Utilizing Mansplaining as Data: Leveraging Gender and Outsider Positionalities in International Third Sector Research Fieldwork

• Published in: Voluntas (Manchester, England) Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 108 - 114
• Main Author: Flanigan, Shawn Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Access; Country of origin; Cultural differences; Data collection; Females; Field study; Fieldwork; Gender; Human subjects; International; Non-binary gender; Nonprofit organizations; Objectivity; Political Science; Research methodology; Research Papers; Researchers; Social Policy; Social Sciences; Field work; Gender; Research methodology; Positionality; International research
• ISSN: 0957-8765; 1573-7888
• DOI: 10.1007/s11266-021-00393-z

This article examines ways of leveraging gender and outsider positionalities in a manner that benefits the research process in international third sector field research. International research is conducted by individuals collecting data outside their country of origin or long-term residence. In the article I reflect on the role of researcher outsider status as it intersects with gender, and how these positionalities can be used to positively influence data collection in the field. I argue that aspects of female outsider status often experienced as negative also can offer unexpected benefits to research fieldwork, such as access as an outsider to conflict-affected communities, additional assistance to the “vulnerable” female, extra explanation to the “naïve” female researcher, and access facilitated by third gender or honorary male status assigned to female outsiders.