Queering methodologies: Challenging scientific constraint in the appreciation of queer and trans subjects

Abstract

Qualitative studies require a queer perspective to challenge stagnant forms of scientific discourse. This paper argues for a deconstruction of hegemonic qualitative practices in order to appreciate and listen to queer and trans subjects when employing qualitative research and methodologies. I focus on qualitative methods from an audiovisual perspective to suggest that there is scientific constraint in the way researchers still approach qualitative methodologies. I propose some foundations for thinking about queer qualitative methods that employs queer theory in relation to a self-reflexive creative perspective towards ethics, research and representation. Moreover, I critically analyze the HBO trans documentary, Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She (Antony Thomas 2005), in order to move beyond complacent documentaries that employ interviews as a way of categorizing and containing gender diversity. I work towards future methodological promises for the exploration of queer and trans subjects. Further, this paper challenges the problems of imposing binary-based categories that not only obscure thorough understandings of gender but also perpetuate social injustice. © 2013: Joshua M. Ferguson and Nova Southeastern University.