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Rachel Dolezal, Caitlyn Jenner, And Identity Transformation: Identity Legitimization In Internet Comments, Sarah G. Pillow

Communication Studies Student Scholarship

This paper looks at the ways in which a person's identity may be legitimized or delegitimized by looking at the supposed identity transformations of Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner, and the subsequent internet reactions. Through analyzing one article and its associated public comments, this paper considers the citizen critic and their role in creating an identity through five criteria of legitimization: identity has evidence to back it up; perceived truthfulness of the person; permanence of identity; experience of oppression; and activism and/or advocacy.