Friendship and gender identity among girls in a multicultural setting in Oslo

Abstract

Based in ethnographic fieldwork during 2010–2014, this article discusses friendship ties and construction of gender identity among girls in a multicultural context in Oslo. The article shows how gender construction is influenced by ethnicity, religion and sexuality. Three gender identities are constant throughout the period: ‘Norwegian’, ‘ethnic-religious’ and ‘hybrid’, which are analysed through the postcolonial concepts of third space, resilience, reworking and resistance. As puberty develops, so does awareness of the Muslim-inspired covering-up code. As such, the text illustrates a dialectical relationship between physical bodies and cultural practices, as well as between gendered subjectivity and gender identity.