Chapter 7 Critical Feminist/Queer Methodologies: Deconstructing (Hetero)Normative Inscriptions

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the chapter is to introduce queer feminist cultural studies methodologies. For illustrative purposes, the chapter draws upon one specific study of locker room space undertaken by the author.

Design/methodology/approach – The design of the locker room study is delineated, including methods of data collection and analysis: self-reflective narratives, interviews, text and discourse analysis. Issues of contextualisation and insight into the use of queer feminist cultural studies methodologies to study normative geographies are foregrounded.

Findings – Findings acknowledge the systems of knowledge production that cohere around gendered and (hetero)sexed normative and non-normative bodies in locker room spaces.

Research implications – There is no quintessential queer methodology, which is a drawback to researchers trying to forge their way in this area. Instead, all interrogations and interpretations start from a critique of the (hetero)normative discourses and practices of gender and sexuality that take place at the expense of non-normative experiences.

Originality – The chapter provides an overview of queer feminist cultural studies theories and methodologies, for those unfamiliar with this post-positivist and counter-hegemonic approach. The author suggests that queer feminist cultural studies methodologies provoke us to ask the following questions: What new thoughts does my work make possible to think? What new emotions does my work make possible to feel? What new sensations and perceptions does it open up for diverse subjectivities? Such questions take researchers in new and exciting directions.

Citation

Fusco, C. (2012), "Chapter 7 Critical Feminist/Queer Methodologies: Deconstructing (Hetero)Normative Inscriptions", Young, K. and Atkinson, M. (Ed.) Qualitative Research on Sport and Physical Culture (Research in the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1476-2854(2012)0000006010