Ask My Wife: A Feminist Interpretation of Fieldwork where the Women are Strong but the Men are Tough

Authors

  • Jo-Anne Fiske Mount Saint Vincent University

Abstract

This paper explores the question of gender relations within the discipline of anthropology as they impact upon feminist fieldwork strategies. It calls for a critical reexamination of our taken-for-granted assumptions about gender in order that we might better understand the issue of gender in societies not demarcated by a strong bias towards male actions and cultural interpretation. By examining my own field experiences with the Carrier people, I provide one example of a fieldwork situation where being a female is advantageous. I also bring attention to the need for a feminist critique of the male fieldwork experience as we struggle to better define, and overcome, the underlying causes of "gender blind" ethnographic work previously conducted by our male colleagues.

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Published

1986-04-01

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (1986)

Section

Original Research

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