Ethnographic Field Work in a Sexualized Research Setting

1. Ethnographic Field Work in a Sexualized Research Setting Elisabeth Sheff Georgia State University Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting 2010

2. 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

3. Kink Communities in the Southeastern United States • Respondent demographics • Organized interactions: “munches,” play parties, and focus groups • Free-form interactions: “munches” and play parties

4. 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)

5. 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

6. 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

7. Non-verbal strategies • What to wear? • Physical positioning • Looking attached • “No Pest strip” • Wedding ring • Co-conspirator

8. 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