In the Western world, gender has traditionally been viewed as binary and as following
directly from biological sex. These views are slowly changing, both among experts and the
general public, a change that has been met with strong opposition. In this paper, we explore
the psychological processes underlying these dynamics. Drawing ...
In the Western world, gender has traditionally been viewed as binary and as following
directly from biological sex. These views are slowly changing, both among experts and the
general public, a change that has been met with strong opposition. In this paper, we explore
the psychological processes underlying these dynamics. Drawing on Butler’s (1990) work on
gender performativity as well as Goffman’s (1956) work on gender as a performance, we
develop a psychological framework of the perpetuation and disruption of the gender/sex
binary on a stage that facilitates and foregrounds binary gender/sex performance. Whenever
character, costume, and script are not aligned the gender/sex binary is disrupted and gender
trouble ensues. We integrate various strands of the psychological literature into this
framework and explain the processes underlying these reactions. We propose that gender
trouble can elicit threat: personal threat, group-based and identity threat, and system threat,
which in turn lead to efforts to alleviate this threat through reinforcement of the gender/sex
binary. Our framework challenges the way psychologists have traditionally treated
gender/sex in theory and empirical work and proposes new avenues and implications for
future research.