Hello!

I am Aven Peters, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University. My research and teaching interests include gender identity and expression, disability studies, social determinants of health, and critical demography. Prior to studying at Northwestern, I worked as a data analyst for a nonprofit organization that focuses on combating health inequalities.

My dissertation focuses on theoretical and methodological issues in the measurement of gender nonconformity in survey research. I argue that gender nonconformity can be conceptualized as a determinant of social inequality, an expression of political attitudes and identities, and a negotiation with social environments that penalize, tolerate, or encourage particular forms of gender expression. In my dissertation, I develop theoretical and methodological tools for analyzing each of these interpretations. I also explore when and for whom different measures of gender nonconformity diverge, shedding light on the meaning of masculinity and femininity for individuals and communities.

My forthcoming article in the American Journal of Sociology examines the relationship between transgender identity and physical disability. I argue that alienation from normative gender categories shapes gender identification. Using data from four population-based surveys, I find that people with physical disabilities are substantially more likely to identify as transgender than people without physical disabilities, especially in younger cohorts. I offer a theory of "disorderly embodiment" to explain these results and describe how gender and disability are co-constituted within social interactions.