‘A Blank slate body:’ Cis individuals’ descriptions of their androgynous body ideals

ABSTRACT

Body image is typically studied through the framework of internalising gender binary standards of attractiveness. However, not all individuals adhere to traditional appearance norms. This study aimed to understand the meaning of cis (non-trans) individuals’ androgynous or non-stereotypical body ideals and the actions they engage in to achieve these ideals. We recruited an online sample of 78 participants (42 cis women and 36 nonbinary individuals who also identified as cis). Participants responded to two open-ended prompts: 1) What does your androgynous or nonstereoypical body mean to you? and 2) What actions have you taken to achieve this ideal? Authors identified three overarching themes of what an androgynous body ideal meant to our participants. An androgynous appearance was central to participants’ beauty standards, authenticity, and gender expression. To achieve or maintain an androgynous body ideal, participants described actions that altered their gender expression, primary and secondary sex characteristics, and body. Our findings underscore the way androgynous appearance ideals function to transgress binary gender in affirming ways to cis individuals. Further, recruiting on the basis of androgyny yielded a wider understanding of cis identity, as our participants were diverse across both sexuality (queer and heterosexual) and gender (women and nonbinary individuals).

KEYWORDS:

• Androgyny
• body image
• cisgender
• queer women
• nonbinary

Disclosure statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interest.

Notes

1. We use ‘cis’ as an umbrella term to encompass non-trans individuals who identify as women, men, and gender nonbinary (referred to as nonbinary) individuals who do not identify as transgender.

2. In this paper, we use queer to refer to sexualities other than heterosexual. Queer is an expansive term to describe individuals with various sexual identities; thus, ‘queer’ is not a monolithic identity where individuals experience the same body idealism (Kolker et al., 2020).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claire E. Cusack

Claire E. Cusack, B.A., is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at Towson University. Their research interests focus on the etiology and treatment of eating disorders, specifically among LGBTQ+ individuals. They integrate minority stress frameworks and emotion regulation theories to understand eating disorder risk and unique factors that may present for individuals with queer identities.

Ezra R. Morris

Ezra R. Morris, B.S., is a graduate student in Experimental Psychology at Towson University. Their research interests focus on the social determinants of mental health disparities and inequities in trans individuals, with a specific focus on access to and experiences with mental health care services for those endorsing TGNC identities.

M. Paz Galupo

M. Paz Galupo, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Sexual & Gender Identity Lab at Towson University. Paz’s research interests focus on understanding the intersection of sexual orientation and gender identity, with a particular focus on understanding non-binary expressions of bisexual/plurisexual and transgender experience.