I’m willing to continue to defend myself, answer questions, and/or participate in discussions. Sometimes it takes me a while to calm down, be professional, and answer things in a way that will make sense to those who are asking/commenting about/dismissing me or my work out of hand. Raiders: I’m still working on a response to your last lengthy post. You missed your calling as a career counselor :) El_Cabrio: “anti-thetical” means contrary to someone’s goals; so when I said some women feel that “appearing sexually confident and experienced is seen as anti-thetical to establishing a good foundation with a guy” I mean they worry that being sexually experienced will scare him off, cause him to distrust her, and in general undermine the relationship because he sees and treats her as a ‘slut’, etc. you are female?
Yes
you are straight?
Yes
seriously, you are straight???????????????????
Yes
you are married? to a male? with testicles? no breasts (hubby)?
Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes (born male, still male, and a sexy one at that)
he does not go to gay bars more than once a week?
My husband’s never been to a gay bar; I would totally take him with me to one if we were going out with my friends (I happen to have gay friends); I only go to gay bars with my friends who happen to be gay; I went to my first gay bar two years ago in Chicago after an anthropology conference; to my first lesbian bar in San Francisco after last year’s anthropology conference; and to my first “bar hopping the gay bars” in Tijuana with my gay neighbor last month’; I’m definitely going to try to include lesbian chicas along with male sex workers (who may or may not actually define themselves as gay) because both remain understudied, and would provide a fuller, richer, understanding of the sex industry in Tijuana
you are a mother?
No; but I have two cats!
you have normal sex with the opposite sex (without divulging details)???
Yes, normal, fun, exciting sex if you mean penis to vagina sex? Heh, I’m not sure what you mean here… but it seems normal to me, and maybe better than average to most? As to my inability to listen to people’s experiences, look for patterns, see how their experiences compare with others, including those others that other researchers have studied, and then translate that information into a dissertation, a paper for a conference, or a book, well… I disagree. Sometimes actual participants have an advantage in understanding what they do, how and why they do it, and what it means when they do it, and sometimes they DON’T. There is such a thing as being too committed, too involved with your OWN point of view. As an insider you can take things for granted, you may not compare yourself to others, you may not even see the value in it, you may be less willing to represent viewpoints of fellow participants, you may have a stake in how you share (or choose to not share) your findings… Try to imagine, if you will, how YOUR study would look should you want to do your dissertation in Tijuana. Probably very different from mine. Now, imagine a relevant, sexy, interesting project being completed as a COLLABORATION between outsiders and insiders. This is the kind of thing I’m trying to do on my own small scare. Your concerns, however, are not exactly new – in the sense that universities are concerned about such things whenever they hire faculty to teach almost ANY historical or social subject. An advantage the anthropological method has over other methods is that is forces you to be closer to the material and people you write about; it often forces you to be held more accountable for what you do (just look at the ethical concerns/questions the participants of this board have already raised; imagine being a researcher and trying to both appeal to and write responsibly about all the stakeholders involved in your field site)
I just wanted to make two more brief comments regarding stakeholders and accountability.
In field research, one of the first tasks is to identify relevant stakeholders, to communicate with them regarding the possible significance of the research, and to attempt to collaborate on possible issues of concern about the impact of the project. Because anthropologists work with such a diversity of social groups, there really aren't any rules about how this is to be done.
What I'm doing, is letting people know about the project, especially people who spend time in the areas I'm studying, so that they can tell ME what THEIR concerns are. One concern that I seem to hear repeated in this forum is fear that publicity will threaten the existence of the sex industry in Tijuana. I think this is something to talk about. I'm certainly thinking about it.
If, as some have said, my research proves of no use to anyone whatsoever, the data I collect will generate no publicity and prove no threat. Any potential threat would go directly to the human subjects committee at Yale University (they take legal hassles very seriously). It took me 6 months to get my project approved through this committee. They don’t mess around with ethical and legal complications. Any concerns about my project that I can’t deal with can be directed towards them. They are my official system of accountability.
If, as I hope, my research has a positive impact on the working conditions and health and well-being of the women working in the sex industry. This is what my primary goal is. For example, if condoms are too expensive or if the ones provided at the hotels suck, well, maybe it is the bar or hotel owners responsibility to improve the quality of the ones they sell/give, maybe condoms should be subsidized by a government that tolerates prostitution, maybe people would be willing to donate time/money to non-profit groups to help them stock bars with free condoms... Alternately, if condoms are not really a problem, but young women "just off the bus" so to speak don't know enough about STD's to protect themselves, maybe there should be some sort of training in place (there already is by the way), maybe it could be improved... Does the fact that registration as a sex worker prohibits immigration to the U.S. make women more likely to work illegally, and therefore discourage legal work in bars, regular health checks, and encourage riskier practices? The list goes on...
This project is about recommending sound decisions to local policy makers. It is about providing a point for comparison for all the really screwed up stuff that goes on with the sex industry in the U.S. (primarily the effect of criminalization, the lack of substance abuse programs, etc.) It is about presenting though provoking papers to national conferences (I attend 2-3 annually) where health workers and government officials (National Institute of Health, CDC, etc.) come to listen to what's new in the field and get ideas about what to do next.
I would think (hope?) that would be a benefit to customers (consumers)... It might make them feel better about the products/services they are buying. It could be seen as a quality control issue. It could be likened to human/environmental/labor struggles, which benefit some and affect the bottom line for others. These are the kinds of issues you all would have to help me with. There isn't a lot of research on customer's needs/hopes/etc. There is some on the impact of criminalization in the U.S., but mostly on the providers themselves. If you truly value what you do, then I really can't see a reason why you wouldn’t want your own stance to be represented in my work.
I’m going to the Yucatan for a week for a conference in a 6 star hotel. (sigh) The things you have to put up with in my line of work…. If I don’t respond, its because I’m playing.
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