Painting Pictures of Ourselves: Researcher Subjectivity in the Practice of Feminist Reflexivity

Abstract

In this article, I argue that researchers need to carefully distinguish the concepts of subjectivity and positionality in feminist reflexive practice, as an explicit focus on researcher subjectivity has the potential to provide additional insights into the research process that go beyond a focus on relational positionality. Drawing on examples from my own research, I argue that examining one's subjectivity as a researcher opens up a consideration of emotional reactions to research; lets us reconsider the importance of feelings of (dis)affiliation and (dis)comfort in the research process; and helps us to recognize that the dreams and desires of researchers about themselves and their research participants can play an important role in the research process. Moreover, researcher subjectivity attunes us to ways in which our subjectivities shift through the research process and are intimately connected to and mediated by the process of research and our interactions with our research participants.