Consumption beyond the binary: Feminism in transgender lives

Consumer socialisation of men and women to perform certain roles and to maintain particular identities creates a foundational conflict in those who identify as distinct from a male/female gender binary. This chapter argues that understanding non-normative experiences of consuming gender is vital for marketing as academic discipline, business practice, and site of social change. The emergence of increasingly visible non-normative gender identities challenges cisheteronormativity through disruption and subversion of consumer identity practices and norms, creating space for new perspectives on gender to be expressed. This chapter begins with positioning transgender and gender non-conforming consumers within a broader overview of gender in consumer and marketing research. Following a discussion of transgender representation in current research, the chapter then turns to the analysis, insights, and perspectives accessible to marketing scholars through transgender, queer, and feminist theorising. We also draw inspiration from these studies to suggest areas for future research.