Comedian Fern Brady is to write her memoirs. Titled Strong Female Character the book is set to be published in Spring 2023 and will focus on both sexism and autism. It is “a book about how being a woman gets in the way of people’s expectation of what autism should look like and, equally, how being autistic gets in the way of people’s expectations of what a woman should look like.”
The theme of sexism and autism has also inspired Brady’s newest standup show Autistic Bikini Queen which is due to go on tour in 2022.
Promising this to be a “game-changing memoir on sexism and neurodiversity.” Brady’s publisher Brazen say: “Brady will use her voice as a neurodivergent, working-class woman from Scotland to bring issues such as sex work, abusive relationships and her time spent in teenage mental health units to the page.
“It will take a sledgehammer to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope which is mistakenly applied to neurodiverse women. It will also look at how her lack of regard for social expectations ultimately meant she surpassed any limitations of what a Scottish working-class woman can do.”
Talking to the Scotsman Brady said: “I knew I had it when I first read about it at 16 but the understanding of how it presented in women was so limited then.
“It’s not like it presents so differently in women, it’s just that we are better at covering it up. When I tried to get diagnosed at 16 they said you can’t have it because you’ve had a boyfriend, which is so stupid. When I finally got diagnosed this year the doctor said you would not believe how often I hear this from women.
“So that’s what the book is about, how autism is not recognised in women and why.”
Pre-order Strong Female Character here!
