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| A Man And The Secret World Of Women: The Limits Of His Knowledge |
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| Living - Society | |||
| TS-Si News Service | |||
| Sunday, 29 June 2008 18:00 | |||
Columbia, MO, USA. Virtually anything can be the topic of scientific study, but a male researcher finds that men doing field research on women are limited to certain subjects. So says Robert M. Baum, a professor of religious studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU), who has dealt with this challenging situation in the field for over 30 years.
Most societies restrict the rights of women. One available stragem is to find a compelling rationale that secures female privacy away from male interference. Women's spaces that focus on a woman's reproductive cycle and fertility often enjoy male protection since men perceive such things as in their self-interest, promoting male potency. Women, in turn, can use the women's space for issues private to them that go beyond fertility rites and do so out of view from men.
From a Boy Not Seeking a Wife to a Man Discussing Prophetic Women: A Male Fieldworker Among Diola Women in Senegal 1974–2005. Robert M. Baum. Men and Masculinities 2008. doi: 10.1177 / 1097184X08315093.
"The question of whether men can conduct field research on women ultimately will be determined by the quality and type of the data that they gather," says Baum. "The subject matter of the field research will profoundly shape the possibilities of success.
 His conclusions about male researchers studying female subjects are based on his extensive observations of the Diola (pronounced joe-la) people. The modern Diola are primarily rice farmers. Baum has been traveling to southwestern Senegal on the African continent and conducting field research among the Diola communities, approximately 600,000 people, for more than 30 years.
Initially, Baum's work focused on pre-colonial Diola religious history during the era of the Atlantic slave trade, a period when there were male prophets.
Later in his research, Baum studied the work and influence of Diola female prophets who began appearing after the French and Portuguese conquest of Diola lands in the late 1800s.
As he spent time in the Diola culture and grew older, Baum increasingly was given access to male religious elders and their shrines. Despite his improving social status, he found it was more difficult to study the rites and sacred places of women.
"My participation in the initiation of a new rain priest in January 1975, and my decision to perform a sacred dance with other men in the community, marked a decisive turning point in my fieldwork," Baum said. "This did not, however, provide a similar opening at the various women's shrines."
Baum said the most difficult topic to interview the women about was the primary women's fertility shrine, Ehugna, which was only accessible to women who had given birth. The most powerful female religious leader refused to be interviewed about anything related to her shrine.
"She told me that the day I give birth to a child, I should come to her and she would explain everything about Ehugna," Baum said. "That night, I dreamed I was pregnant. I told her about the dream; she laughed and said it was not good enough." Baum was able to collect information for his study of the Diola through a gradually widening network of women.
This information was restricted, however, because they taught him only what was permissible for men to know.
"There are limits to this knowledge," Baum said. "I could not attend the women's fertility shrine, which is the focal point of women's ritual lives. If I had gone to the maternity house, which is where young women receive their final instruction on what it means to be a woman in Diola society, I would have been ostracized from the men's shrines and societies. Many Diola consider men visiting the maternity house a serious violation that could result in death."
When granted the rare interview with a Diola prophetess, Baum was not permitted to take notes or use a recording device, but he had to rely on memory to recall the often hours-long sessions. The prophetess would speak freely of rain shrines and community oriented teachings, but was not willing to comment on her sacred work associated with Ehugna — no men allowed.
 The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 29 June 2008 11:49 |
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The TS-Si News Service
and the TS-Si Research Service are collaborations of TS-Si officials, staff, contributors, and corresponding institutions. The contents do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si or its owners, participants, partners, or affiliates.