A new review has concluded that sexuality research has repeatedly failed to provide a nuanced understanding and representation of non-binary experiences.
Published in the peer-reviewed journal, the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the research focused on 12 years of sexuality, sexual health, and relationship satisfaction among non-binary people.
While studies of non-binary people were increasing, there was a need to meaningfully “fill current gaps in knowledge”, the authors said. Further research would be required to “directly benefit the sexual health of gender-diverse populations who have been marginalised”.
Non-Binary People’s Sexuality, Sexual Health and Relationship Satisfaction: A Review of 12 Years of Quantitative Research (2012–2024), was written by Fraedan Mastrantonio, Hanna Kovshoff and Heather Armstrong, at the University of Southampton’s School of Psychology.
The work analysed 44 quantitative studies that included non-binary participants, and the researchers screened more than 26,000 papers across major scientific databases before finding that “literature with a specific focus on non-binary individuals is still severely lacking”.
Non-binary people were “often [found to] report non-monosexual sexual identities,” labels such as queer and pansexual. The research indicated that they might have more-diverse sexual orientations, unlike heterosexual and homosexual groups, with engagement in intimacy and sexual expression that challenged societal norms.
‘Future research should use gender-neutral language’
They reported “similar levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction [to] binary transgender people”, however the study noted that the language and tools of research lacked the diversity and inclusivity to adequately represent non-binary experiences.
“For example, gender-minority individuals were often grouped together for analysis, hiding likely within group differences,” the paper claimed and called for “future research [to] use gender-neutral language and measures, and consider non-binary individuals separately”, to allow for a better understanding of non-binary people’s experiences, including “specific sexual health, well-being, and relationship needs and outcomes”.
A notable disparity in accessibility to sexual health resources was also found, and the researchers called for this to be filled in a “meaningful way.”
The study went on to insist: “Researchers need to establish a clearer focus on individuals that challenge and/or disrupt gender binarism, by validating tools for non-binary people, using inclusive language and enhancing community consultation practices.
“Amplifying non-binary voices within academia has the potential to generate credible and impactful research that provides a more-nuanced understanding of non-binary people’s sexuality. This would directly benefit the sexual health of gender-diverse populations who have been previously marginalised both within and outside research literature focusing on sexual experience.
The full paper can be read here.
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