Negotiating care:the biographical narratives of young adults who questioned their gender when younger

Current discussions about gender identity are increasingly politicised, particularly in the UK. An individual’s body becomes a site of competing interests that attempt to regulate the physical, social and moral boundaries between biological sex and a socially realised gender. Care becomes defined within this context. The emerging biopolitics generates dividing practices that classify and regulate rather than situate a knowing subject, who is creatively and actively responsive. In response, our paper explores the value of biographical narratives when understanding how young adults negotiate their identity, within the context of social relationships and normative conventions, when experiencing (and articulating) gender questioning. Using testimonial experience from 18 young adults, aged between 19 and 30 years old, our analysis discusses participants’ response to gender questioning before engaging with their exploration of gender, from childhood through to the present day. We consider how these young adults resolve gender questioning through reflexive engagement, seek legitimation and negotiate the response of others, as they seek care. Our conclusion, by providing insights into an actively constituted biographical experience, assesses the possibilities associated with more inclusive caring practices, in which an individual can flourish.