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Undressing the researcher: feminism, embodiment and sexuality at a queer bathhouse event
Author(s) -
Bain Alison L,
Nash Catherine J
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00663.x
Subject(s) - queer , ethnography , embodied cognition , event (particle physics) , gender studies , human sexuality , sociology , feminism , focus (optics) , anthropology , epistemology , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , optics
In this paper we examine how the researcher's body can be used as a tool for data collection in the process of ethnographic fieldwork. We focus in particular on the tensions inherent in undertaking embodied ethnographic research in the sexualized setting of a queer women's bathhouse event in Toronto, Canada. Our discussion addresses three moments within the research process: preparing our bodies to attend the bathhouse; positioning our bodies within the spaces of the bathhouse; and interacting with our bodies during the event. Through this discussion we argue that the body of the researcher is a contested site of knowledge production.