Brain Memes

 A thing that intrigues me is the way that neurodiversity issues intersect with meme culture. There is an entire world of memes popular among Millennials and the generation younger than Millennials that I refuse to call "Homelanders" (I'm trying to make "Lawn Trespassers" happen) that normalize neurodivergent and pathologized traits, at the same time there is a significant overlap with memes that reinforce the medical model, often while appropriating neurodiversity-paradigm language (e.g. "Neurotypical people don't understand the struggle of being Mentally Ill").

"Introvert memes" are having a moment in my circles. Funny, relatable, affirming messages about how it's okay to be an introvert! We hate parties! Our idea of a good time is a quiet night in! We'd rather be chased by wild hyenas than talk on the phone!

Meanwhile, memes about "isolating" are shared by the same sources. "Isolating" is the pathologizing way of framing introversion. It's a "symptom."

So in this context, the memeified acceptance of "introversion" is neurotypical privilege. It's okay to isolate yourself from social interaction, by choice, because you prefer it.... as long as you're otherwise neurotyipcal. But in a neurodivergent person, this becomes a "symptom" of "isolating."

The same is true of memes celebrating, normalizing, or affirming "social awkwardness" (but not autism or other neurodivergence), "short attention spans" (but not ADHD), "math is hard LOL" (but not learning disabilities), "annoying trollbrain inner voices" (but not pathologized voice-hearing or schizophrenia).... neurodivergent traits are cute and quirky and memeable, but only when neurotypical people exhibit them.

I feel like this is going to be very easily misunderstood, so I want to explicitly spell out that my criticism is NOT of "Romanticizing Mental Illnesses, which are actually tragic Diseases!" (I don't believe that's a real thing... at any level). My criticism is of decoupling pathologized traits from the pathologized identities most associated with them and promoting acceptance of those traits only when exhibited by otherwise-privileged people, even when that means drawing arbitrary linguistic distinctions, like between "introversion" and "isolating." It's fine to be an introvert, struggle with math, have inner voices, stim, have special interests, or have a short attention span. But instead of defending these as memeified identities separate from pathologized identities, recognize the arbitrary and oppressive nature of pathologization, and recognize your own privilege that you CAN say things like "I hide when the phone rings!" or "My troll brain won't shut up!" or "I suck at word problems!" without anyone using this as an argument to deny your humanity or your civil rights.