Email:
e.mumford@kingston.ac.uk
Over
the last decade there has been a significant increase in both theoretical work
on the subject of transgender identities and sociological research into the
lives and experiences of transgender people. However, few studies to date
have explored gender identities that exist outside of the male/female binary,
and the ways in which people with non-binary gender identities experience and
negotiate gender in everyday life. This project explores the relationship
between fashion, gender and the body as it is experienced by non-binary people.
Through a series of interviews with non-binary participants and the analysis of
participant clothing diaries, the study seeks to gain an understanding of how non-binary
people perceive and experience the relationship between their gender identity
and their everyday fashion practices. This is an interdisciplinary project that
draws upon theoretical work from several fields of study including Gender
Studies, Queer Studies, Fashion Studies and Sociology. In focussing on
non-binary identities, the research contributes to understandings of the
experiences and perceptions of a group of individuals who are often overlooked,
both within the field of Fashion Studies and within the broader area of
transgender research.