Gender and family-role portrayals of autism in British newspapers: an intersectional corpus-based study

Abstract

A recent large-scale study on the portrayal of autism in British newspapers revealed a deficit-based coverage, which concentrated on children and boys in particular, typically represented from the mothers' perspective. This follow-up study refines these representations, considering differences by gender and family role. We analysed 2,998 text samples, which discussed autism in the context of four combinations of gender and family role, namely, BOY, GIRL, FATHER, and MOTHER. These samples included sources with different publication date, reporting style, and political orientation. Autism representations remained negative regardless of gender and family role. Over time, stories about autistic girls started to emerge, identifying them as a distinct group explicitly compared to autistic boys. Newspapers, especially broadsheets, associated girls with diagnostic difficulties, camouflaging, and sometimes gender dysphoria − discussed particularly for those assigned female at birth. The child's autism was more often attributed to maternal than paternal behaviours or lifestyle. Autistic mothers were mentioned more often than fathers, and were portrayed negatively. We conclude that newspapers portray female autism as less significant than male autism, and, in addition, place mothers under more ethical scrutiny than fathers. These disparities reflect both historical biases in autism research and gender and family-role stereotypes.