Not Conforming to Gender Norms Can Lead to Identity Denial

Imagine you're out in public and need to use the restroom. As you get close, you see a person with a buzzcut, wearing a flannel shirt and baggy jeans walking towards the women's restroom. Trying to spare them embarrassment, you may politely point out to them that they're heading toward the wrong restroom. However, your well-meaning comment may not be so well-received if the person turns out to be a masculine-presenting woman, not a man. In that case, regardless of intentions, the comment could be described as an act of identity denial—an action that communicates to someone that they are not part of a category that they identify with. Such acts of identity denial can affect well-being and feelings of belonging and are particularly harmful when they happen repeatedly.

In our research, we set out to test whether or not conforming to gender norms (for example by acting or presenting in a way that is counter to what we expect women or men to act and look like) would make it more likely that perceivers would engage in acts of identity denial. We were also interested in whether this would be particularly pronounced for transgender women and men. Maybe the flannel shirt and buzzcut make identity denial more likely for all women to some extent, but even more so for transgender women who have to "prove" their womanhood in the eyes of others—even though most people would probably agree that womanhood is not defined by one's haircut.

Our participants were from the United Kingdom. They saw a brief written introduction by one target person. This person was described as either a man or a woman and as either conforming to gender norms or not conforming to gender norms. For example, in one study, the gender-conforming man target described himself as competitive and mentioned that he enjoyed weightlifting, whereas the gender-nonconforming man described himself as helpful and mentioned that he enjoyed arts and crafts. In another study, participants saw pictures of the targets. Here, the gender-conforming men had short hair and wore no make-up, while the gender-nonconforming men had long hair and wore make-up and jewelry typically associated with women. Sometimes, the person was additionally described as either transgender or cisgender. After reading the information, participants then answered questions about the target person, including a range of acts of identity denial. For example, we asked them which bathroom the person should use, whether they should join a women's or a men's sports team, and which pronouns should be used to describe the person.

The Price of Not Conforming

Targets who didn't conform to gender norms were more likely to be assigned to the incorrect category. For example, participants were more likely to assign a man wearing make-up to the women's bathroom and sports team—even when the information they read clearly stated that the person identified as a man. Maybe even more concerningly, the majority of participants who endorsed these acts of identity denial did so knowingly—they knew which bathroom the target would likely want to use, but assigned them to the other bathroom anyway.

And, gender nonconformity led to identity denial for women and men regardless of whether they were cisgender or transgender—although transgender targets did overall have their identity denied more often.

The fact that gender nonconformity led to identity denial for transgender and cisgender targets highlights how enforcing strict gender norms is harmful to all kinds of people—butch lesbians, men with long hair, transgender women and men, nonbinary people, women with facial hair, and anyone who looks remotely androgynous. We conclude that our findings challenge the usefulness of sex-based spaces (or should we call them gender-presentation-based spaces?). Such spaces may be well-intentioned, but can serve as a tool for the marginalization and discrimination of anyone who does not adhere to gender norms.

For Further Reading

Morgenroth, T., van der Toorn, J., Pliskin, R., & McMahon, C. E. (2023). Gender nonconformity leads to identity denial for cisgender and transgender individuals. Social  Psychological and Personality Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221144148

Howansky, K., Wittlin, N., Bonagura, D., & Cole, S. (2022). Him, her, them, or none: misgendering and degendering of transgender individuals. Psychology & Sexuality, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2021.1978529

McLemore, K. A. (2015). Experiences with misgendering: Identity misclassification of transgender spectrum individuals. Self and Identity, 14(1), 51-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2014.950691

Parr, N. J., & Howe, B. G. (2019). Heterogeneity of transgender identity nonaffirmation microaggressions and their association with depression symptoms and suicidality among transgender persons. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 6(4), 461–474. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000347

Thekla Morgenroth is an assistant professor of social psychology at Purdue University. Their research examines why and how people maintain social categories and hierarchies with a particular focus on the gender/sex binary and its consequences for women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.