Bringing Gender into the Emerging Adulthood Literature
This chapter begins with an overview of the thematic trends that emerged across chapters in these analyses including the relationship between gendered identities and sexuality and the subjective negativity most respondents feel toward their bodies. The analyses are summarized to help understand contemporary meanings attached to masculinities and femininities, as well as to the powerful role of culture to frame understandings about the self, even the materiality of the body. This chapter ends by returning to a discussion of gender as a social structure at this historical moment and how the Millennials wrestle with it as they emerge into adulthood. Conceptualizing gender as a social structure helps us better understand the complex reality of these young people’s lives.