On sex in fieldwork: Notes on the methodology involved in the ethnographic study of anonymous sex

Abstract

This article addresses the use of sexual relations with research informants in fieldwork for the purpose of gathering information. The analysis is based on the research that the author himself carried out between 2009 and 2014 on anonymous sexual encounters between men in public places in Catalonia. The article aims to demonstrate that sexual interaction with informants – notwithstanding appeals to scientific objectivity and professional ethics – can be a useful tool for gaining a better understanding of social reality. This study on anonymous sex shows that participating in sexual activity can provide the researcher with a great deal of information which would not be accessible via other relationships with research informants. However, the article also addresses certain limitations – which cannot be ignored – in fieldwork of this sort and in the interpretation of the data obtained.

Examining Neural Correlates of Sexual Preferences between Persian Homo- and Heterosexual Males Using Psychological Assessments and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Specifying Cognitive Map: A Limited and Cross-sectional Study

“…[77][78][79] Following the MMPI and talking with homosexual and heterosexual participants, it manifested their childhood experiments have indirectly influenced behavior and personality traits as having a homosexual or bisexual orientation in adulthood. [80][81][82] Being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual is not something that a person can indisputably choose or choose to change because some other ecological backgrounds such as ethnic, biological, genetic, social, and economic factors can determine sexual orientation as a part of someone's nature. [83][84][85][86][87] Moreover, Herek et al have reported that most respondents experienced little or no choice about their sexual orientation.…”

Cuerpos, espacios y emociones en una investigación feminista: trabajo sexual en la zona transfronteriza

“…Las personas que interaccionan y comunican en el marco de una investigación, lo hacen en calidad de agentes encarnadas, corporizadas en contextos concretos, localizados y parciales (Esteban, 2009;Langarita, 2019). A partir de las experiencias reflexivas entre las personas que investigan, y especialmente las mujeres que ejercen trabajo sexual, así como otras personas informantes, intentaremos conectar lo material con lo discursivo (Feely, 2019), es decir, cómo los cuerpos y sus afectos-emociones constituyen parte de los discursos sociales y viceversa.…”

Here, there, everywhere: The relational geographies of chemsex

“…This leads to the third contribution of the paper; that is, bringing back sex itself into the core of the analysis within geographies of sexualities, notably one of the practices that has created most controversial public debates in recent years in many countries around the globe. Geographies of sexualities have increasingly become a legitimate field of studies, but despite its popularity, the engagement with sexual practices has remained limited (Bell, 2007; Binnie, 1997; Brown et al, 2011; Brown & Di Feliciantonio, 2022; for some exceptions see Bain & Nash, 2006; Bonner‐Thompson, 2017, 2021; Brown, 2008a; Di Feliciantonio, 2019; Gurney, 2000; Langarita, 2019; Misgav & Johnston, 2014; Sanders‐McDonagh, 2017), its main focus being on identities (Binnie & Valentine, 1999; Brown, 2012; Browne et al, 2007; Johnston, 2016). Conceptualising spaces and subjectivities as always emerging and provisional (Jones, 2009), the relational understanding of place adopted in the paper allows us to explore what bodies can do in the ‘messiness’ of sexual desire (Brown, 2008a; Lim, 2007), reaffirming the spatial character of sexual practices as they are ‘assembled through a myriad of materials (human and non‐human, organic and inorganic) and expressive forces (moods, emotions, intensities and affects)’ (Bonner‐Thompson, 2021, p. 452).…”