... A Moment That is Mine, While I\u27m in Between... : Female Adolescent Identity Development in America\u27s Suburbs

In thinking about how place shapes one\u27s identity, my particular research question is: How does suburbia and its characteristics play an influencing role during female adolescent identity development? The explicit and implicit values that suburbia instills in the people who live there develop pressures: pressure to conform, to buy, and to attain high standards. I argue that suburbia\u27s emphases on homogeneity and conformity, conspicuous consumption, and achievement influence the ways in which its female adolescent residents develop their identities. I will first discuss the importance of suburbia as a variable of female adolescent identity development, the suburban identity and the world in which the adolescent girls attempt to place themselves. Next I will discuss homogeneity and conformity and the ways in which teenage females attach their identities to the world around them. Then I will talk about how objects and the female identity intersect through consumer culture in suburbia. Finally I will talk about the culture of achievement, upward mobility, and the pressure the teenage girl feels when she strives to be and do the best