Gender Nonconformity, Youth

There are many terms for referring to gender-nonconforming youth, that is, young people whose gender identity or gender expression falls outside of a heteronormative man–woman gender binary. These include terms that are more or less politicized, such as agendered, dual gender, gender fluid, intergender, genderqueer, and transgender; as well as psychomedical terms such as [Page 450]gender dysphoric and gender disordered; and terms that perhaps seek a more neutral position such as gender diverse, gender variant, and gender nonconforming. Many of these terms are also used by, or about, adults. A key advantage of the term gender nonconformity, in relation to children and young people, is its relative neutrality and nonjudgmental tone: This term allows us to avoid the politicized and medicalizing connotations of terms like ...