Gender Nonconforming Behaviors

Behaviors are gender nonconforming if they are inconsistent with the social and cultural expectations for one’s assigned birth sex. These behaviors include feminine behaviors exhibited by boys and men and masculine behaviors exhibited by girls and women. Examples of behaviors that may be gender nonconforming are aspects of one’s physical appearance (e.g., color or style of clothing, hairstyle, jewelry, presence or absence of makeup), mannerisms and body language (e.g., gestures, posture), speech patterns, social interactions (e.g., friendship preferences and patterns of interaction), behavioral components of gender-typed personality traits (e.g., behaviors that exhibit caring, nurturing, aggression, competitiveness, or other gender-typed traits), and choice of gender stereotyped career (e.g., nurse, hairdresser, lawyer, politician), activities (e.g., dance, football), and interests (e.g., sewing, hunting, sports). This review provides a ...