What is identity?

We like to talk about identity but what is it?  If I was born in Spain and emigrated to Canada very young does that make me primarily Spanish but culturally Canadian? Which aspect and influences dominate to make me who I am?

If we reflect on it, identity can be a messy combination of factors and influences which coalesce to help make us who we are.

Within the sphere of gender variance it can be equally nebulous. If I am a natal male who simply enjoys cross gender expression on occassion is that interest enough to form part of my identity? What if I begin to question birth sex? You can see how the concept of identity can have much fluidity.

If, as sexologist Judith Butler says, part of gender is steeped in performativity then we can choose what we present to the world but it is the depth of investment that we can argue helps determine identity. An actor who plays a female role on stage may have zero investment after the performance but were he to suddenly opt to live that way 24/7 we could argue that this represents identity because it has infiltrated every aspect of his/her life.

Therefore we could perhaps replace the word identity with investment and make them somewhat synonymous. But, regardless, it's never going to be perfectly clear because most of life is composed of a series of greys which is why much introspection about what to do is often required.