FEMINIST PRAXIS Research, Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology Edited by Liz Stanley ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: FEMINIST THEORY ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: FEMINIST THEORY FEMINIST PRAXIS FEMINIST PRAXIS Research, Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology Edited by LIZ STANLEY Volume 13 Routledge Taylor &. Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published in 1990 This edition first published in 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1990 Liz Stanley All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-415-53401-7 (Set) eISBN: 978-0-203-08796-1 (Set) ISBN: 978-0-415-63513-4 (Volume 13) eISBN: 978-0-203-09402-0 (Volume 13) Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. Feminist Praxis Feminist social scientists often find that carrying feminism into practice in their research is neither easy nor straightforward. Designed precisely with feminist researchers in mind, Feminist Praxis gives detailed analytic accounts of particular examples of feminist research, showing how feminist epistemology can translate into concrete feminist research practices. The contributors, all experts in their field, give practical examples of feminist research processes, covering colonialism, child-minding, gay men, feminist social work, cancer, working with young girls using drama, Marilyn Monroe, statistics – even the writing and reading of research accounts. These detailed accounts are located in relation to the position of feminism and of women generally in the academic world, and looked at in the light of discussions, debates, and controversies about feminist methodology across several disciplines. Feminist Praxis is unique in combining theoretical discussion of feminist methodology with detailed accounts of practical research processes. This blend of the practical and the theoretical will make it an invaluable text for feminists carrying out research at all levels, and it will also appeal to those interested in the relationship between theory, method, and feminist epistemology. Feminist Praxis Research, Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology Edited by Liz Stanley London and New York First published 1990 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1990 Liz Stanley Typeset by LaserScript Limited, Mitcham, Surrey Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC, Chatham, Kent All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Feminist praxis: research, theory and epistemology in feminist sociology 1. Feminism I. Stanley, Liz, 1947- 305.4'2 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Feminist praxis: research, theory, and epistemology in feminist sociology / (ed.), Liz Stanley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Women's studies–Methodology. 2. Feminist–Research–Methodology. I. Stanley, Liz, 1947– HQ1180.F46 1990 305.42'072–dc20 89–24200 CIP ISBN 0-415-04186-4 ISBN 0-415-04202-X (pbk) What is a literary critic, a black woman critic, a black feminist literary critic? The adjectives mount up, defining, qualifying, the activity. How does one distinguish them? The need to articulate a theory, to categorize the activities is a good part of the activity itself to the point where I wonder how we ever get around to doing anything else. What do these categories tell anyone about my method? ... I'm irked, weighed down by Foucault's library as tiers of books written on epistemology, ontology and technique peer down at me. Can one theorize effectively about an evolving process? Are the labels informative or primarily a way of nipping the question in the bud? What are the philosophical assumptions behind my praxis? I think how the articulation of a theory is a gathering place, sometimes a point of rest as the process rushes on, insisting that you follow .... 'But I do have fun doing this,'... though, humbled again by the terror of the blank page in front of me, it's a mystery to me why. Barbara Christian (1985) Black Feminist Criticism, New York: Pergamon, pp. x, xi and xv. Contents Brief biographies ix Acknowledgements xiii Part one Feminism and the Academic Mode 1 Feminist praxis and the academic mode of production: an editorial introduction Liz Stanley 3 2 Method, methodology and epistemology in feminist research processes Liz Stanley and Sue Wise 20 Part two Feminist Research Processes 3 Introduction 63 Section A Beginning and Finishing Research 4 The feminist research process – defining a topic Jane Haggis 67 5 The history of a 'failed' research topic: the case of the childminders Fiona Poland 80 Section B Demolishing the 'Quantitative v. Qualitative' Divide 6 'Seeking Susan': producing statistical information on young people's leisure Denise Farran 91 7 My statistics and feminism – a true story Anne Pugh 103 8 'A referral was made': behind the scenes during the creation of a Social Services Department 'elderly' statistic Liz Stanley 113 vii Contents Section C Recognising the Role of Auto/Biography 9 On the conflicts of doing feminist research into masculinity Joyce Layland 125 10 From butch god to teddy bear? Some thoughts on my relationship with Elvis Presley Sue Wise 134 11 The professional and the personal: a study of women quantity surveyors Clara Greed 145 Section D Analytically Using Experience 12 Breaking the rules: assessing the assessment of a girls' project Fiona Poland 159 13 The mastectomy experience Ann Tait 172 14 At the Palace: researching gender and ethnicity in a Chinese restaurant Chung Yuen Kay 189 15 Counter-arguments: an ethnographic look at 'Women and Class' Sue Webb 205 16 Using drama to get at gender Vivienne Griffiths 221 17 Becoming a feminist social worker Sue Wise 236 Section E Analysing Written and Visual Texts 18 Reading feminism in fieldnotes Anne Williams 253 19 Analysing a photograph of Marilyn Monroe Denise Farran 262 Name index 274 Subject index 280 viii Brief biographies Chung Yuen Kay is a Malaysian Chinese who lives in Singapore with her spouse. She has just finished her Ph.D. thesis, an ethnography of women workers in a high-technology factory in Singapore; and now considers herself to be 'freelancing'. She is an interpretive/phenomeno- logical sociologist who seeks always to understand how women them­ selves understand and handle domination/power in everyday lives and everyday ways. She is also interested in the development of feminist ethnography, women and work (all kinds of it), and the interaction of gender and ethnicity. Denise Farran's first degree was in sociology at the University of Manchester, where she also completed an M.A. thesis dealing with bio­ graphies of Ruth Ellis and Marilyn Monroe. She is currently lecturing at Brunei University, and completing a Ph.D. thesis at Manchester on Ruth Ellis and other women murderers. Her research interests include textual analysis of research documents such as fieldwork notes, interview scripts and questionnaires. She lives in the countryside near Maccles­ field. Her first baby, Adam, was born in summer 1989. Clara Greed is a senior lecturer in the Department of Surveying at Bristol Polytechnic. She originally studied town planning in the late 1960s when there were relatively few women in the land-use profes­ sions. She was then employed in town planning in local government. She now teaches town planning, and more recently the social aspects of planning and development to surveying students. As a result of all these experiences she has sought to make sense of her life and discovered, in her thirties, that a feminist perspective contributes a great deal towards that objective. She continues to apply this new awareness to urban spatial issues, and is currendy completing her doctorate on the position of women in surveying education and practice, and writing a book on the topic. ix Feminist Praxis Vivienne Griffiths teaches in the Education Area at the University of Sussex, where she is co-ordinator for drama and educational issues on the teacher training course. Before this, she taught English and Drama in schools, and worked as an actor/teacher in drama-in-education groups. She is interested in feminist research methods and is currently completing some research on adolescent girls and their friends. She is also helping to evaluate an experiment in single-sex setting in Maths at a local comprehensive school, and is hoping to set up an action research project on gender in primary schools. Jane Haggis. After some years travelling and working at a variety of jobs, Jane Haggis obtained a B.A. Honours degree from Adelaide Uni­ versity in Australia. She came to Britain in 1984 to take up doctoral studies.