Abstract
This article examines the use of embodied narrative, a movement-based interpretation of narrative identity theory, with adolescent participants to create a performance piece centered on the question: What does it mean to be a girl in the twenty-first century? The three reasons for using dance in this project were: (a) to facilitate understanding of one’s identity through movement as narrative; (b) to gather and analyze qualitative data through the vehicle of movement; and (c) to disseminate the findings of the project in an informative and easily accessed performance format. Community-based-participatory-research (CBPR) was the method used to gather and analyze data. The results echoed the tenets of third wave feminism, demonstrating an era of “girl power,” choice, and gender equality. Although it is not without flaws and limitations, CBPR facilitates the use of research as a method for improving community structures by employing community members as active participants who are involved in most, if not all, of the research process. Participants were included in the process of gathering and analyzing data, the creation of the performance, and the dissection of performance impact on audience.
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Notes
Cisgender is a term used to describe an individual whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth (Schilt & Westbrook, 2009).
Assigned female at birth is a replacement term for “adolescent girls,” in the interest of respecting gender diversity.
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Thomas, E. The Dance of Cultural Identity: Exploring Race and Gender with Adolescent Girls. Am J Dance Ther 37, 176–196 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-015-9203-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-015-9203-z