ON BEING "STUDIED BY AN ANTHROPOLOGIST"

First of all, thanks for emailing to check with me about using my blog for your project. I appreciate that it would have been possible just to use it without checking as it’s a public document, but you have taken the time to be ethical about it!

Your work sounds intriguing. There is definitely a lot to be explored with regards to the ways in which sex and gender diverse populations negotiate “community” (both online community and through online expression). As an academic myself, I’m interested to hear more about the methodology, ethics and requirements of your project. I’m not very familiar with anthropology, so I would appreciate being pointed in the direction of some articles (or other works) that use a similar methodology to your own, so I can see what kind of data you might draw from my blog and how it might be presented. I ask this because my initial reaction to your email was one of discomfort, and I was inclined to reject your request and make my entire blog private! The feeling of being “studied by a anthropologist” is odd, partly because there is such a long history of sex and gender diverse populations being othered and objectified by academics of all stripes. I feel my concerns might be alleviated if you could share more of your project’s methodological and ethical grounding – and perhaps a (short!) bibliography of what you’ve read on ethical research with trans people?

Pending further discussion with you, I’m fine with you using my blog for your project. It is also quite a good reminder of what it’s like to be on the “other” side of the research equation, as I’m less than a week off submitting my own PhD research with trans people!

I look forward to hearing from you.