Young people's constructions of the self: late modern elements and gender differences

This article looks at the ways in which young people reflexively construct their self within a rapidly changing society. Drawing on texts written by young people aged 14-17 years, it explores the existence of patterns identified by theorists of late modernity as regards relationships, fateful moments, a search for authenticity, life plans and life styles and looks at gender-differentiated trends in these areas drawing on a 'weak cultural feminist tradition' (Evans, 1995:91). These texts are part of a sub-sample of approximately 34,000 texts written by young people in a school context in response to an invitation to 'tell their life stories' by writing a page 'describing themselves and the Ireland they inhabit'. The article suggests that gender is a repressed but crucially important framework in the construction of young people's sense of self, while also identifying areas where consumer society is eroding gender difference. KEYWORDS gender / late modern / reflexivity / self / young