Stając się sobą od nowa – wtórne dojrzewanie osób niebinarnych

Abstract

This article is based on ethnographic material collected between 2022 and 2024 as part of research for the master’s thesis “Trying to Be More Than a Body – Sexuality and Corporeality of Nonbinary People” in the program Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw. This material consists of in-depth biographical interviews and autoethnography, and its analysis led to the development of the concept of secondary maturation. The study participants were nonbinary young adults who, after – or during – a mostly difficult and traumatic process of adolescence, began another process: becoming themselves, striving for self-acceptance, developing their sexuality and corporeality, and increasing comfort in their own bodies. The paper aims to describe the types of practices and changes, including shifts in thinking, that overlap with secondary maturation. This development occurs through the exploration of personal needs, expectations regarding self-expression and appearance, as well as sexuality (not limited to partner relationships). It is not a linear process; its outcomes are neither fully stable nor repeatable, and the ways of achieving them differ among members of the research group. The article therefore portrays nonbinary individuals not as a monolith but as a diverse group sharing certain experiences. Difficulties related to gendered identity, as well as periods of adolescence and entering adulthood, are largely shared by the research group with binary and cisgender individuals. Secondary maturation thus also sheds light on how young people today become adults, develop their corporeality and sexuality, and strive for self-acceptance. Consequently, this paper, grounded in queer ethnography, contributes to feminist anthropology by representing a marginalized group exclusively through the voices of its members, while also continuing the broader discourse of the anthropology of gender and sexuality.

Keywords: nonbinary identity, maturation, gender, corporeality, expression

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