Personal narratives and gender identity

Pages: 17-23
Arial S. Bloshinsky and Madhavi Menon (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale)

Narrative identity is the notion that an individual forms an identity through the construction of life events that provides them with some meaning and purpose. Similarly, gender is a very central part of individual identity. This paper reviews the topic of gender identity in personal narratives. It explores the prevalent literature centered on these two constructs and reviews their role in individual development across the life span. Narrative identity development has many different facets that can lead to the exploration of how gender and gender identity might shape this narrative. While extant research has explored gender differences within the personal narrative, however, there is limited research on gender identity in personal narratives. This paper reviews the literature involving gender identity and the narrative identity to create a cohesive account of how gender identity and the narrative identity work together in the development of a continuous sense of self in the personal narrative.