What of Gender Equality?

Abstract

Abstract The lack of attention to gender and intersectionality is still a major problem in all forms of research, sometimes within feminist-oriented projects. Participatory researchers can inadvertently reinforce gender-neutral approaches by failing to explicitly state what feminist and gender diversity principles guide their research, resulting in superficial outcomes only. Chapter 6 focuses on feminist Participatory Action Research (PAR) and gender diversity considerations to highlight the central importance of gender equality to participatory research models. The author explores the meaning of feminist research and highlights tensions in contemporary discussions of transfeminism. She discusses the potential of feminist PAR and participatory research in gender diversity studies to explore unique experiences through a gender analysis. The chapter vignette is about gatekeeping, based on the author’s experiences in participatory research projects with women co-researchers. She explains how white feminists and male community leaders act as gatekeepers, and shares thoughts on how researchers might respond to gatekeeping issues.