Silence, Shame, and Disrupting Heteronormative Ethics in Sexualities Research: Autoethnographic Reflections of a Queer Researcher

ABSTRACT

This autoethnography is a layered and strange account that explores the “tacit norm of silence” around sexual dynamics between researchers and participants in the field. Such situations go against the dichotomous ethical standards within sociology about the relationship between researchers and participants, which resulted in feelings of shame, guilt, and anxiety both professionally and within the author’s personal life. These standards of ethics, and the resulting feelings when boundaries are crossed, serve as a disciplinary mechanism that promotes epistemic injustice regarding how queer scholars produce and disseminate knowledge within the academy. However, in confronting these feelings and challenging the stigma and silence around this topic, the author seeks to disrupt the normative ethical standards of research that marginalize queer researchers and maintain this heteronormative bias and the resulting epistemic injustice. Lastly, by remaining complicit toward this tacit norm of silence, sociologists do a disservice to students and future researchers by not preparing them to confront similar dilemmas and feelings while conducting research.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Carol Rambo for her continued support and mentorship, both professionally and personally. Thank you for believing in my ideas and voice, pushing me to dig deep, and encouraging me to share my vulnerability. Thank you to the reviewers and the editors for providing feedback that made this article stronger.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ This idea of respectability is not necessarily mine. While I was consistently propositioned and put in ethically challenging situations, I never considered the men to be disrespectful or their behavior harassing.

² Acronym for “What the fuck”

³ All names have been changed to protect peoples’ anonymity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jacob W. Richardson

Jacob W. Richardson received his Master’s in Sociology from the University of Memphis. He is currently working on his PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are sexualities, social theory, deviance, education, and qualitative methods.