Pure and bitter spaces: gender, identity and territory in Northern Irish youth transitions

This paper examines young people’s narratives of space and territory and the ways in which they are gender specific. Drawing upon data from two ESRC funded research projects beginning in 1996, the paper focuses upon the ways in which boundaries are perceived, constructed and managed in the everyday lives of young women and men growing up in one area of Northern Ireland. The paper considers how the territorial boundaries that young people adhere to create ‘pure’ and ‘bitter’ spaces which serve to reinforce their own sense of cultural and ethnic differences. It also looks at the experiences of those who travel beyond these boundaries, the impact of gender and the implications that traversing boundaries has on young people’s lives. Finally, the paper suggests that young women appear more willing and able to cross boundaries by seizing opportunities presented by cosmopolitanism and changing patterns of leisure. In so doing, young women challenge the legacy of ‘bitterness’ inherent in pure spaces.