Qualitative Investigation of Women's Identity in Bandar Abbas Based on Consumption and Indigenous Culture

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate the identity of women in Bandar Abbas city based on consumption and indigenous culture. The research population included all indigenous women of Bandar Abbas city. The research sample was 18 indigenous women, which was selected through semi-structured interviews with purposive sampling procedure considering theoretical saturation. The research method was qualitative and the data was collected using thematic analysis and three-step coding. The findings showed: sociologically, since citizens were members of various social groups, people in multicultural cities experienced a more complicated situation in terms of their formation and understanding of their identity. Consumption was a new lifestyle that affected identity, which led to its strengthening. Therefore, the construction of indigenous identity took place through the consumption of elements of indigenous culture among the women of Bandar Abbas city. "Consumption of space", "occasional and non-occasional consumption of food to acquire identity", "collective and ritual consumption of local elements", "individual consumption to acquire collective identity", and "the identity-giving nature of language use" led to the construction of the core category of "consumption of identity as a lifestyle", which showed that the native identity in Bandar Abbas city was continued based on consumption among native women and more consumption had led to the strengthening of this identity. The characteristic of Bandar Abbas culture was that a set of elements were used in it and a coherent set of elements was provided which had an effect on the specific nature of the actions of women in the society and had become an important source of identity-giving for women and the local society.