I thought the article was exceedingly interesting (probably for ethnocentric, Western-cultural-indoctrination reasons). But I have a lot of questions!
The greater notion of “reflexivity” that imbued the article was challenging. How do we go about “mak[ing] a problem out of what was once unproblematic” without winding up our own personal life into a psychological tangle? Can we make reflexivity simply an academic mindset? Do we want to? When adding the self into this already troubling equation, how can we be sure to think appropriately and not wind up reflecting ourselves through others? As young people with developing brains and personas, are we more apt to produce ego-centric or otherwise problematic ethnographic works?
Other than sex, what other “social construct[s] with a past” invade our thinking and skew our abilities as an anthropologist? How much of this is motivated by what is considered “fetchingly risqué” at the time?
Hmm....
All interesting questions, Alexis, I hope we can discuss them tomorrow, in class!
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