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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2080-1297
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Sociology
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2023
Month Degree Awarded
May
Abstract
For decades gender scholars have recognized the importance of gender to subjectivity, lived experiences, and life chances. Nonbinary gender identities are becoming more recognized by social, legal, and government institutions. However, currently there is a lack of research and scholarship that focuses on nonbinary gender identities. I demonstrate that the sociology of gender must move beyond the constraints of the hegemonic gender binary system in order to have a full and holistic conceptualization of gender. This paper reviews and critically analyzes contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship on nonbinary gender identities, then sets out a research agenda for moving forward. Within this scholarship there are gaps, shortcomings and limitations that arise that include upholding the cis/trans binary, misrepresenting contemporary society as having reached an era of understanding gender complexities, problematic framings of cross-cultural and historical examples, and centering discrimination/violence. I propose a research agenda moving forward should center racialization due to (un)marked whiteness in scholarship, legibility/intelligibility, and the possibilities and knowledge that exist due to existing in a space of exclusion.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/34091326
First Advisor
Katie Young
Second Advisor
Brian Sargent
Third Advisor
Laurel Smith-Doerr
Recommended Citation
Harding, Rie, "Moving Beyond the Gender Binary: A Critical Analysis and Review of Contemporary Scholarship on Nonbinary Gender Identities" (2023). Masters Theses. 1307.
https://doi.org/10.7275/34091326
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/1307