Relationships Between Dress and Gender in a Context of Cultural Change

As some individuals no longer identify with the traditional binary distinction of male or female, new gender categories have emerged. A total of 31 gender categories have been recognized by the NYC Commission of Human Rights with the goal to encourage equitable treatment and respect of all individuals within the workplace. As society evolves, there is still a lack of understanding of gender identity and gender expression. Symbolic Interaction and Self-Verification theories were used to examine the use of dress and other appearance cues to establish and communicate gender identities with individuals representing a range of genders. A phenomenological research approach was employed. Participants spoke about gender in the context of several identities and environments. Dress was used to represent these identities along with gender. Barriers in communicating gender identified were problems with stereotypes, dress limitations in communicating gender, and mistakes (intentional and unintentional) in interpretation of dress cues.