Aesthetic Identity Development Among Trans Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Dress is used by transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals as a way to develop and maintain identity, whether to reinforce a binary gender code or disrupt social expectations. However, safety issues of living in a society where TNB persons are discriminated against, harassed, and assaulted, and where binary gender violations are met with resistance, creates tension between expression of authentic gender identity and navigation of social systems. A framework for creating an aesthetic identity based on dress and identity development scholarship was created and used to analyze responses from interviews with 90 TNB individuals located in the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Findings revealed the dialectic tension between performativity and safety. The framework explores aesthetic identity through concepts including sensory, cognitive, and emotional aspects of clothing; scaffolding and feedback; role making and role taking; and exploration and commitment. Limitations and future research are discussed.

Consuming intimate apparel: A Brazilian transgender discourse

“…Therefore, this paper's first theoretical contribution is to gender-related consumption literature as it sheds light on a consumption context that is vital for transgender individuals' identity projects and that, at the same time, brings about experiences of stigma and vulnerability. This contribution dialogs with and responds to Chauhan et al (2021), andReilly (2020), as they call for more gender-related consumption studies. It is also worth discussing this conflicting situation as it negatively impacts transgender consumers' well-being, calling for more research.…”

“…This incongruence between biological characteristics and social identity (Erickson‐Schroth, 2014) motivates transgender people to undergo a gender transition process that encompasses three stages: (1) social transition (e.g., using products and services, such as clothing, makeup and hairstyle to temporarily assume the new identity); (2) medical transition (e.g., consuming hormones and other products that alters their physical appearance); and (3) surgical transition (e.g., undergoing surgery to assume their new identity) (Erickson‐Schroth, 2014). As such, clothing plays a pivotal role for those struggling for recognition of their new gender identity (Baker et al, 2005; Crane, 2006), as it allows transgender people to forge and maintain their identity before society (Catalpa & McGuire, 2020; McGuire & Reilly, 2020) through one of the most visible forms of consumption (Reilly et al, 2019).…”

“…Research on the role of clothing in gender identity affirmation of transgender consumers is still in its infancy (Chauhan et al, 2021; McGuire & Reilly, 2020), but these studies have so far overlooked the role that the consumption of intimate apparel 1 can have, mainly because it can be done in secrecy and serve as an initial/experimental step into the transition process. The need for secrecy emerges from society's struggles to understand and support transgender people.…”

“…This scenario prompts high levels of discrimination, marginalization, and stigmatization not only in the marketplace (Crockett, 2017), but also within transgender peoples' families (Edwards et al, 2019) and from society in general (McGuire & Reilly, 2020; Munt, 2016). Even worse, due to their stigmatized gender identity, transgender individuals are vulnerable to physical violence (Lombardi et al, 2002).…”

Stigma in the marketplace

“…This incongruence between biological characteristics and social identity (Erickson-Schroth, 2014) motivates transgender people to undergo a gender transition process that encompasses three stages: (1) social transition (e.g., using products and services, such as clothing, makeup and hairstyle to temporarily assume the new identity); (2) medical transition (e.g., consuming hormones and other products that alters their physical appearance); and (3) surgical transition (e.g., undergoing surgery to assume the new identity) (Erickson-Schroth, 2014). As such, clothing plays a pivotal role for those struggling for recognition of their new gender identity (Baker et al, 2005;Crane, 2006), as it allows transgender people to forge and maintain their identity before society (Catalpa & McGuire, 2020;McGuire & Reilly, 2022) through one of the most visible forms of consumption (Reilly et al, 2019).…”