Perceiving and Responding to Gender

My research examines how category-based expectancies influence the way we respond to others during interpersonal encounters. I'm particularly interested in the reactions we have when we meet people whose individual features and characteristics do not align with a perceiver's prior expectations. The images were culled from four short videos I created. Each of the videos serves as the stimulus material for a study that explores how perceivers react to a target's normative or non-normative gender appearance. In the images, salient markers of gender (e.g., makeup, suit, and tie) have been manipulated on a male and female actor to demonstrate how gender presentation influences our cognitive and affective responses. As you view these images, consider how they affect you. What feelings do they evoke? How do they align with your beliefs about gender and gender appearance? Do your reactions differ based on which image you are viewing?