Gendered power relations in women-to-men interviews on controversial sexual behavior

• Published in: International journal of social research methodology Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 277 - 291
• Main Authors: Prior, Ayelet, Peled, Einat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 04.05.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Antisocial Behavior; defended subjects; defensive interactions; Feminism; feminist methodology; Feminist theory; Foreign Countries; Gender; Gender Bias; Gender Issues; gendered power relations; Heuristic; Identity management; Interviews; Intimacy; Poststructuralism; Power; Power Structure; Qualitative interview; Self Concept; Sexual behavior; Sexuality; Social Bias; Stigma; Threats; Israel
• ISSN: 1364-5579; 1464-5300
• DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2021.1882193

This article explores gendered power relations in studies of stigmatized sexual behavior, through a poststructuralist feminist theoretical perspective. Interviews conducted by a female interviewer with twenty men who pay for sex were analyzed using the interpretive constructivist method. We applied the concept defended subjects to suggest that the subjects - both interviewer and interviewees - defended themselves against three major threats that characterized the gendered power relations in the interviews: the threat of forced intimacy, the threat of deviancy, and the threat of objectification. We then propose a new heuristic concept - defensive interactions - to discuss these interview dynamics as they relate to three key aspects of gendered power relations in qualitative interviews: the establishment of intimacy, identity management, and objectification.