Beyond Single Identity & Pathology

Abstract

This paper uses a conceptual framework based in critical personality psychology and a narrative strategy of inquiry to understand how two transgender women, whose lives and identities are depicted by sociological and clinical literatures as unidimensional and pathological, construct a set of multiple, coherent, and transformative selves. Through their unique approaches to questions posed in McAdams' (1995b) Life Story Interview, these women depict multiple selves, a multiplicity not identified in previous research that focused on a single transgender identity. These women's selves include female selves, activist selves, gay-community based selves, and selves related to race, class, and culture. These women demonstrate authentic commitments to social justice and social transformation through their attempts and capacities to establish coherence among these and other multiple selves within contexts related to activism and personal relationships. Finally, these women's lives challenge traditional race/class distinctions as they pertain to privilege. While race and class strongly contextualize both narratives, culture is theorized as a more useful construct in explaining differences between these two women with regard to the social struggles and isolation they face.