Sexuality is a complex and multifaceted domain, encompassing bodily, cultural, and subjective experiences that resist easy categorization. To claim the sexual as a viable research object therefore raises a number of important methodological questions: What is it possible to know about experiences, practices, and perceptions of sex and sexualities? What approaches might help or hinder our efforts to probe such experiences? This collection explores the creative, personal, and contextual parameters involved in researching sexuality, cutting across disciplinary boundaries and drawing on case studies from a variety of countries and contexts. Representing a wide range of expertise, its contributors address such key areas as pornography, sex work, intersectionality, and LGBT perspectives. The contributors also share their own experiences of researching sexuality within contrasting disciplines, as well as interrogating how the sexual identities of researchers themselves can relate to, and inform, their work. The result is a unique and diverse collection that combines practical insights on field work with novel theoretical reflections.
Author(s): Charlotte Morris, Paul Boyce, Andrea Cornwall, Hannah Frith, Laura Harvey, Yingying Huang
Publisher: Zed Books
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 393
Tags: Sexology: Research, Pornography, Prostitution, Intersectionality (Sociology), Sexual Minorities
Cover......Page 1
Halftitle......Page 2
Title page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 11
Foreword......Page 12
Editorial introduction......Page 18
Part One. Knowability......Page 34
Introduction......Page 36
References......Page 41
Abstract......Page 42
Female ejaculation as social emancipation......Page 43
Coercion of the real: détournement and unrepresentability......Page 49
Notes......Page 57
References......Page 58
Abstract......Page 60
Encountering ambiguity......Page 61
The zhongxing phenomenon......Page 63
Queer theory and sociology......Page 64
Method of ambiguity......Page 66
The interview schedule......Page 68
‘Failed’ interviews and veiled silence......Page 70
Reflexivity of discomfort......Page 72
Conclusion: making sense of ambiguity......Page 74
Notes......Page 75
References......Page 76
Abstract......Page 79
Introducing myself as an applied sexual health researcher......Page 80
Personal influences on research......Page 81
Feminism and research as a political activity......Page 83
Early research career: being inspired by MSM research to focus my research on women......Page 84
Researching women with problematic drug use: becoming politicised as a researcher......Page 85
Applying criticality......Page 87
Core components of a critical social epidemiology for applied sexual health research......Page 89
References......Page 93
Introduction......Page 97
Background to research......Page 99
Disciplinary dilemmas......Page 102
Shifting disciplines......Page 109
References......Page 112
Part Two. Creative Methodologies......Page 114
Collecting data......Page 116
Authorship/voice......Page 118
Dissemination/representation......Page 119
Conclusion......Page 120
Abstract......Page 122
Rethinking methodologies......Page 125
Methodology: critical sexuality studies......Page 127
Body mapping......Page 129
Body mapping pilot......Page 131
Reflections on the pilot......Page 133
Discussion......Page 134
References......Page 135
Introduction......Page 139
Cultural patchworking: creative methods in researching desire, sexuality and love......Page 140
Collages......Page 142
Interview objects......Page 144
The value of creative methods in sex and sexualities research......Page 145
The quality of the research relationship......Page 146
New entry points for difficult conversations and abstract issues......Page 147
Dynamic, multi-faceted and ‘messy’ data......Page 148
Situating the research: linking the personal and the cultural......Page 150
Conclusion......Page 151
References......Page 152
‘The poetic moment’: the emergence of poetry in research......Page 153
Poetic form and function in academic research......Page 155
The use of poetry in sex and sexualities research......Page 159
References......Page 164
Abstract......Page 167
Two projects one solution......Page 168
Conceptual resources: performance, mimesis, ventriloquismand karaoke......Page 170
Revealing moments within a process......Page 174
Getting under the covers: lessons for sexuality research and activism......Page 182
Notes......Page 184
References......Page 185
Part Three. Negotiating research contexts......Page 188
Introduction......Page 190
References......Page 196
Abstract......Page 198
The importance of linking young people to their context......Page 199
Issues confronting sex researchers in their methodologies......Page 205
Interdisciplinary collaboration and conversations......Page 208
Conclusions......Page 212
References......Page 214
Abstract......Page 216
Sexual slang......Page 217
Translating ‘cultural grammar’......Page 220
Me-as-researcher......Page 223
Ethical implications......Page 226
Emotion work......Page 228
References......Page 231
Abstract......Page 234
Managing boundaries: touch, loss and shock in fieldwork......Page 235
To be touched: between complicity and the impact of desire......Page 239
Displacing the border......Page 243
Acknowledgements......Page 244
Notes......Page 245
References......Page 246
Abstract......Page 249
Beginnings......Page 251
Constructing a methodology......Page 255
Sharing intimate stories......Page 260
Defining questions......Page 261
Producing representations......Page 263
Conclusion......Page 264
References......Page 266
Part Four. Researcher bodies, identities, experiences......Page 270
Being a ‘good researcher’......Page 272
The desiring researcher......Page 275
Seductive spaces......Page 277
References......Page 278
Rotten girl on rotten girl: Boys’ Love ‘research’......Page 280
Reflections on being a BL acafan......Page 281
Reflections on cultural and legal issues......Page 284
Reflections on my BL fandom survey and interviews......Page 288
Concluding reflections......Page 291
Notes......Page 292
References......Page 293
Abstract......Page 296
Introduction......Page 297
Reflexivity......Page 298
Methodology......Page 299
Understanding sexuality and intimacy......Page 302
Intimacy and sexuality in residential aged care......Page 303
Privacy, institutional care and maintaining intimate relationships......Page 307
Interviewing about intimacy and sexuality......Page 309
Conclusion......Page 312
References......Page 313
Abstract......Page 315
Introduction......Page 316
Sexual stories......Page 319
Silences: speaking and not speaking about sex......Page 322
Conclusions......Page 330
References......Page 332
Introduction......Page 335
BDSM......Page 338
Spazio Giovani and W l’amore......Page 341
Conclusions......Page 348
Notes......Page 350
References......Page 353
Appendix. An interview with Ken Plummer......Page 356
References......Page 375
Editors......Page 376
Contributors......Page 378
Index......Page 384
About Zed......Page 393
