‘And that’s Just About Gender … I'm Doing all of that Feeling Like an Alien in a Human Suit': Exploring the Lived Experiences of Masking in Autistic Women

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Alwis, S. D., Pearson, A., & Hodgetts, S. (2026). ‘And that’s Just About Gender … I'm Doing all of that Feeling Like an Alien in a Human Suit': Exploring the Lived Experiences of Masking in Autistic Women. Feminism & Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593535261445110

Publication date: 6 May 2026 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 3 (66.7%)
  1. Sumeera De Alwis
  2. Amy Pearson *
  3. Sophie Hodgetts *

Abstract

Autism research is often androcentric, and the experiences of autistic women have historically been underexplored. Recently, some researchers have argued that autistic women may experience a distinct phenotype (female autism), characterised in part by the ability to mask autistic social difficulties. However, others argue that the experience of autistic women is shaped by gender expectations and perceptions, and not the result of an essentialised difference. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of masking among autistic women from their own viewpoint, guided by feminist perspectives on epistemic injustice and standpoint theory, which emphasise social power and gendered norms as driving factors in how experiences are understood and validated. We conducted semistructured interviews with six late-diagnosed autistic women, and used interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyse the data. We identified three themes: ‘reconciliation of two identities’, ‘interplay of masking and individual notions of womanhood in society’ and ‘autism, masking and interpersonal relationships’. Our findings highlight the ways that gendered expectations can influence self-knowledge, shaping motivations to mask and the experience of masking itself. These findings have important implications for support for autistic women at all stages of the lifespan and diagnostic process.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 14:03.

Cited references
47
With a DOI
35
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
12
10 / 47 (21.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 47 (10.6%)
References with detected author names
42 / 47 (89.4%)
Without detected author names
5
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
12
References with raw author names still to review
5
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
120
From DOI or external metadata
120
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
5
82 / 120 (68.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 38 / 120 (31.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
21 / 120 (17.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 21 / 82 (25.6%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 17 / 98 (17.3%).
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