jawnbc | lovin' in da 'loo (rather than rhogan josh) (Reply)

querrelle sent me a link for an op-ed in the NY Times about Senator Craig. The piece focuses on the the ethnographic research of Laud Humphreys, whose PhD dissertation "Tearoom Trade..." remains a seminal work in sociology--for good and bad reasons. I use his work in my research methods courses, largely to illustrate how social researchers can wholly exploit others--often dangerously. Even when the findings themselves can, paradoxically, challenge injustice.

Simply put, Humphreys researched men crusing for sex in public washrooms in the US midwest. He wanted to know how this sexual sub-culture operated, who participated, and why. Taking the role of lookout/voyeur, he logged hours of sexual encounters. Toe tapping, peaking, toe touching and hand gestures--all of which ostensibly occurred between Craig and the arresting officer. Humphreys was unequivocal in his belief that these systems of negotiation were obscure enough that no one could accidently be hit on by cruisers, all of whom had a vested interest in avoiding such mistakes. Like arrest, loss of career and family, becoming a social pariah.

But what Humphreys did next was, to be blunt, fooked. He wrote down license plates, went to the DMV and got addresses, and then showed up at these men's homes--ostensibly to do a general public interest survey. Once he sat the men down he explained why he was really there and asked them to "consent" to participate in his study. Can you imagine how frightening that would be for any guy having sex with other guys in the 1960s--gay, str8, confused, conflicted? Many did..though the extent to which they did so out of fear of blackmail is unknown. When Humphreys' work saw the light of day it caused a firestorm of controversy--more for the method than the findings (though these two were--and are still--landmark in the sociology of sex). In fact, Washington University (St Louis) closed its sociology department down as a result--and hasn't ever re-opened it.

Humphreys was married--in fact, he had been in (Episcopal) seminary before doing his doctoral work. He and his wife were known for hiring "homosexuals" to babysit their children, in order to challenge the fallacy of gay=paedophile. It wasn't until the 1980s that Humphreys himself came out as gay--though he never publicly acknowledged whether or not he too engaged in sex during his fieldwork.

Apropos of all this I had an interview scheduled for my current research this morning. For which I arrived a bit early...only to realize I left my goddamnedsonofabitchbastard bag at home. Since doing social research interviews without a tape recorder, consent forms and a list of bloody questions is ill-advised, we had a coffee and rescheduled for Thursday. D'oh!