Living Gender in Diverse Times: Enduring Inequalities and Emerging Possibilities for Young People in the UK

Following a dramatic rise in the cultural visibility of people who identify across, between or beyond the categories of male and female, significant cultural commentary has been given to the wider ramifications of gender diversity on young people. For example, media reports in the UK and US regularly declare that the millennial generation – or generation Y - are rejecting traditional gender labels and norms, and endorsements of non-binary gendered identity by celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Jaden Smith are presented as emblematic of this shift. While this suggests that traditional gender identities and expressions are being less rigidly experienced by young people in contemporary society, there is also an important body of research that has long demonstrated how young people’s ways of ‘doing gender’ are constrained by power relations and the circulation of gendered norms within educational institutions, workplaces, families, and peer groups. Alongside the continued prevalence of transphobia within society, this suggests that celebratory declarations of a shift in how young people understand and practice gender demands caution and much further exploration.

Drawing on initial findings from an ESRC-funded project exploring young people’s (16-24 year olds) understandings and practices of gender in contemporary UK, this paper considers the ways in which gender is understood and practiced by young people from different demographic groups, looking particularly at the ways in which gender, class, race, disability, age, religion, sexuality and geographical location intersect with and impact upon access to, and experiences of, traditional gender identities and practices. In conclusion, the paper foregrounds the concept of intersectionality as key to understanding both enduring inequalities and emerging possibilities of gender in the contemporary UK.