Transcript Ethnographic Field Work in a Sexualized Research

Ethnographic Field Work in a
Sexualized Research Setting
Elisabeth Sheff
Georgia State University
Southern Sociological Society
Annual Meeting 2010
The Settings
Polyamorous Communities in the Western
United States
• Respondent demographics
• Organized interactions: community meetings
and support groups
• Free-form interactions: parties and camp outs
Kink Communities in the Southeastern
United States
• Respondent demographics
• Organized interactions: “munches,” play
parties, and focus groups
• Free-form interactions: “munches” and play
parties
Women’s Sexuality
• Women more sexualized than men in general
• Female researchers have a long tradition of
dealing with sexuality in the field
– Ethnographers and other field workers across
disciplines
– Sociologists: Warren and Rassmusen 1977; Carolyn
Ellis pioneer in authoethnoraphy
– Feminist researchers examine power, link with
sexuality (Acker, Bordo, Fine, Harding)
– Extensive discussion of fieldwork in strip clubs and
other forms of sex work (Bright, Califia, Christina,
Frank, Queen)
Men’s Sexuality
• Heterosexual men emblematize hegemonic
sexuality and remain invisible in its privilege
– Exception is the rare researcher who admits to
using it as a tool
• Gay men closeted in the past and join the
autoethnographic movement
– Remain marked as other
Strategies for managing sexuality in
the field
• Verbal
– Acrobatics with words: how to avoid having to say
no directly
– When to use big words
– Constructing the absent partner
Non-verbal strategies
• What to wear?
• Physical positioning
• Looking attached
– “No Pest strip”
– Wedding ring
– Co-conspirator
Relationships With Respondents
• Stated strategies assume desire to avoid contact
• Potential impacts on research methods and
findings
– “Bias” the findings?
– “Improve” validity?
• Living in the “real world” - Online dating and
protecting identities
• Research ethics
– “Going native” versus autoethnography
• IRB issues