Feminist Research: Beyond ‘add woman and stir’ Methodology

Abstract

Feminist researchers generally resist the notion that there are essentials of feminist research methodology. Nevertheless there are significant beliefs that form foundations of their practice, theoretical frameworks and methodological stances. It also identifies how doing research on gender issues from a feminist perspective delves into sensitive areas of identity, sexuality etc., which are traditionally ignored as private, non-academic and most importantly treated as ‘non-issue’. It must be noted here that it is not necessary that all research done in gender-studies are done from a feminist perspective. If we retrospect why such a stance is taken by the mainstream researchers, we will trace two possible reasons- first it helps in masking the male hegemony which is the root of inequality of all forms and secondly it largely contradicts common-sense beliefs about essential gender-differences. To balance this persisting inequality, a strong methodology must be practiced which would involve assertive questioning, redefinition of issues and most importantly vigilant monitoring of what questions are to be framed, how questions are to be asked and how research results are to be used and what implications are to be derived from the data gathered. A different framing unlike the practicing mainstream pattern is used by feminist researchers to focus on ‘woman’s ways’ of valuing, knowing, making meaning, living, working, drawing conclusions etc., Main intention behind this is two- bringing into focus those who were left out of researching and theorizing and secondly generating new theories of identity, health, sexuality and many more. Feminist researchers perceive gender in an ever-expanding series of topics ranging from issues related to health, education to relationship and many more which are particularly important for feminist project. Depending on whether the theoretical roots of research come from liberal feminism or radical or critical feminism or post-modernfeminism, each of these feminist stances opt for a different methodological approach. Just as liberal feminists focus on unequal opportunity, radical thinkers prefer to focus on power and patriarchy as the root of hegemony. However a note of caution to us that any discussion of women as a group would be prone to essentialist criticism, but still a large majority of feminist thinkers are dead against of doing away totally with the concept of ‘woman’ who they believe, live in most societies in uneven and oppressed conditions. In fact today researchers have gone beyond just ‘add woman and stir’ strategy and enriched their research with strong epistemological, ontological and methodological footing.