Abstract:
For those interested in researching the consequences of strong ideologies on women's identities, an empirical model that focuses our research attention on the self-identity and social identity of individual women may be helpful. Such a model was devised to assist the author in recognising elements of self-identity and social identity in single women's narratives of their lives. Supported by examples from women's narratives and focusing on the constituent elements of self-identity in particular, the investigative model is presented in this paper. It is argued that self-identity can be a locus of change with the potential for effecting transformation in women's social identities.