Eroticization of the body, reflexivity, and qualitative methodology in criminology: An Omerta

Abstract

This article reflects upon the notion of reflexivity in qualitative methodology, both generally, and specifically within the field of criminology. This reflection stems from the completion of my pre-field research in Costa Rica, which I undertook during the realization of my doctoral thesis regarding the sexuality of solo female travelers. Based on a sexual assault I experienced during this pre-field research, I critically discuss the notion of reflexivity in cases where the security of researchers is undermined by the relations of power that exist between gatekeepers and participants as a result of gender identity and the eroticization of the body. This article specifically questions the space assigned to researchers and their bodies in the reflexive process that occurs during fieldwork.We were allowed to play with their words, their ideas, their culture as long as we pretended we were men. As soon as our cunts bobbed into the light of day, they stiffened, their lips tautened, they seemed to draw themselves into themselves; they cut us down. It was better not to try. One part of ourselves mocked another. We joined in their ridicule of our own aspirations. Either you played their game or you didn't play at all.

Lessons from insiders: Embracing subjectivity as objectivity in victimology

“…Victimologists would benefit from embracing all components of subjectivity including emotions and embodied selves, which can be valuable sites of reflection and sources of knowledge throughout the research process as evidenced by autoethnographic victimological research (Brison, 2002;Campbell, 2002;Jewkes, 2012;Kanuha, 2000;Mahmood, 2008;Montmagny Grenier, 2021). For instance, failing to account for ways researchers' bodies are subjectively gendered, sexualized, and sites of power dynamics can be physically dangerous during fieldwork and hinder critical reflections on fieldwork itself (Montmagny Grenier, 2021). Spencer (2015) notes victimology's treatment of bodies as untrustworthy sites of knowledge despite the 'primacy of bodies to victimization ' (p. 32).…”

“… Winkler (1991) redefines rape as social murder whereas Hayes and Jeffries (2016) reframe domestic violence tactics as romantic terrorism. Brison (2002) presents philosophical implications of sexual assault, whereas Montmagny Grenier (2021) identifies key limits to reflexivity when researchers are assaulted by key informants and negate how their bodies are eroticized.…”

“…Some victimologists can be victimized and acquire insider status over their lifetimes. Indeed some researchers have experienced direct victimization during the course of their graduate studies or fieldwork ( Coles et al, 2014 ; Gilliam and Swanson, 2020 ; Mahmood, 2008 ; Montmagny Grenier, 2021 ; Stanko, 1992 ). At their participants’ urging, one Muslim and one non-Muslim researcher donned visibly Muslim clothing for 1 month to expose themselves to Islamophobic victimization, showing it is possible to become insiders ( Zempi, 2017 ; Zempi and Awan, 2017 ).…”

“Oops, I didn’t know we couldn’t talk about sex”: Sex researchers talking back to the erotophobic academy using the researcher’s erotic subjectivitiesGuest editorial themed section ‘the researcher’s erotic subjectivities’

“…In recent years, there has been a proliferation of work that takes into account the erotic subjectivities of the researcher from a variety of disciplines, such as anthropology (see e.g., De Graeve, 2019; Ryan-Flood and Gill, 2010), criminology (Montmagny Grenier, 2021), geography (see e.g., Blidon, 2012; Brown, 2008; Catungal, 2017; Feliciantonio et al, 2017; Miles, 2020), law (see e.g., Brooks, 2018, 2019), psychology (Huysamen, 2018; Joyes and Jordan, 2022), and sociology (Hanson and Richards, 2019; Lauder, 2022; Rooke, 2010; Schneider et al, 2021). This body of work is not new and follows earlier calls from researchers in anthropology (Duncan, 1996; Kulick and Willson, 1995; Newton, 1993; Wekker, 2006) and geography (Bell, 1995, 2007; Bell and Valentine, 1995; Binnie, 1997; Cupples, 2002) that questioned the omission of the researcher’s desires in our research outputs.…”

“…And even if we were to diminish or deny the impact of our sexualities on our research, we will still be sexually positioned by those we research (Cupples, 2002; Newton, 1993; Valentine, 2002). In a poignant reflection on sexual assault during field work on sexual encounters between female tourists and local men in the Caribbean, Montmagny Grenier (2021) shows how it was actually the negation of her sexuality and the illusion of being able to work as a professional and “thus” asexual researcher that made her and other sex researchers not envisage being eroticized or sexualized during fieldwork by people other than the participants.…”