What's sex got to do with it? When a woman asks questions

A Feminist and “Outsider” in the Field: Negotiating the Challenges of Researching Young Men

“…However, remaining silent did serve another purpose: If I had challenged Alek's talk in the first instance, he may not have been as candid throughout the rest of the group discussion. Therefore, echoing other women scholars, providing Alek with an environment to talk freely gave me access to rich data about how he chose to speak about women within the context of this particular focus group (see Bott, 2010;Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Grenz, 2005;Harries, 2016).…”

“…Clearly, male participants are more likely to react to feelings of a "surplus threat" (Schwalbe & Wolkomir, 2001, p. 91) when the researcher is female (Pini, 2005;Presser, 2005;Schwalbe & Wolkomir, 2001); as such, a number of women researchers have documented what these compensatory performances look like in practice and the types of challenges these pose to the fieldwork process. While these practices can take benign forms-for example, men claiming to be an authority on the topic at hand (Allain, 2014;Pini, 2005) or purposefully going off topic (Gailey & Prohaska, 2011)-men can also use more malevolent sexualization strategies to exert control over both the female researcher and the research process (Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Harries, 2016;Orrico, 2014;Soyer, 2014). A number of women scholars, for example, have written about their experiences of men flirting with them during interviews (Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Orrico, 2014;Soyer, 2014) or men being overfamiliar by using terms like "love" when addressing them (Harries, 2016).…”

“…A number of women scholars, for example, have written about their experiences of men flirting with them during interviews (Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Orrico, 2014;Soyer, 2014) or men being overfamiliar by using terms like "love" when addressing them (Harries, 2016). In more extreme cases, researchers have had men persistently ask them out for romantic dates (Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Harries, 2016;Orrico, 2014). Not only do these advances leave women feeling uncomfortable, they also leave them feeling vulnerable and unsafe.…”

“…What appears to be the dilemma is whether to let men talk freely, without exerting too much researcher control over the process, or to challenge men when sexist talk is used. Women researchers report engaging in both practices: attempting to challenge sexist talk but also seeing the benefits of remaining silent because of the rich data sexist talk provides for feminist research (Bott, 2010;Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Grenz, 2005;Harries, 2016). Gailey and Prohaska's experiences also speak to the very real emotional toll this type of research can have on women researchers as they manage and negotiate their interactions with the men they are researching.…”

“…Once the focus groups commenced, my interactions with these young men continued to challenge me. One of the main challenges, which other woman scholars have written about (see Bott, 2010;Gailey & Prohaska, 2011;Grenz, 2005;Harries, 2016), came in the form of young men's use of sexist comments and retorts, particularly to my questions about (hetero)romance. This talk often caught me unaware, which resulted in me having to choose how to manage it in the moment.…”