What Happens when Gender Accountability is Reduced? The Experiences of Nonbinary and Genderfluid People During the COVID-19 Pandemic

How does gender accountability vary? We theorize that reduced perceptions by others of one’s gender, or reduced external assessments of gender accountability, create more space for the cultivation of nonbinary subjectivities. We use the shelter-in-place period of the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment during which major social institutions such as work and school changed and thus shifted gender accountability. Through interviews with a racially diverse sample of 22 U.S. adults who came out as nonbinary or genderfluid during this time period, we examine their experiences and understandings of this change in gender accountability. Participants described relief from relentless gender assessments as well as space for self-reflection and gender experimentation. Less stringent external assessments at work and school, especially the reduction of constant in-person evaluations of gender expression, produced new gender subjectivities that resisted binary understandings of gender. This study explores the nuance, variability, and situational character of gender accountability. We argue that in-person full-body gender assessments are a powerful component of gender accountability and that relief from gender accountability at work and school may be particularly liberating. Plain Language Summary During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people came out as nonbinary or genderfluid. We interviewed 22 U.S. adults who started to identify as nonbinary or genderfluid during the shelter-in-place period of the pandemic. There were social aspects of the pandemic, such as increased free time, time alone, and opportunity to experiment with one’s gender, that impacted the people we interviewed. One of the things that stood out was that interviewees discussed how working and doing school from home allowed them to be less concerned about people assessing their gender all day long. Because they were not interacting with people like coworkers and other students, who would see their full-body gender expression in person, they felt a sense of relief and freedom that allowed them to explore nonbinary gender identities.