Tights and Asperger's

To start the ball rolling, I will make the first comment myself.

There is an optional 5th point: Having discovered that there is a medical 'cause' for a man wearing tights, any of the 'reasons' that are given for doing so – such as warmth and benefits to the circulatory system – can be safely discounted as rationalisation after the event.

As a former special education teacher who worked specifically with students diagnosed on the Autism spectrum, I thought I'd like to throw a little something into this debate.

Diagnosis of Autism is based on the triad of impairments as stated in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual, or DSM IV. The triad of impairments includes delayed development of:

1. delayed or non-development of communication ie non-verbal and verbal 2. delayed or non-development of social skills ie interactions with others 3. repetitive or restricted behaviours eg ritual behaviours.

As yet, although the role of the sensory system is being greater acknowledged as a factor in ASDs, it is yet to be included as a diagnostic criteria. Additionally, although the wearing of hose by men could be a repetitive or restrictive behaviour, I would assume that this factor would not necessarily interfere with the capacity of the wearer to communicate, or socially interact with, other people in "normal" ways.

Therefore, I would say that whilst it is possible for men with Autism to have a hose wearing preference, I don't believe that it is an indicator of Autism per se. However, it was an interesting thought ... thanks for sharing :-)

Kim

Thanks for your interesting response. I was hoping for input from people with a professional interest in the subject, as well as from people with more direct personal experience.

You don't believe that hose wearing is an indicator of autism: neither do I. I think that at most it might be seen as part of a pattern. It may be that hose weaing has a higher incidence amongst men who are autistic. That I don't know.

It is possible that for some men wearing tights might be an OCD, but it is as unsafe to make generalisations about this, as is it is about tights being a fetish item.

Some of my online contacts among hose-wearing men have Asperger's: some have said that they have it; others would seem to fit the pattern outlined above quite apart from their hose wearing. Equally, others seem not to fit the pattern at all, so far as I can see.

Geraden

'Men wearing tights is not socially acceptable'. This is a bit too blunt imo! Running and cycling tights are acceptable, the problem is with 'nylons'. It is questionable to what extent men who genuinely wear tights for wamth etc. are still considered to be doing something wrong. Isn't discreet wearing largely accepted now? It is those who flaunt it in public who perhaps create the problem - there are some very strange people about, and maybe everyone gets tarred with the same brush, which is obviously unfair. But it could help explain why men who wear may be considered to need psychological help, especially if the perception is they are trying to act in a feminine way. I assume from this post that geraden has been subject to some sort of psychobabbling analysis, but it would help if this is the case if the analyst would at least try to establish the real reason for wearing rather than make assumptions. Isn't this more a foible if anything, and not in any sense a mental illness, unless the person's life revolves around 20 den.

Bankman - thanks for your comment.

" 'Men wearing tights is not socially acceptable'. This is a bit too blunt imo!" – In my opionion too, whether you are talking about sports tights, dance tights or sheers. The quoted idea is as inaccurate as it is unreasonable. But it is neverthless an opinion which some people hold strongly and seriously.

You may be assured that I have not been subject to any psycho-analysis, babbling or otherwise, so if assumptions have been made in my case, they have not been made by professionals. Also, my wearing of tights has never been connected with any desire to act in a feminine way: though I do consider that women have an enviable freedom of fashion choice, compared with that of men. This includes, as men's choices in general do not, wearing of fabrics that are finer and have a more sensuous feel.

So far as Asperger's is concerned, I believe that my GP was correct in saying that there is no test for this condition in adults, so there is no formal diagnosis in my case. A working hypothesis that I have Asperger's (in a mild form) does help me to make sense of a number of things that have taken place throughout my life. The question which I am posing here is: whether my wearing of tights is one of those things?

Geraden

Hi Geraden

• Hope you are keeping well....

I wear tights.....I wear them because i want to.....A totally natural and normal thing to do....I have never looked for a reason why i wear tights.....

Look and feel good and enjoy them..

Men wearing tights is not socially acceptable:.....Personally i have never had a problem with this one... I believe the problem men have being socially accepted is....... In a world of sheeple where people do not think for themselves or question anything...... It goes against most peoples personal belief systems that has been pushed in there brains..... If it not on the TEL LIE VISION...Radio or in the news papers....Out side the box is not accepted....

I live in a round world not a flat one....

Take Care

Arcim

As a postscript - I wasn't supposing that you (geraden) had actually been subject to psychological testing, but rather had experienced the 'men in tights must have a screw loose' thinking that some people have. There are of course those to whom this might apply, but an across the board assumption is unwarranted. Making generalizations is always a dodgy business, you need to judge each case on its merits.

Arcim - Good to hear from you again. I am glad that you have not met with the negative response that I have, regarding men wearing tights not being socially acceptable. Let me clarify: this is an opinion, rather than a fact!

Bankman - Thanks for getting back on this one. I am well used to the thinking 'men in tights must have a screw loose'! In my experience, this one is found together with a lot of other thought patterns, including 'nylon is an unnatural fabric and must therefore be bad for you' and 'wearing tights is unmanly, so any man who enjoys wearing tights must be a Wuss'. Making generalisations is indeed a dodgy business!

Everyone - please keep the comments coming!

Geraden

This seems to be an interesting debate and probably one to look into the possibility of a connection between the two. The question it raises to me is how many males who are wearing hose may have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome vs some other possible connection.

Jolt – Thanks for your comment. When we discussed this outside of the blog, I could see that you were interested in widening the debate to include other conditions which might predispose a man towards wearing hose. Nothing wrong with that, of course!

However I think readers who are hose wearers may share my misgivings about any enquiry that appears to be discussing causes rather than reasons for wearing tights. This is why I hesitated for so long before going into print on this 'hot potato' topic.

You may not find many who will answer positively to the question that you posed. I can only speak about Asperger's, and that is often a hidden condition. By definition, many people who have Asperger's are adept at concealing it – not out of any sense of shame, but simply because they adapt to it in a way that enables them to live a normal life: so much so that they themselves and those who are close to them may be unaware of it.

I have a close friend who has a lot of practical knowledge of Asperger's (her ex-husband and children have it). When I first told her that my daughter thought I too had Asperger's, her reaction was, "You are the least autistic man I know". For a long time my own family and I had known about autism and Asperger's in a general sense (one of my second cousins has been diagnosed with it), but none of us suspected that I had it. In its milder forms, it is incredibly hard to spot.

Hi Geraden. I am blown away. Funny how these things come about.. Let me explain. I am 31 yrs, and for the last 3 or so years i have been leaning towards the notion of myself being Autistic. I have offered this consideration to a pro, though i was not given any feedback. I have come to learn of Aspergers and consider myself to have this. I have no official diagnosis, but i have run back over my life (especially my childhood) and this would explain simply - how i was, and how i am. I didn't have a hope of this being looked at in childhood, for my parents weren't very active in the way of medical assistance, and were probably completely ignorant of the conditions existence. Anyway, the said has been more on my mind recently, and i haven't been on this site for around 2 years, when i accidently came across it in a indirect websearch. And i find this. Let me say that i have been aware of my sensitivity (not the rash kind) to fabrics for sometime and when i heard it linked to autism some time back it was part of my initial thought train. I am FASCINATED with tights. I believe there may be many reasons for this in people, but i feel mine is partly linked to Autism of some kind. I also exhibit ritualistic and obsessive behaviour in this way. I could understand peoples devensiveness on this arguement, but don't be, for it is not my belief that everyone who wears/loves/is fascinated by tights has this condition or any for that matter. Even if you were Autistic it is nothing to be ashamed of. Also that word along with every other psychological condition, is nothing more than a label for a group of traits/characteristics. It doesn't mean it's bad. It just means you are different. I could hold it in the latter context with a sense of pride in this topsy turvy world in which we live. So yes i believe that MY fascination and wearing of tights has very much to do with the said subject. Also i would like to point out something that comforted me in the 'inner struggle' i had with wearing tights. That is back in the 17(?)th century men wore silk stockings and high heels. Also, just who said nylon leg coverings were strictly for women (yes who are these people who dictate social norms!!). Or high heels for that matter, or certain scents. I personally prefer womens perfume over mens!!

Thanks for your contribution Jody. That is the kind of comment I was hoping for.

I don't think anyone has suggested that all men who wear tights are Aspies, and I am sure that not all Aspies wear tights. It is just that there might be an overlap between the two that is greater than the statistical norm.

Having Asperger's is indeed nothing to be ashamed of, any more than having, say, hayfever. It is something that I can accept, and on the whole my family can also accept it.

The difficulty comes with the point I made in comment #1 above. The fact that people can choose to see causes rather than reasons for the wearing of tights has, in a strange way, made it both more acceptable and less acceptable at the same time.

Geraden

Hello Geraden, I have been wearing for 5 years now and had no real bad things to report about wearing hose. I just enjoy wearing them. I do not feel there is anything wrong with wearing hose. I feel if you are happy and comfortable with yourself so be it. Wolfords.

I am a male who has been wearing tights and pantyhose off and on for years.

I also have Asperger's syndrome. The fascination/addiction you could say has a LOT to do with the sensory rush. By wearing them everything from the waist down is being equally compressed, and the soft smoothness of them. I have always loved that feeling. I'll even play around with mixing and matching tights/hosiery and wearing multiple pairs. In the end I find having a pair of normal nylon hose as a base covered by a pair of microfiber tights is my favorite, sometimes with a pair of softer normal tights over that. It's something in that "pressure range" that makes me like the feel so much.

When I hit puberty it became a little more sexual at times. I woke up midway through a wet dream one time while wearing some and the sensation while wearing them became an addiction in itself as it was an extremely powerful sensory rush by the end. This was never intended as I had never masturbated prior to that, and only rarely since then(during which times I do wear them, and don't use my hands. It's another thing for whatever reason I literally panic at the idea of using my hands to masturbate). But I still love them for the original reasons. I kinda wish the above had never happened because now I shuffle mixed feelings, and self worth issues for mixed reasons.

I'm fairly high functioning even for an aspie, but for me the sensory rush has become an addiction.

Funny though, the little clothing line tip around the toes has to be in just the right spot or I can't focus on anything but that feeling and it drives me mad. I hate that feeling!

As another long time hosiery fan I have always considered my love for sheer nylon hosiery as a fetish as, like many other wearers, my early experiences of wearing tights were linked to sexual pleasure. Now that I am middle aged, my hosiery wearing experiences are more sensual than sexual, perhaps symptomatic of the diminishing sexual drive as one ages. Nevertheless, perhaps because of residual guilt, I still can't come to terms with just confessing to my DW that I find pleasure in the feel of tights and I attempt to justify my wearing in terms of added warmth, blister prevention, knee support etc etc, desperate for "approval" which never materialises. Hence, I read your thoughts on Aspergers Syndrome with interest. Is my attraction to soft, silky fabrics a result of a mental disorder? I am certainly a very self contained individual who shies away from social contact so I decided to take the online Baron-Cohen diagnostic quiz available at a number of websites e.g.:

http://www.wi red.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

I scored 31, the average being around 18. A high score does not necessarily indicate AS but 80% of adults diagnosed with AS score 32 or above. Coincidentally, my wife teaches children age 9-14 with learning difficulties and has been trained to recognise and deal with the autism spectrum. I related the test results and asked her if I could be possibly afflicted with mild Aspergers to which she laughed and replied "Well you are an antisocial geek but definitly not autistic!" Apparently I show no sign of several diagnostic conditions such as abnormal speech patterns, inappropriate use of language, hand flapping or rhythmic body motion and obsession with numbers, and can socialise with people in a very normal way if I so choose. So it seems clear that for me at least, my passion for tights is not at all related to Aspergers Syndrome.

Hi Rich

Thank you for your comment and for the interesting link. I have edited to make it clickable.

I took the test, and came out with a score of 37, which does not surprise me, as I think Asperger's could explain a lot of things about my life and personality that were previously unexplained.

People who have Asperger's can be quite good at disguising the fact by adapting to it. This applies especially to women, but also to men. I was once described by a woman (who happens to have strong family connections with Asperger's) as being 'the least autistic man I know'. I realized only months later, that her own autism was even more disguised than mine!

You say that you 'can socialise with people in a very normal way if I so choose'. The last three words are probably significant, and the sentence applies to me too. I am not persuaded that my liking for soft, silky, figure-hugging fabrics has anything to do with Asperger's Syndrome. It may be a pure coincidence.

In any case I am not convinced that if it is possible to identify a cause for something, that means that there is not also a reason for it.

For what it is worth, here is a quote from A parent's guide to asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism by Sally Ozonoff and others:

"Other children ... seem to crave certain sensations and will go out of their way (often inappropriately) to seek the sensations. For example, one young child diagnosed with high-functioning autism loved the texture of pantyhose, He could tell if a woman was wearing them form long distances and would do everything in his power to get near enough to feel them."