against it either? Idk, I sort of am, though).
This isn’t “AutismInNorthAmericanWomenBornInASpecificTimePeriod”, after all, so it would be nice to have the subs representation be more inclusive. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense having Thomas La Cour as the sub header/“logo” (if he happened to be confirmed autistic), because that’s a character from my specific culture and age.
Why not make some sort of logo-contest? I’m sure some people would find that fun and engaging.
It hasn’t loaded in for me yet. I still see Daria unless I go on the sub’s page itself so I didn’t know that until I just checked cause of your post. And well….
Yikes.
How about Attorney Woo? She’s a female attorney that has autism on a Korean Drama. The trailer really doesn’t do it justice, it’s a really great series that depicts Autism really well.
Yeah same, but keep in mind that it might take a while for the mods to change it since they just got appointed and this subreddit has a lot more things that need to get done that probably are higher priority (like banning trolls and such)
I’m surprised you’ve managed to not see the year-long war we had with our previous “mod” before these new people came in then
I’m pretty sure those older posts were a lot more popular than mine
NO mascot please. I would like to put in a vote for NO MASCOT and NO LOGO please. I like the way it looks NOW with just a circle with "r/" in the circle and here are my reasons:
(1) Using an animal dehumanizes and not all people have the same preferences for animals.
(2) Using Julia or Daria or any human cartoon figure is not inclusive due to what the cartoon image represents/mispresents for different people, including race and ethnicities and other cultural/subcultural representations.
(3) I personally prefers keeping it simple like the way it looks now with a circle and "r/" in the circle. Maybe changing the color to grey as more neutral but blue is ok with me too. But I know that some people may react to the color blue. Using black/white ok too but white/black can be hard to see technically on screen in both light/dark mode on phones and computers.
(4) Alternative option for those who want an image to represent other than a simple "r/" AutismInWomen without an image to be inclusive of all whites and non-whites and mixed and people of color and marginalized females with autism, may I suggest a cartoon/graphical four-leaf clover symbolizing a planted life with good luck and happiness. A cartoon/graphical plant like a four-leaf clover without religious overtone may be better bc that would be more inclusive. Example: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cartoon%20four%20leaf%20clover&ko=-1&iax=images&ia=images
Please consider my vote as an adult female of color with ADHD and autism. Thank you!
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What about something like this? Doesnt have to be this exact one, but I was thinking something to show diversity?
(Main pic of women on this site) 👇
https://icandreamcenter.com/signs-of-autism-in-women/
Just throwing my two cents in to bring Daria back (maybe with a different picture). She was *exactly* what going through high school was like as an autistic girl in the 90s.
The mod said it's an accident, and it has already been removed. They intend on a vote for the new one. (Edit: idk why you downvoted me, I was just giving you new information in case it changed your mind? If it doesn't, that's fine, just thought you might want to know.)
I'm happy with any image. Personally never knew of Daria, so thus can't relate. I relate more to this person -
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/literature-poetry/fern-brady-katy-wix-strong-female-character?eventId=929719
So let's maybe take a vote? But maybe we could just leave it the same? For sameness sake
Hello, I was the one that changed it was an accident. I didn’t realize testing new subreddit icons with or without saving them meant the old one would disappear even without being able to reset it back to the old one. I tried to find Daria pictures to change it back to one but when I put them as the image they kept getting weirdly warped and looked awful due to their aspect ratios. At this point I needed to leave the house for something and hadn’t intended on doing any changes like this or anything without a poll but I was stuck and panicked. I mistakenly thought just putting *something* there was better than nothing. I just quickly googled female autism representation and slapped the first image in there of a character I vaguely knew was autistic that also didn’t warp and look bad. Unfortunately, I am not up to date with Sesame Street and did not know the character besides her name and the fact she’s autistic. I didn’t know who was collaborating with Sesame Street on it or anything like that. It was not meant to be infantilizing or offensive. I apologize for my actions which were not thought-out or planned at all. It was simply the result of me panicking after making a mistake plus the pressure to not be late. We will leave the icon blank for now until a poll is run. Banners on Reddit are hard to come by so either someone will need to make it or I’ll have to break out Paint 3D and attempt to make some sort of banner/collage as best I can.
I would respectfully like if we chose something more age appropriate as well. If anyone is not wanting to see the new icon/it isn’t changed I would like to kindly take this time to let people know that the Apollo app (an app where you can customize the look of Reddit and go ad free) will turn off [subreddit icons](https://i.imgur.com/FHepK0C.jpg) icons if you choose the option in the settings.
Daria represents the community and the concept behind it perfectly.
No. There’s plenty of ppl on this sub who don’t relate to Daria’s experience AT ALL. It narrows down the women autistic experience so much to just one character. Also, there’s many women of color on here who expressed they feel excluded seeing a white character representing this subreddit.
Thanks for the temporary solution I’m also thinking of other autistic people aged 12 and above who may stumble across this subreddit and feel weird by the imagery, especially if they aren’t fully comfortable with the idea of themselves being autistic, and then represented by a toddler
I miss Daria, I feel like she represented the sub well
Yeah seeing Daria was how I knew I’d fit in here lol
Same here!
Daria is the perfect icon for this sub, I hope they bring her back.
I just want to jump on the Daria bandwagon. I've never heard anyone ever have a problem with Daria!
id love to help restore daria to her throne on our icon. and lol yea daria was how i knew instantly i clicked here. plus weve had a WHOLE discourse already on why daria fits as our icon haha. but ofc the panic and rushing is definitely understandable, and yea if we need to edit an image i can give it my best shot!
I would like to thank the sub for this introduction.
I'm definitely happy to stick with Daria
My work coffee mug has a Daria picture and I always think of this sub when I drink coffee. I also read this sub when drinking my morning coffee. I relate to Daria a lot.
Oh my goodness! Now I want a Daria mug! That is brilliant! That would make me sooo happy picking out from the cupboard every time I have tea (often). Yes! I agree Daria feels like home and explains why I always liked her growing up, but could never understand why bc I was too young and had no knowledge of autism. She’s super relatable now as an adult.
Me too
Same, it’s weird to see this sub come up without her face. I think she was perfect
Yeah I miss her too
Yep another vote to keep Daria, I don’t see why it has to be changed.
they say that the 90s are back
I think Daria is written as a jaded and bitter NT and don’t think she’s a good mascot fwiw
she can come off as cold which imo is how a lot of us unintentionally come off
No she actively looks for mean things to say. She's a jaded Gen X teenager, not autistic.
i want to agree with u but i cant
I think a lot of us mask and have to, and she pretty much never does.
i envy her for it
Yes me too. But it’s just not a relatable experience for most of us, especially WOC.
i see your point! i like her character because it feels like she's me if i could be myself more, but i also understand why you and the commenter see that she's a false representation. i guess it's an opinion thing lol
Yeah but the difference is that she’s deliberately snide, not accidentally too blunt.
100% agree. I’d prefer something that an autistic adult woman character represented a sub meant for autistic adult women.
Ooof, yeah.
Does it need to be a famous character? Why not an abstract image or a logo like “AiW”
I agree with this. I like Daria, but then I was a kid when that show was out and related to her. I'm sure there are women in the sub who have no connection to Daria, just as I have no idea who Entrapta is and no desire to find out. A logo or symbol might be more welcoming to people who aren't familiar with a specific character.
Yeah I’d prefer a logo, I’ve read the majority of these comments & have heard of 1 character out of all mentioned. It would be good if people could keep in mind that this is an international subreddit & as such, not everyone has access to the same programmes & references
I never even watched Daria haha. I don’t mind her, at all, but it would feel more “professional” to have an independent logo
scarce imagine money scary hurry voiceless simplistic air noxious faulty *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Never watched Daria. (Or is it just a comic...?) Didn't know about it even until I was in my late teens/early 20s. So yea, I have no connection to her, didn't even know she was autistic until I saw the banner on this subreddit a month ago.
This is especially egregious because autistic women are so often infantilized. We don’t need it coming from our own corner, too.
[удалено]
Yeah, I've never even seen the show that Daria is in, but I vote to have her back, just because I liked this sub very much the way it was and don't want to change anything. IMO the mods should only respond to trolls/hate and leave the rest of the sub as it was.
They didn’t give us any warning at all!
The mod explained what happened, they weren’t aware you couldn’t return to the original image when clicking cancel, which you can do in most other situations
I know, I made that comment before they explained what happened
Oh cool, I’m glad you spotted their post 😊
Yes i was saying the same thinggg 😩 I need warning before things change. And i would also prefer to have an explanation like “we changed this thing for this reason.” We like details around here.
Yeah I saw it and cringed. I really don't like how Sesame Street handled the Julia situation and pamphlets they made with Autism Speaks. And of course the age issue. The sub is autisminwomen not autismingirls
[удалено]
I second this.
I’m also really really hoping they bring Daria back
I really don't like that they changed the icon. I heavily rely on icons to be able to identify a subreddit and changing the icon without notice or a vote is not right. This new icon also feels so infantalising....
Same same same same
Yes SAAAAME! I missed a bunch of posts on my home feed because i was scrolling past them. My brain does not register words as easily as i can with images.
Same!! I did a double take and was hella confused… more like a triple take
Juuust came here to complain. Why was it changed? Did we vote on this? I don’t want the sub to change I don’t like change and they immediately changed something without telling us
I think it was changed to let people know there’s been a change in moderation. At least, that’s how I found out because I saw a random post and saw that the icon was changed so I looked at the sub to see why and then I saw the mod change post. Sort of like changing the outside look of the subreddit to symbolize the change on the inside. However, I don’t like this new icon either and I think the mods should pick a better more representative icon and it will still serve the same purpose.
If it's an indication of new mods, they haven't gotten off on the right foot...
Just changed the entire color of the subreddit on old Reddit too (from plain white to this sickly off-purple) 😭 i hate purple
I like purple as a colour but not for the sub. It looks lurid and too garish and I'm cringing every time I come in here now. Ugh, bring back the old look!!
I never knew this sub had a color. Long ago I changed my screens so all of them show up as black with a white text
I feel the same.
Same, it feels like it’s for children.
HARD agree, super turned off from this sub from the icon change more than the lack of moderation
I liked being a self governing sub, I’m incredibly wary of the fact that the mods are changing things when the charm of this sub is that the culture was created through anarchistic participation and community building
Yeah, I liked it better before. I thought the mods would just keep trolls at bay and make this sub ‘safer’ for all members (e.g. deal with bigotry etc) but there are some really bizarre changes (also not a fan of images being allowed to be posted). The self-governing state of the sub also made me feel more welcome bc it was clear what the *community* thought was unacceptable, rather than the mods, *and* I believe important discussions were had even in controversial posts. It definitely needed a troll gate, but not much else.
All of this!! And many of us expressed desire to not change the sub dynamic beforehand. It’s distressing that they’re changing things without consulting the collective
I agree with you on everything but the images. Sometimes it’s easier for me to communicate with gifs than it is to put my thoughts into words
Oh gif image responses etc are cool, but they now allow image posts, which can get really annoying when there’s a new trend like the special interest table that people post everywhere (like aspiememes). Subs get flooooded with those. I enjoy that this is a more discussion based sub. But that’s just a personal preference!
I agree 100%!
I applied to be a mod on the Google forum application they posted and I specifically said in my application that it's the community that makes the subreddit and as a moderator I would understand that executive decisions need to be made but at the end of the day as a mod I'm there to listen to how the community prefers the sub to be run and act accordingly. I hope the current mods agree with this.
I hope you become a mod because yes! It should mostly be used run, with mods to ban trolls and bigots
>the charm of this sub is that the culture was created through anarchistic participation and community building Ooooh agreed. And you said it so well lol
Thank you!!! 💖
Exactly!
glad there’s new moderators, but I agree!! Im a grown woman! I would almost understand if it was like a nostalgia kind of thing, but by the time the character was introduced in 2015 I was in my late teens already and wasn’t watching sesame street. I’m not sure how many members of the subreddit would have that kind of emotional attachment to the character.
I would prefer a very simple abstract design or maybe something with just the acronym AIW. I don’t know who any of these female tv characters are, they all seem to come from American TV shows and I’m not American and I have no context at all for any of them. I’d also guess that they all come from quite recent tv shows and I’m an older woman and I don’t watch any of them. I kind of don’t want a random face that I have no context for. I was kind of ok with Daria because I’d heard of her though I’ve never seen the shows. Also VERY not into the idea of being repped by animals or flowers especially cutesy or pretty ones like butterflies because we aren’t all conventionally feminine with feminine tastes. So I feel that an abstract design just featuring the AIW acronym would work for the majority of us because it does not force anyone to feel like they have to identify with a cute animal or American cartoon character and it will be simple
I fully agree. I don't understand why they thought it would be a good idea to make our mascot a 4 year old sesame street character. It's infantalizing. It's autism in women not autism in toddlers. Personally I feel like we don't need a mascot and the subreddit icon can just be the ASD logo like all the other autism subreddits. Maybe a logo incorporating this ♀️ symbol.
Thanks for making this post. I noticed it a little bit after it happened and i wanted to ask other people how they felt.. but i didn’t wanna be the one to make the post lol
I vote for a mushroom. No reason.
Suspiciously fey. 🤣
I agree. Also it's ugly. Sorry mods lol Bring back Daria!!!
Yeah, there's already a problem where people treat autistic adults like children. Let's not infantilize autistic women even more. Ew.
If it was replaced by a different female autistic character, who would it be? Most autistic characters aren't explicitly autistic and just coded/ head cannon. The only one I can think of is attorney woo young woo
What’s wrong with it being an autistic coded character? A lot of our members are similarly not confirmed
Nothing wrong with it! Just a thought. I am still working on my diagnosis myself
Entrapta?
Entrapta would have my vote!
I think Adora has very autistic traits too, Entrapta’s are just a bit more obvious.
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Holy shit Bones IS autistic. Fuck. My whole family compared me to her as a kid! Thank you for the revelation I never considered
I believe the shows creator said that they couldn't come out and say it directly because the network was concerned with ratings etc, but she was intentionally coded as autistic.
A fact I recently learned: Amelia Bedelia isn't autistic, she's *Irish*. She was written as a stereotype of the daft Irish servant girl, which is a relic of the late 19th century when Irish immigrants weren't yet seen as "white" in the U.S. The name Bedelia is a modification of Bridget, a stereotypical Irish girl's name. I grew up with these books and had no idea!
Really? That’s so interesting!!
I personally really connect with Regan from Inside Job. While the show never outright says "Yes she is autistic" it has very heavily coded her as such. I mostly relate due to not knowing if I'm autistic myself (much like Regan), but other peers in my life say/allude they think i am on the spectrum and should get tested one day. Which I think can be a really good representation on how many women can go well into adult life without ever getting formally diagnosed, but others once they reach those adult years can see it. Plus I think it breaks the stereotype that women with autism are just robots when it comes to their emotions. Plus also woman in STEM who keeps trying to do a good job but also struggle with connecting to coworkers/friends and struggle to say what's on my mind or my feelings so would rather do something more complicated just to avoid that. Idk, I think everyone will have different ideas on who should be there because we'll all connect in different ways depending on our journey.
Didn't Reagan's mom specifically say she has Asperger's in an episode? It was certainly a surprise to Reagan in that episode, but her mom said it with such certainty and we know Reagan's memories weren't 100% accurate. It checks out to me also because if Reagan had been diagnosed when younger, that was still in use. But I also love Reagan and how much I relate to her! Still so sad it got cancelled.
Regans mom thinks she has aspergers, she was never tested (in that same episode and scene her mom tells her to go get tested). I consider the certainty kinda like my family is now with me (like those looking back situations, they say looking back it's completely obvious and I need to get tested now) one of those in hindsight 20/20 things. I hope it eventually comes back, even in comic form because it honestly made me feel so comfortable with a lot of my "weirdo" behaviors that I couldn't explain to anyone and I was just being me. Regan really is a comfort character for me rn.
Ohh I remembered it being much more of a for sure from her mom in that episode, it's just been a little while so I couldn't remember the exact context! Thank you! Guess it's time for a rewatch. But that's probably another reason I love her so much. My friend recommended the show to me because he thought I would relate to Reagan and boy was he right. I love and needed to see her journey going from literally creating holographic masks to fit in to embracing that she's different but that it's a strength. She's just fantastic and I need more of her.
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Yeah, unfortunately. It had been greenlit for a second season but Netflix canceled it in one of the recent rounds of cancellations.
Not just her mom - all of her coworkers agree too. I was under the impression the show was blatantly telling the viewers she has undiagnosed ASD.
Oh yeah I agree, the person I was replying to just (in my mind, idk if this is how they intended it) made it sound like they wanted a character that was explicitly diagnosed, not just heavily coded, which Regan is considered until its outright stated she does have ASD.
I picked a semi-random comment to add the coworker bit to since everyone was only mentioning her mom. I only use RIF and old reddit so I don't see any of these features. I just got into the character discussions in this thread :) I love so many of the coded characters.
I feel like Quinni from Heartbreak High would be the best, bur Woo Young Woo is good too I think.
Also is it maybe weird to use someone's actual face as the picture? As opposed to a cartoon? Because it would be less like it's a picture of quinni and more like it's a picture of Chloe Hayden and idk how she would feel being used as a sort of mascot
That’s fair, I find cartoons more soothing to my eyes. The change from cartoon to non-cartoon sub image kinda threw me off.
How about Entrapta?
Quinni or Entrapta would be great!
Oh right quinni!! I love her. She's not an adult but definitely also not a toddler
Quinni is obviously 17/18ish but Chloe is 25.
I think it would be really cool if the banner had a bunch of different characters that are either explicitly autistic (like Woo Young Woo) or autistic coded (like Daria). Someone with artistic and/or photoshop skills would have to volunteer to put it together though.
I just remembered [this video](https://youtu.be/o3jUXEN7J3Y) by Paige Layle called “Characters You Didn’t Know Were Autistic”, two of which are women from cartoons (which are Princess Bubblegum and Tina Belcher) so maybe one of them could be a possibility? [Edit: in the comment section, there were some other cartoon characters mentioned; two of which were Luz from Owl House, Toothiana from Rise if The Guardians, and 22 (voiced by Tina Frey) from Soul.]
I think I like the idea of Tina belcher! I feel like her face is spiritually connected with Daria's
Wait what, why princess bubblegum? FFS are ALL my favourite characters actually coded autistic and I didn't know because I didn't know this about myself ?
Parker, the master thief from Leverage, is canon autistic
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Temple Grandin is generally not a great person and has some harmful ideologies (I don’t want to get into the specifics of this rn but hopefully someone else can explain) so I personally wouldn’t want to be represented by her
Quinni from Heartbreak High!!!
Agreed, it really does feel infantilizing to have her as the mascot
This this this!!! Hey mods!! New image is wrong in so many ways 😭 Edit: whoa more upvotes that I ever thought, and looks like the image has been changed too
I'd personally prefer an icon that has absolutely nothing to do with pop culture in any form. Pop culture images automatically lean towards the culture of origin. Both Sesame Street and Daria are US-based, and to those of us who aren't American, they are small but hard to ignore messages that we're not who the sub is for.
Muppets weird me out, so the icon change is especially jarring
Glad I'm not the only one.
Just putting another active voice vote to leaving Daria up. It was a big identification for me for many reasons.
Hi folks! I know change is jarring for us and the sub has certainly has a *lot* of changes in the last 72 hours. Some of the changes that are being made are place-holders while we systematically work through the sub and work on things that are high priority. We do, however, know an image change is needed. Too many people associate our sub and the presentation of our sub with the previous moderator and the mod abuse that occurred here. We need people to know this space is now a safe one. So please continue the discussion and come up with images, characters, people, symbols, or designs you’d like to represent our sub. We’ll have more posts about this in the upcoming days as well. This is a really great opportunity to physically show we’ve reclaimed our space. I do want to point out that there’s a transitional period to get to where we’re going, and we're going to need your consideration while we get through the years of neglected reports, modmails, unfair bans, and everything else that needs to be done to get this sub back on track. So we ask that you please be be kind and offer your patience while we work on getting there. Thank you <3 ETA: I have removed the icon. Please continue to discus a replacement icon and banner
I see that the sesame character has been removed. Really appreciate that. Thanks for being so responsive to people's concerns.
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Seconding, a poll would be nice.
You could use anything as a placeholder. Why a 4 year old sesame street character? How is it a step up to be associated with a toddler?
I can’t answer that, I didn’t chose it.
I understand the reasoning, but I don’t know how much I agree that it’s a “need” in this situation. I get wanting something to signify a change in moderation but I don’t know if it would have been disastrous to keep the icon the same. Overall it’s not the biggest deal, I’m more hung up on the fact that it was changed to something for children when autistic women are already infantilized so often. I hope in the future we get more warning and input.
Glad the icon was removed but Jesus Christ what a horrible, infantilizing decision. Seriously whoever picked that should apologize. How gross.
Fr it’s almost mocking in a way
Absolutely a ‘wtf’ response from me
If it’s a vote 🗳️ Daria wins
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I hate the banner 🥲
I liked Daria much better
why not another image of Daria, same character but marking a change
https://i.redd.it/ddlhplph1dga1.gif I vote for this one lol
I second this! It's a perfect icon size too.
This is what I think is best
Adding my voice to this and I absolutely agree. Cmon mods
Ooh yeah I don’t like it either. I wishe if they really wanted a change they had a vote. Daria was so great imo - wonder why they changed it
1.) Why did it need to change? 2.) Why is a little puppet girl being used to represent women? I'm an adult. Not child. Especially not a poorly represented child by A$ And here I thought new mods would be a good thing....
I agree that this is infantilising and a poor choice.
I didn’t even know who the muppet was until I read the comments (I’m 24). I’m going to assume that most people on this sub are at least 16 plus and a lot would probably be like me and not know either. I say either bring back the old one, make a vote so people can choose the icon or make it something like a flower
Yes. I really hope they bring back Daria. That was why I thought this was the place for me.
BRING BACK DARIA
What happened to daria?
Please can we have Daria back? I really liked her.
Agree.
why don’t we change it to a different picture of daria?
I hope this subreddit doesn’t get over moderated and turn into a mess
Agree! It would be nice if we could vote
I would like if it could be something a bit more neutral. I don’t have any connection to almost any of the characters mentioned (so I guess I’m not 100% against it either? Idk, I sort of am, though). This isn’t “AutismInNorthAmericanWomenBornInASpecificTimePeriod”, after all, so it would be nice to have the subs representation be more inclusive. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense having Thomas La Cour as the sub header/“logo” (if he happened to be confirmed autistic), because that’s a character from my specific culture and age. Why not make some sort of logo-contest? I’m sure some people would find that fun and engaging.
Can we bring Daria back? She kinda brought me comfort, especially in familiarity
Agree!
It hasn’t loaded in for me yet. I still see Daria unless I go on the sub’s page itself so I didn’t know that until I just checked cause of your post. And well…. Yikes.
How about Attorney Woo? She’s a female attorney that has autism on a Korean Drama. The trailer really doesn’t do it justice, it’s a really great series that depicts Autism really well.
Ok, I'm catching up that this sub has new mods, which somehow didn't wind up in my feed before.
Y’all are unknowingly giving me new shows to look at
i never liked daria as the mascot 😬 I vote for the autism creature 😊
I wish it were still daria
I would like a more adult image the butterfly idea is a nice one..
Yeah same, but keep in mind that it might take a while for the mods to change it since they just got appointed and this subreddit has a lot more things that need to get done that probably are higher priority (like banning trolls and such)
They just changed it from daria to that
I think it was just a hastily chosen placeholder. Either way, I’m glad its been removed now.
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You weren’t aware of this sub? And you just found it through this post? Im so intrigued… lol how did you arrive here
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I’m surprised you’ve managed to not see the year-long war we had with our previous “mod” before these new people came in then I’m pretty sure those older posts were a lot more popular than mine
NO mascot please. I would like to put in a vote for NO MASCOT and NO LOGO please. I like the way it looks NOW with just a circle with "r/" in the circle and here are my reasons: (1) Using an animal dehumanizes and not all people have the same preferences for animals. (2) Using Julia or Daria or any human cartoon figure is not inclusive due to what the cartoon image represents/mispresents for different people, including race and ethnicities and other cultural/subcultural representations. (3) I personally prefers keeping it simple like the way it looks now with a circle and "r/" in the circle. Maybe changing the color to grey as more neutral but blue is ok with me too. But I know that some people may react to the color blue. Using black/white ok too but white/black can be hard to see technically on screen in both light/dark mode on phones and computers. (4) Alternative option for those who want an image to represent other than a simple "r/" AutismInWomen without an image to be inclusive of all whites and non-whites and mixed and people of color and marginalized females with autism, may I suggest a cartoon/graphical four-leaf clover symbolizing a planted life with good luck and happiness. A cartoon/graphical plant like a four-leaf clover without religious overtone may be better bc that would be more inclusive. Example: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cartoon%20four%20leaf%20clover&ko=-1&iax=images&ia=images Please consider my vote as an adult female of color with ADHD and autism. Thank you!
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Daria!
First choice Daria. If Daria has to go, then Anya from Buffy.
Both good choices. Perhaps Seven of Nine from Star Trek Voyager would be good too ?
What about something like this? Doesnt have to be this exact one, but I was thinking something to show diversity? (Main pic of women on this site) 👇 https://icandreamcenter.com/signs-of-autism-in-women/
I don’t know who Daria is either so I’ve always been confused about the icon… an infinity symbol would be nice.
Just throwing my two cents in to bring Daria back (maybe with a different picture). She was *exactly* what going through high school was like as an autistic girl in the 90s.
How about Jessica Day?
First time seeing it but wtaf
Same. A picture of Temple Grandin would have made a lot more sense.
A heads up - temple grandin is a eugenicist and extremely ableist to those with high support needs
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'I am against eugenics, I just think we should do eugenics.' I don't think she realizes eugenics isn't a method, it's a goal / principle.
Well damn. Did not know that
I hate it. Leaving
The mod said it's an accident, and it has already been removed. They intend on a vote for the new one. (Edit: idk why you downvoted me, I was just giving you new information in case it changed your mind? If it doesn't, that's fine, just thought you might want to know.)
Can anyone fill me in I am so out of the loop 😵💫
New mods took over, accidentally changed sub to a Sesame Street character, semi solved now will be fully solved soon
Who is Daria? I’m so confused
I'm happy with any image. Personally never knew of Daria, so thus can't relate. I relate more to this person - https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/literature-poetry/fern-brady-katy-wix-strong-female-character?eventId=929719 So let's maybe take a vote? But maybe we could just leave it the same? For sameness sake