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Prevalence of gender nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium

(2015) ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR. 44(5). p.1281-1287
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Abstract
Gender nonconformity refers to the extent to which a person’s gender identity, gender role and/or gender expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex, within a certain society and era. Most data on gender nonconformity focus on the prevalence of gender dysphoria (which also includes a distress factor) or on the number of legal sex changes. However, not every gender nonconforming individual experiences distress or applies for treatment. Population-based research on the broad spectrum of gender nonconformity is scarce and more information on the variance outside the gender binary is needed. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of gender incongruence (identifying stronger with the other sex than with the sex assigned at birth) and gender ambivalence (identifying equally with the other sex as with the sex assigned at birth) based on two population-based surveys, one of 1,832 Flemish persons and one of 2,472 sexual minority individuals in Flanders. In the general population, gender ambivalence was present in 2.2% of male and 1.9% of female participants, whereas gender incongruence was found in 0.7% of men and 0.6% of women. In sexual minority individuals, the prevalence of gender ambivalence and gender incongruence was 1.8% and 0.9% in men and 4.1% and 2.1% in women, respectively. With a current Flemish population of about 6 million, our results indicate a total of between 17,150 and 17,665 gender incongruent men and between 14,473 and 15,221 gender incongruent women in Flanders.
Keywords
gender nonconformity, Belgium, Gender identity, SEXPERT, TRANSSEXUALISM, NETHERLANDS, SEX, DYSPHORIA, HEALTH

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MLA
Van Caenegem, Eva, et al. “Prevalence of Gender Nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium.” ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, vol. 44, no. 5, 2015, pp. 1281–87, doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0452-6.
APA
Van Caenegem, E., Wierckx, K., Elaut, E., Buysse, A., Dewaele, A., Van Nieuwerburgh, F., … T’Sjoen, G. (2015). Prevalence of gender nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, 44(5), 1281–1287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0452-6
Chicago author-date
Van Caenegem, Eva, Katrien Wierckx, Els Elaut, Ann Buysse, Alexis Dewaele, Filip Van Nieuwerburgh, Griet De Cuypere, and Guy T’Sjoen. 2015. “Prevalence of Gender Nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium.” ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 44 (5): 1281–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0452-6.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Van Caenegem, Eva, Katrien Wierckx, Els Elaut, Ann Buysse, Alexis Dewaele, Filip Van Nieuwerburgh, Griet De Cuypere, and Guy T’Sjoen. 2015. “Prevalence of Gender Nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium.” ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 44 (5): 1281–1287. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0452-6.
Vancouver
1.
Van Caenegem E, Wierckx K, Elaut E, Buysse A, Dewaele A, Van Nieuwerburgh F, et al. Prevalence of gender nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR. 2015;44(5):1281–7.
IEEE
[1]
E. Van Caenegem et al., “Prevalence of gender nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium,” ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 1281–1287, 2015.
@article{5753078,
  abstract     = {{Gender nonconformity refers to the extent to which a person’s gender identity, gender role and/or gender expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex, within a certain society and era. Most data on gender nonconformity focus on the prevalence of gender dysphoria (which also includes a distress factor) or on the number of legal sex changes. However, not every gender nonconforming individual experiences distress or applies for treatment. Population-based research on the broad spectrum of gender nonconformity is scarce and more information on the variance outside the gender binary is needed. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of gender incongruence (identifying stronger with the other sex than with the sex assigned at birth) and gender ambivalence (identifying equally with the other sex as with the sex assigned at birth) based on two population-based surveys, one of 1,832 Flemish persons and one of 2,472 sexual minority individuals in Flanders. In the general population, gender ambivalence was present in 2.2% of male and 1.9% of female participants, whereas gender incongruence was found in 0.7% of men and 0.6% of women. In sexual minority individuals, the prevalence of gender ambivalence and gender incongruence was 1.8% and 0.9% in men and 4.1% and 2.1% in women, respectively. With a current Flemish population of about 6 million, our results indicate a total of between 17,150 and 17,665 gender incongruent men and between 14,473 and 15,221 gender incongruent women in Flanders.}},
  author       = {{Van Caenegem, Eva and Wierckx, Katrien and Elaut, Els and Buysse, Ann and Dewaele, Alexis and Van Nieuwerburgh, Filip and De Cuypere, Griet and T'Sjoen, Guy}},
  issn         = {{0004-0002}},
  journal      = {{ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR}},
  keywords     = {{gender nonconformity,Belgium,Gender identity,SEXPERT,TRANSSEXUALISM,NETHERLANDS,SEX,DYSPHORIA,HEALTH}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1281--1287}},
  title        = {{Prevalence of gender nonconformity in Flanders, Belgium}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0452-6}},
  volume       = {{44}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}

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