WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.129 --> 00:00:13.488 - So hi Abbie, thank you so much for 2 00:00:13.488 --> 00:00:15.053 coming to Smith, I'm really excited 3 00:00:15.053 --> 00:00:16.734 to hear your lecture tonight, 4 00:00:16.734 --> 00:00:19.123 and to have this opportunity to talk with you now. 5 00:00:19.123 --> 00:00:20.010 - Thank you. 6 00:00:20.010 --> 00:00:22.036 - And I know your body of research really well, 7 00:00:22.036 --> 00:00:24.751 but I'm wondering if you could tell everyone who 8 00:00:24.751 --> 00:00:26.766 will be watching this interview a little bit about 9 00:00:26.766 --> 00:00:28.636 your area of research and your interests, 10 00:00:28.636 --> 00:00:31.216 and maybe even some of your major findings. 11 00:00:31.216 --> 00:00:35.160 - So, generally speaking my research focuses on 12 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:37.782 understudied families and the way that 13 00:00:37.782 --> 00:00:40.773 I've kind of conceptualized my body of 14 00:00:40.773 --> 00:00:42.645 work is really looking at families that 15 00:00:42.645 --> 00:00:45.736 have been either invisible or 16 00:00:45.736 --> 00:00:49.764 under served, so I've done work on invisible, 17 00:00:49.764 --> 00:00:52.386 sexual minority women, mainly bisexual women, 18 00:00:52.386 --> 00:00:53.464 partnered with men. 19 00:00:53.464 --> 00:00:55.011 I've done work now, recently, 20 00:00:55.011 --> 00:00:58.093 on gender nonconforming of gender-queer 21 00:00:58.093 --> 00:01:00.665 college students who tend to be 22 00:01:00.665 --> 00:01:02.677 either sort of subsumed under transgendered 23 00:01:02.677 --> 00:01:05.392 college students, or just ignored completely. 24 00:01:05.392 --> 00:01:06.890 And then I've done quite a bit of 25 00:01:06.890 --> 00:01:09.370 work on lesbian and gay parents, 26 00:01:09.370 --> 00:01:11.716 specifically adoptive parents, 27 00:01:11.716 --> 00:01:14.288 who up until ten years ago, which I'll talk about, 28 00:01:14.288 --> 00:01:17.798 were really not the focus of any research at all. 29 00:01:17.798 --> 00:01:20.653 So, I've been following that particular group, 30 00:01:20.653 --> 00:01:23.647 the adoptive parents, for over ten years, 31 00:01:23.647 --> 00:01:25.939 and in terms of major findings, 32 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:28.475 not surprising to me, we found that 33 00:01:28.475 --> 00:01:30.340 family structure is really not 34 00:01:30.340 --> 00:01:33.195 a key variable in determining family outcomes, 35 00:01:33.195 --> 00:01:35.955 so lesbian parents families, gay parent families, 36 00:01:35.955 --> 00:01:37.694 and heterosexual parents families have 37 00:01:37.694 --> 00:01:39.423 far more in common than 38 00:01:39.423 --> 00:01:42.183 they actually sort of look different, 39 00:01:42.183 --> 00:01:44.708 so rather, family process variable are 40 00:01:44.708 --> 00:01:46.444 more important in determining child and 41 00:01:46.444 --> 00:01:48.925 family outcomes, so things like level of 42 00:01:48.925 --> 00:01:53.085 education of the parents, parental depression, 43 00:01:53.085 --> 00:01:55.612 how old the child was at the age of adoption, 44 00:01:55.612 --> 00:01:56.875 that has a lot more implications for 45 00:01:56.875 --> 00:01:59.405 how families are doing than whether they're 46 00:01:59.405 --> 00:02:02.779 a gay parent family or lesbian parent family. 47 00:02:02.779 --> 00:02:04.552 - One of the things that I was really interested in 48 00:02:04.552 --> 00:02:06.564 as I was reading what you and 49 00:02:06.564 --> 00:02:08.811 other folks have written is that 50 00:02:08.811 --> 00:02:10.637 historically a lot of the research on 51 00:02:10.637 --> 00:02:14.242 LGBTQ families was, what I think you talked about 52 00:02:14.242 --> 00:02:16.021 as being defensive, in that, 53 00:02:16.021 --> 00:02:18.876 it was really aimed at sort of making that case, 54 00:02:18.876 --> 00:02:20.184 or it looked like it was aimed at 55 00:02:20.184 --> 00:02:22.525 making that case that children in 56 00:02:22.525 --> 00:02:25.899 LGBTQ families do as well or better than 57 00:02:25.899 --> 00:02:28.283 children in heterosexual families, 58 00:02:28.283 --> 00:02:30.809 and that now, the research all of 59 00:02:30.809 --> 00:02:33.338 a sudden is starting to move beyond that 60 00:02:33.338 --> 00:02:35.505 child-level outcome piece. 61 00:02:36.619 --> 00:02:39.254 And I'm wondering sort of about 62 00:02:39.254 --> 00:02:42.027 what you think about in terms of your own research 63 00:02:42.027 --> 00:02:43.408 with regard to social justice and 64 00:02:43.408 --> 00:02:44.995 the social justice mission and 65 00:02:44.995 --> 00:02:47.151 how that impacts your work. 66 00:02:47.151 --> 00:02:49.021 - Well the early work really was 67 00:02:49.021 --> 00:02:50.983 very important, I will say, in terms of 68 00:02:50.983 --> 00:02:53.373 just establishing that, sort of, 69 00:02:53.373 --> 00:02:54.915 the finding that I just talked about, 70 00:02:54.915 --> 00:02:57.120 that, in fact, family structure, 71 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:57.962 either whether your parents are 72 00:02:57.962 --> 00:03:00.251 lesbian or gay or heterosexual is 73 00:03:00.251 --> 00:03:02.403 not actually relevant to your ability to parent, 74 00:03:02.403 --> 00:03:03.860 so sexual orientation should not be 75 00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:06.902 considered a relevant indicator of parental ability. 76 00:03:06.902 --> 00:03:08.161 And we really needed those studies, 77 00:03:08.161 --> 00:03:11.248 because in the early 70s, there were 78 00:03:11.248 --> 00:03:12.748 lesbian identified women who were 79 00:03:12.748 --> 00:03:15.559 losing custody to their heterosexual ex-husbands, 80 00:03:15.559 --> 00:03:17.757 and so, a group of scholars knew that 81 00:03:17.757 --> 00:03:19.297 it was really importan start to do some 82 00:03:19.297 --> 00:03:22.441 preliminary research to try to establish that, 83 00:03:22.441 --> 00:03:26.608 in fact, being a lesbian mom does not necessarily, 84 00:03:27.683 --> 00:03:29.372 is not a bad thing, and it's not gonna 85 00:03:29.372 --> 00:03:32.925 have detrimental effects on a child. 86 00:03:32.925 --> 00:03:36.112 So, we were able to establish that, 87 00:03:36.112 --> 00:03:37.652 and now there's really room to kind of 88 00:03:37.652 --> 00:03:40.839 move on past that very basic question of 89 00:03:40.839 --> 00:03:43.784 "Does growing up in a lesbian parent family, 90 00:03:43.784 --> 00:03:46.362 you know, scar you for life?" 91 00:03:46.362 --> 00:03:47.909 We know that that's not true. 92 00:03:47.909 --> 00:03:50.409 So now we can ask more interesting questions. 93 00:03:50.409 --> 00:03:53.732 So in my work, of course it's social justice oriented, 94 00:03:53.732 --> 00:03:56.346 in terms of how I frame my questions. 95 00:03:56.346 --> 00:03:59.207 Obviously in terms of how I interpret my findings, 96 00:03:59.207 --> 00:04:01.778 so I would never say, I don't think most 97 00:04:01.778 --> 00:04:03.509 serious social scientists would ever say that 98 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:06.509 their work is "objective" in kind of 99 00:04:07.396 --> 00:04:08.984 the literal sense, that we're all 100 00:04:08.984 --> 00:04:11.126 bringing lens to our work. 101 00:04:11.126 --> 00:04:13.328 And so certainly, I approach my work with 102 00:04:13.328 --> 00:04:15.761 a particular set of interests, questions, 103 00:04:15.761 --> 00:04:17.928 assumptions, and so, yeah, 104 00:04:18.894 --> 00:04:19.972 I mean the questions that I ask, 105 00:04:19.972 --> 00:04:21.805 I don't ask, you know, 106 00:04:22.687 --> 00:04:24.092 "How are children in lesbian and 107 00:04:24.092 --> 00:04:25.633 gay parents families different than 108 00:04:25.633 --> 00:04:28.582 children in heterosexual parent families?" 109 00:04:28.582 --> 00:04:30.031 You know, I ask about, sort of 110 00:04:30.031 --> 00:04:32.508 something a little bit more broader and more nuanced, 111 00:04:32.508 --> 00:04:34.331 what are the unique strengths that 112 00:04:34.331 --> 00:04:36.772 these children show, for example. 113 00:04:36.772 --> 00:04:38.171 I don't ask, you know, 114 00:04:38.171 --> 00:04:39.577 "Are children of lesbian and gay parents 115 00:04:39.577 --> 00:04:41.635 more likely to be teased?" 116 00:04:41.635 --> 00:04:44.025 I sort of want to understand, you know, 117 00:04:44.025 --> 00:04:45.050 under what conditions are 118 00:04:45.050 --> 00:04:47.114 they more likely to experience teasing. 119 00:04:47.114 --> 00:04:48.560 And interpreting a finding like, 120 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:50.389 maybe they are more likely to be teased, 121 00:04:50.389 --> 00:04:52.262 I don't assume that that's, 122 00:04:52.262 --> 00:04:54.318 "Well, it's clearly bad for children to 123 00:04:54.318 --> 00:04:56.285 be raised in lesbian and gay parent families," 124 00:04:56.285 --> 00:04:58.157 I don't pin that problem on the parents, 125 00:04:58.157 --> 00:05:00.121 I pin the problem on society. 126 00:05:00.121 --> 00:05:01.436 So if we do find that children are 127 00:05:01.436 --> 00:05:02.792 more likely to be teased, 128 00:05:02.792 --> 00:05:05.270 that's a problem with homophobia, 129 00:05:05.270 --> 00:05:06.824 that's not a problem with parents. 130 00:05:06.824 --> 00:05:07.939 - So you're really thinking about 131 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:09.533 how those findings are going to be used, 132 00:05:09.533 --> 00:05:10.699 in media or in other settings. 133 00:05:10.699 --> 00:05:12.015 - Absolutely. 134 00:05:12.015 --> 00:05:13.838 And at the same time, if I find that 135 00:05:13.838 --> 00:05:15.241 children are more likely to be teased, 136 00:05:15.241 --> 00:05:17.299 that's a finding, so I may not like it, 137 00:05:17.299 --> 00:05:19.317 I mean, it may not be what I hope to find, 138 00:05:19.317 --> 00:05:20.390 but it is what it is, 139 00:05:20.390 --> 00:05:22.921 and so, it's up to me and the other people 140 00:05:22.921 --> 00:05:25.164 working with me to try to understand that, 141 00:05:25.164 --> 00:05:27.462 and put it in a context that can 142 00:05:27.462 --> 00:05:29.753 inform, you know, social policy, 143 00:05:29.753 --> 00:05:32.041 public policy, and so on. 144 00:05:32.041 --> 00:05:33.776 - So you were talking about, sort of, 145 00:05:33.776 --> 00:05:35.317 where the research has been, 146 00:05:35.317 --> 00:05:36.959 and sort of now where it's moving. 147 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:38.408 What do you think are the really new and 148 00:05:38.408 --> 00:05:42.151 exciting sort of frontiers of your family research? 149 00:05:42.151 --> 00:05:43.932 - Um, well we've gotten to the point where 150 00:05:43.932 --> 00:05:45.195 we think we're less afraid of 151 00:05:45.195 --> 00:05:49.080 asking some interesting and sometimes tough questions, 152 00:05:49.080 --> 00:05:51.762 I mean, for example, you know, 153 00:05:51.762 --> 00:05:53.682 it's important to look at the sort of 154 00:05:53.682 --> 00:05:55.090 aspects of family life that 155 00:05:55.090 --> 00:05:58.646 are not as maybe pleasant, intimate partner violence, 156 00:05:58.646 --> 00:06:00.800 for example, in lesbian or gay parent families, 157 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.985 how might that be experienced differently, 158 00:06:02.985 --> 00:06:05.234 are the supports and resources needed for 159 00:06:05.234 --> 00:06:08.182 parents in those situations adequate? 160 00:06:08.182 --> 00:06:11.179 Or are they largely heteronormative? 161 00:06:11.179 --> 00:06:13.336 What kinds of, what's the experience, 162 00:06:13.336 --> 00:06:16.747 for example, of transgender kids with 163 00:06:16.747 --> 00:06:19.369 lesbian or gay parents, right, that may be a small number, 164 00:06:19.369 --> 00:06:22.569 but that's certainly a unique sort of context to 165 00:06:22.569 --> 00:06:24.818 grow up as a transkid and likewise to 166 00:06:24.818 --> 00:06:27.673 be a lesbian or gay parent, parenting a transchild. 167 00:06:27.673 --> 00:06:29.173 So looking kind of within some of 168 00:06:29.173 --> 00:06:31.356 the more complicated, 169 00:06:31.356 --> 00:06:33.278 and sometimes difficult topics, I think, 170 00:06:33.278 --> 00:06:34.959 is really, really important. 171 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.792 Likewise, there's been really an assumption of 172 00:06:36.792 --> 00:06:39.967 monogamy in a lot of relationship research, 173 00:06:39.967 --> 00:06:42.635 and so looking at polyamorous parent family, 174 00:06:42.635 --> 00:06:44.742 you know, poly families, I think, 175 00:06:44.742 --> 00:06:45.730 is sort of an important area, 176 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:46.707 and there a few scholars who have 177 00:06:46.707 --> 00:06:48.675 done some work in that area. 178 00:06:48.675 --> 00:06:51.529 - And I've noticed that your work is sort of, 179 00:06:51.529 --> 00:06:52.978 moving also, you were talking about 180 00:06:52.978 --> 00:06:54.671 the study that, it sounds like, 181 00:06:54.671 --> 00:06:55.507 is already underway. 182 00:06:55.507 --> 00:06:56.340 - [Abbie] Mhmm. 183 00:06:56.340 --> 00:06:58.037 - About gender non-conforming college students. 184 00:06:58.037 --> 00:07:00.000 I'm curious what other projects you're, 185 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.549 sort of, have in the works at this point. 186 00:07:01.549 --> 00:07:03.277 - Yeah, that is an exciting study, 187 00:07:03.277 --> 00:07:05.715 because it really came out of work with students, 188 00:07:05.715 --> 00:07:07.539 so really, teaching and working with 189 00:07:07.539 --> 00:07:08.752 those research assistants, a lot of 190 00:07:08.752 --> 00:07:11.519 students who were trans or gender non-conforming, 191 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.415 and really talking to them made me realize 192 00:07:14.415 --> 00:07:16.527 the ways in which, even at Clark University, 193 00:07:16.527 --> 00:07:18.610 which is a very, I think, 194 00:07:19.463 --> 00:07:23.296 queer and trans sensitive school in many ways, 195 00:07:24.190 --> 00:07:25.261 there were still ways in which those 196 00:07:25.261 --> 00:07:26.622 students were not being, I think, 197 00:07:26.622 --> 00:07:28.402 adequately served, and so we started 198 00:07:28.402 --> 00:07:31.398 running focus groups and I have some 199 00:07:31.398 --> 00:07:33.220 more formal interview with students to 200 00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:34.951 kind of inform the development of the survey, 201 00:07:34.951 --> 00:07:36.730 which we're now launching. 202 00:07:36.730 --> 00:07:38.838 So that's one project, and then, 203 00:07:38.838 --> 00:07:40.759 another project is a study of 204 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:42.485 bisexual women partnered with men 205 00:07:42.485 --> 00:07:45.202 who are pregnant, and having a child, 206 00:07:45.202 --> 00:07:47.071 and so, that study really focuses on 207 00:07:47.071 --> 00:07:49.462 the ways in which those women's identities and 208 00:07:49.462 --> 00:07:51.939 sexualities are often invisibleized and 209 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.372 marginalized, most people when they go to 210 00:07:54.372 --> 00:07:58.537 their primary care doc or para natal healthcare provider, 211 00:07:58.537 --> 00:07:59.992 if they're with a male partner, 212 00:07:59.992 --> 00:08:01.632 a woman with a male partner who's pregnant, 213 00:08:01.632 --> 00:08:02.944 is assumed to be straight. 214 00:08:02.944 --> 00:08:04.251 So all the women in our study are 215 00:08:04.251 --> 00:08:05.939 women who've had sexual relationships with 216 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:07.577 women in the last five years, 217 00:08:07.577 --> 00:08:10.383 so these are recent and sometimes salient for them. 218 00:08:10.383 --> 00:08:12.580 But nobody's asking about them. 219 00:08:12.580 --> 00:08:14.311 So, as they become parents, 220 00:08:14.311 --> 00:08:15.202 we're interested in sort of, 221 00:08:15.202 --> 00:08:18.013 have their lives become more heteronormative, 222 00:08:18.013 --> 00:08:21.051 kind of more, it becomes maybe harder to 223 00:08:21.051 --> 00:08:24.521 disclose a bisexual or non-heterosexual identity, 224 00:08:24.521 --> 00:08:27.188 and looking kind of over time at 225 00:08:28.072 --> 00:08:30.570 how they might look different than 226 00:08:30.570 --> 00:08:33.566 their parents in terms of how they raise their children, 227 00:08:33.566 --> 00:08:35.388 their parenting values, and so on. 228 00:08:35.388 --> 00:08:36.221 - It sounds like some of that is 229 00:08:36.221 --> 00:08:37.452 looking at external systems too, 230 00:08:37.452 --> 00:08:38.435 like the healthcare system and 231 00:08:38.435 --> 00:08:40.354 how it responds and interacts with those women. 232 00:08:40.354 --> 00:08:42.181 - Yeah, I'm very interested in healthcare, 233 00:08:42.181 --> 00:08:44.018 school rules, the legal system, 234 00:08:44.018 --> 00:08:47.751 all of the big contexts that affect families' lives. 235 00:08:47.751 --> 00:08:50.387 Um, so, speaking of big context that 236 00:08:50.387 --> 00:08:52.915 affect family life, we're living in 237 00:08:52.915 --> 00:08:54.926 a time where the policy context for 238 00:08:54.926 --> 00:08:56.472 same sex families in particular is 239 00:08:56.472 --> 00:08:58.389 dramatically changing, and also where 240 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:01.340 there's been really discriminatory legislation that 241 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:04.673 affects trans and gender non-conforming, 242 00:09:05.929 --> 00:09:07.566 folks as well, or people who identify as 243 00:09:07.566 --> 00:09:09.014 trans or gender non-conforming. 244 00:09:09.014 --> 00:09:10.798 And I'm, curious what you think 245 00:09:10.798 --> 00:09:13.482 the next frontiers for policy and 246 00:09:13.482 --> 00:09:16.905 civil rights work in these areas are. 247 00:09:16.905 --> 00:09:18.262 - I mean, I think a huge one is 248 00:09:18.262 --> 00:09:21.531 employment non-discrimination, laws which seem to 249 00:09:21.531 --> 00:09:23.918 have a very hard time taking, 250 00:09:23.918 --> 00:09:25.935 really sort of moving forward. 251 00:09:25.935 --> 00:09:28.184 Obviously, that affects everybody, 252 00:09:28.184 --> 00:09:32.533 it affects LGBTQ employees, it affects their children, 253 00:09:32.533 --> 00:09:34.872 it affects their families, if people can't 254 00:09:34.872 --> 00:09:36.045 be certain that they're not going to 255 00:09:36.045 --> 00:09:38.714 lose their job because of gender, 256 00:09:38.714 --> 00:09:40.494 a gender transition for example, 257 00:09:40.494 --> 00:09:43.625 or their sexual orientation. 258 00:09:43.625 --> 00:09:45.638 So that's super important. 259 00:09:45.638 --> 00:09:47.798 I tend to be very interested in 260 00:09:47.798 --> 00:09:49.666 thinking about schools and children, 261 00:09:49.666 --> 00:09:51.959 and so, this is obviously, 262 00:09:51.959 --> 00:09:53.223 there's been barriers to this, 263 00:09:53.223 --> 00:09:55.748 but sort of more formalized efforts to 264 00:09:55.748 --> 00:09:57.468 ensure that children are taught about 265 00:09:57.468 --> 00:09:59.755 all different kinds of family structures, 266 00:09:59.755 --> 00:10:01.955 sexual diversity, gender diversity, 267 00:10:01.955 --> 00:10:04.349 I think would go a really long way in 268 00:10:04.349 --> 00:10:07.338 helping to minimize and kind of 269 00:10:07.338 --> 00:10:10.615 take root the kind of homophobia that, 270 00:10:10.615 --> 00:10:13.470 of course, starts to develop in children really young, 271 00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:15.484 so, there's all kind of barriers to that, 272 00:10:15.484 --> 00:10:18.063 but generally speaking, I think, 273 00:10:18.063 --> 00:10:21.241 programs that really affect children could go a long way. 274 00:10:21.241 --> 00:10:22.507 - Probably most of our folks who are 275 00:10:22.507 --> 00:10:24.005 gonna be viewing this video are 276 00:10:24.005 --> 00:10:25.966 practitioners who are out in the field, 277 00:10:25.966 --> 00:10:29.015 and sort, for you, are there things about 278 00:10:29.015 --> 00:10:31.215 your research you would want them to know if 279 00:10:31.215 --> 00:10:32.613 they're thinking about practice, 280 00:10:32.613 --> 00:10:35.327 particularly with children and families? 281 00:10:35.327 --> 00:10:36.403 - I think it comes down to 282 00:10:36.403 --> 00:10:38.467 not making assumptions about the people that 283 00:10:38.467 --> 00:10:40.521 you're working with, something that 284 00:10:40.521 --> 00:10:42.679 comes up a lot in our bisexual women study, 285 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:44.742 that, people often make assumptions about 286 00:10:44.742 --> 00:10:46.096 who they are, what their history is, 287 00:10:46.096 --> 00:10:48.667 or what kind of, even if somebody finds 288 00:10:48.667 --> 00:10:50.495 out they're bisexual, oh, there's a host of 289 00:10:50.495 --> 00:10:53.345 assumptions that go along with that. 290 00:10:53.345 --> 00:10:54.614 So it's important for families and 291 00:10:54.614 --> 00:10:58.362 children that practitioners are never making assumptions. 292 00:10:58.362 --> 00:11:00.886 As an example, I have worked with 293 00:11:00.886 --> 00:11:02.757 a lot of kids with LGBTQ parents, 294 00:11:02.757 --> 00:11:05.187 and when a kid goes to therapy, 295 00:11:05.187 --> 00:11:06.782 usually they're asked "So tell me about 296 00:11:06.782 --> 00:11:08.463 your mom and your dad." 297 00:11:08.463 --> 00:11:10.288 So for a kid with queer parents, 298 00:11:10.288 --> 00:11:12.634 that's instantly a way in which 299 00:11:12.634 --> 00:11:14.410 they're being marginalized. 300 00:11:14.410 --> 00:11:16.419 So even just not making the assumption that 301 00:11:16.419 --> 00:11:18.010 the people that you're working with 302 00:11:18.010 --> 00:11:21.381 have two parents, have a mom and a dad, 303 00:11:21.381 --> 00:11:24.376 who knows, that could be from 304 00:11:24.376 --> 00:11:26.248 a very complicated family structure, 305 00:11:26.248 --> 00:11:28.403 they could be part of a poly family structure, 306 00:11:28.403 --> 00:11:30.788 they could have an active donor dad, 307 00:11:30.788 --> 00:11:32.992 there are so many different situations that 308 00:11:32.992 --> 00:11:35.892 could come up, so not making those assumptions, 309 00:11:35.892 --> 00:11:37.440 letting children, letting families tell 310 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.431 you their stories, finding out what language they prefer, 311 00:11:40.431 --> 00:11:42.961 what words they use, what names they use, 312 00:11:42.961 --> 00:11:44.413 what pronouns, all that is, 313 00:11:44.413 --> 00:11:46.190 letting people speak for themselves, 314 00:11:46.190 --> 00:11:48.940 as opposed to making assumptions. 315 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:51.853 - So, I teach research at Smith, 316 00:11:51.853 --> 00:11:53.676 and one of the things we talk about a lot is, 317 00:11:53.676 --> 00:11:56.813 how researchers identities, or a researcher's lens, 318 00:11:56.813 --> 00:11:58.268 might impact their work. 319 00:11:58.268 --> 00:11:59.759 And I'm curious what your thoughts are 320 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:01.264 about that in terms of your own work, 321 00:12:01.264 --> 00:12:03.834 and work in this field in general. 322 00:12:03.834 --> 00:12:06.080 - Yeah, I think about it, as kind of akin to 323 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:07.388 kind of therapy, is that, 324 00:12:07.388 --> 00:12:08.937 obviously you're not going to share all of 325 00:12:08.937 --> 00:12:10.618 your identities with your clients, 326 00:12:10.618 --> 00:12:13.288 so, you know, that doesn't mean that 327 00:12:13.288 --> 00:12:16.140 you can't form a really good rapport and 328 00:12:16.140 --> 00:12:18.816 a good relationship with research participants. 329 00:12:18.816 --> 00:12:21.433 I think it's important to maybe capitalize on 330 00:12:21.433 --> 00:12:24.021 the commonalities that you do share, 331 00:12:24.021 --> 00:12:26.083 but not sort of make them the forefront, 332 00:12:26.083 --> 00:12:27.160 if that makes sense. 333 00:12:27.160 --> 00:12:28.703 So it can be really helpful, for example, 334 00:12:28.703 --> 00:12:30.152 if I'm talking to the research participant, 335 00:12:30.152 --> 00:12:32.681 and they're telling me a funny parenting anecdote, 336 00:12:32.681 --> 00:12:35.065 that I could laugh and share something similar, 337 00:12:35.065 --> 00:12:36.843 but at the same time, some of my graduate students 338 00:12:36.843 --> 00:12:38.434 are not parents, and so, 339 00:12:38.434 --> 00:12:39.698 that doesn't preclude them from 340 00:12:39.698 --> 00:12:41.243 being able to also laugh and offer 341 00:12:41.243 --> 00:12:43.350 something funny about maybe their own childhood, 342 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:45.267 or something that they've observed in 343 00:12:45.267 --> 00:12:49.344 children that they know, or, you know, family members. 344 00:12:49.344 --> 00:12:51.263 I think, of course, if you're researching 345 00:12:51.263 --> 00:12:53.789 a population, that is different from you, 346 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:56.880 and perhaps marginalized, it's really important that 347 00:12:56.880 --> 00:13:00.108 you establish your participants as the experts, 348 00:13:00.108 --> 00:13:01.838 and you let them know that you're really there to 349 00:13:01.838 --> 00:13:03.943 learn from them, so I sort of think of 350 00:13:03.943 --> 00:13:06.940 myself as kind of the, like, microphone or the megaphone, 351 00:13:06.940 --> 00:13:09.419 like, you're the expert, you're talking, 352 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.086 and I'm hopefully gonna make your voices louder, 353 00:13:12.086 --> 00:13:13.638 and package them in some way that's 354 00:13:13.638 --> 00:13:15.885 going to be meaningful and helpful. 355 00:13:15.885 --> 00:13:18.037 But I'm the storyteller, like you're the people, 356 00:13:18.037 --> 00:13:19.950 I'm sort of the person who's like, 357 00:13:19.950 --> 00:13:21.920 I'm like the editor, you're the storyteller, 358 00:13:21.920 --> 00:13:23.416 if that makes sense. 359 00:13:23.416 --> 00:13:25.010 And so, really being curious, 360 00:13:25.010 --> 00:13:26.412 and really asking questions, 361 00:13:26.412 --> 00:13:29.269 and letting people be the experts of their own stories. 362 00:13:29.269 --> 00:13:31.606 And if it's a population you're not knowledgeable about, 363 00:13:31.606 --> 00:13:34.227 making sure you have insiders who can 364 00:13:34.227 --> 00:13:38.300 read your research questions, you know, 365 00:13:38.300 --> 00:13:41.817 do some focus groups, do some sort of 366 00:13:41.817 --> 00:13:43.123 practice interviews with people who 367 00:13:43.123 --> 00:13:45.366 are sort of members of the population that 368 00:13:45.366 --> 00:13:47.992 you want to study, before I launched 369 00:13:47.992 --> 00:13:51.076 my study of trans college students, 370 00:13:51.076 --> 00:13:54.729 I had many college students complete the survey, 371 00:13:54.729 --> 00:13:58.194 give me feedback, I had many trans scholars 372 00:13:58.194 --> 00:14:00.952 look at the survey, give me feedback, 373 00:14:00.952 --> 00:14:02.266 and I wanted to feel like I was 374 00:14:02.266 --> 00:14:04.795 absolutely in a position to feel good and 375 00:14:04.795 --> 00:14:07.787 comfortable putting this out into the world. 376 00:14:07.787 --> 00:14:09.331 And I'm really happy that I did that, 377 00:14:09.331 --> 00:14:10.599 because that hard work did pay off, 378 00:14:10.599 --> 00:14:12.284 and we're getting feedback like 379 00:14:12.284 --> 00:14:13.918 "Wow, this survey is so affirming, 380 00:14:13.918 --> 00:14:17.385 I haven't felt misgendered or marginalized, or," 381 00:14:17.385 --> 00:14:19.166 and that makes me feel so good. 382 00:14:19.166 --> 00:14:20.572 I mean, I would feel horrible if 383 00:14:20.572 --> 00:14:22.769 I was somehow putting out a product that 384 00:14:22.769 --> 00:14:24.363 was not sensitive in some way, 385 00:14:24.363 --> 00:14:25.854 so I think just making sure that 386 00:14:25.854 --> 00:14:27.544 you do due diligence to talk to 387 00:14:27.544 --> 00:14:31.711 people who really do know, are insiders, if you're not. 388 00:14:32.695 --> 00:14:35.034 - And, sort of on that note, 389 00:14:35.034 --> 00:14:36.713 in terms of thinking about research advice, 390 00:14:36.713 --> 00:14:38.190 you have doc students I know that 391 00:14:38.190 --> 00:14:40.572 work with you, but also thinking about, 392 00:14:40.572 --> 00:14:43.521 PHD students at Smith who might see this video 393 00:14:43.521 --> 00:14:47.452 do have sort of, dissertation ideas or 394 00:14:47.452 --> 00:14:50.774 things that you think that doctoral students could 395 00:14:50.774 --> 00:14:52.458 be asking or answering that would be 396 00:14:52.458 --> 00:14:54.659 helpful to the body of research. 397 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:56.395 - I mean, I think intersectionality is 398 00:14:56.395 --> 00:14:58.080 sort of a very broad topic, 399 00:14:58.080 --> 00:14:59.385 but it kind of covers, I think, 400 00:14:59.385 --> 00:15:01.351 all of the really nuanced areas that I think 401 00:15:01.351 --> 00:15:04.529 could be really fruitful to study, so, 402 00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:07.379 looking at, you know, racial minority 403 00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:09.393 lesbian and gay parents for example, 404 00:15:09.393 --> 00:15:11.640 that's an area that has not been studied. 405 00:15:11.640 --> 00:15:12.996 Looking at people who have 406 00:15:12.996 --> 00:15:15.762 sexual orientations or identities that 407 00:15:15.762 --> 00:15:18.517 are marginalized who also occupy 408 00:15:18.517 --> 00:15:20.999 other marginalized identities such as, 409 00:15:20.999 --> 00:15:23.527 people with invisible and visible disabilities, 410 00:15:23.527 --> 00:15:25.356 so, there's actually not a great kind of 411 00:15:25.356 --> 00:15:28.490 emergence of disability studies and 412 00:15:28.490 --> 00:15:31.250 kind of, queer parenting studies. 413 00:15:31.250 --> 00:15:34.432 So that would be, I think really, really fruitful as well. 414 00:15:34.432 --> 00:15:36.027 So I think there's just a lot of, 415 00:15:36.027 --> 00:15:37.852 there's a lot of depth and nuance and 416 00:15:37.852 --> 00:15:40.660 kind of crossing of identities, 417 00:15:40.660 --> 00:15:43.980 that has just not been explored at all. 418 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:45.811 - Thank you so much for your time today, 419 00:15:45.811 --> 00:15:47.256 and for coming to Smith, I know that 420 00:15:47.256 --> 00:15:48.428 the community's very excited to 421 00:15:48.428 --> 00:15:49.829 hear the lecture tonight, 422 00:15:49.829 --> 00:15:51.470 and we really appreciate your time. 423 00:15:51.470 --> 00:15:52.470 - Thank you.