Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Napier, J.L.; Toorn, J.M. van der, Vial, A.C. (2023)

The personal is political: internalized sexual stigma and the desire for gender complementarity in (some) same-gender relationships

Article / Letter to editor

In modern Western cultures, gender is largely viewed as binary, and individuals who challenge the gender/sex binary face discrimination and marginalization. Across three preregistered studies (N = 1,096), we examine gender discrimination against gender-nonconforming people. Studies 1 and 2 show that behavioral and appearance-based gender nonconformity leads to the misgendering of cisgender and transgender women and men. This was true for the gendered perception of these targets and the binary assignment to gender/sex-based spaces and policies (e.g., access to bathrooms or gender/sex-based leadership training). Surprisingly, whether the target was transgender or cisgender did not affect these results. Study 3 replicated findings for transgender targets and showed that adherence to gender stereotypes is seen as a necessity for transgender individuals who want their gender identity recognized by others (e.g., on official documents or through pronoun use).

All authors

Napier, J.L.; Toorn, J.M. van der, Vial, A.C.

Date

2023-06-16

Journal

Sex Roles

Volume

89

Pages

97 - 118

DOI

doi:10.1007/s11199-023-01384-8