THE JENNIFER PROJECT

"Are you really a girl? "

"The great danger in our utopian dreams of community is that they lead us to want association with people just like ourselves" (Palmer, 1977, p.20).

In a world of strict gender roles and blatant heterosexism, one would wonder how an anatomical female who self-identifies as a, "bisexual multi-gendered person" could survive and thrive.  This project is a qualitative exploration into the life of such a person, who will be referred to as "Jennifer." 

Jennifer is a 19-year-old college student living in a large metropolitan area. Taylor (1995) found that "risk and resilience is the key role of supportive, confiding relationships in mitigating the effects of stress" (p. 23). In turn, our phone conversation and email exchanges revolved around the importance of relationships and their impact on his resiliency and self-acceptance. Her views and experiences regarding gender, sexuality and sexual orientation are interwoven throughout the discussion and serves as an important key to our understanding of his resilience.