Despite extensive research on the individual and cultural development of gender identity, much of it has focused exclusively on binary male/female individuals (Costello, 2020). Though recent work has begun to acknowledge non-binary identities, the diversity under this umbrella is poorly described (Towle & Morgan, 2022), and many of the more specific labels used within the queer community have never been systematically investigated.

One such label is that of "femboy", whose popularity on social media has made it the object of some journalistic attention. Though impressionistically described as "people who identify as male or non-binary but present themselves in more traditionally feminine ways" (Ran, 2020), we lack any systematic accounts of how members of this community conceptualise their identity and of the life trajectory that has led them to embrace the label (Goldberg et al., 2020:4; Levitt, 2019).

In this paper, we present preliminary results from a participant research project aiming to provide such an account. We use both Photovoice — a participatory research method focused on the creation of visual images that narrate participants' experiences and concerns (Delgado, 2015) — and in-depth interviews to allow participants to articulate their self-categorisation within the queer community, and explore the cultural resources that influence the emergence of this intersubjectively-validated form of gender variance. Participants are encouraged to contribute actively in the process not only as sources of data, but also as contributors to its analysis and interpretation.

Results suggest that the internal diversity within the community may be greater than usually expected, and illustrate the variety of ways in which participants embrace, reject and reformulate existing understandings of masculini