Survey About Online Activism
I received an e-mail from Nena Sechler Craven asking if I’d post a link to her survey about online feminist activism.
I am posting it, although I will mention that the question as to your gender? Problematic. The options are “Man/Male,” “Woman/Female,” and “Transgender, genderquer or other non-binary.” She acknowledges that this is problematic and suggests that you select what fits you most closely, but of course no one should feel obligated to take this if the question asking “Who you are” is already alienating. Once I got past that, it seemed pretty reasonable.
This survey is not about transgender stuff specifically, although there’s room to talk about it in general.
If you’re reading this blog, you probably care about issues such as gender studies, feminism, womanism, and women’s rights. I am a graduate student at the University of Delaware, and I’m doing a research study about these issues and how the internet plays a role in people’s beliefs and activism. I’m looking for people like you to fill out a survey about your experiences online. Whether you’re a regular visitor of these websites or have just started checking things out, I would really like to hear from you. Website owners, administrators, and moderators are also welcome! If you’re interested, please click on the link below to take the survey. Thanks!
That’s a shame. I’ll not be doing the survey even though it looks like something that I’d normally be helping out with. This is why researchers should more carefully structure their surveys. Do research before the research, so to speak.
Lucy
29 Jul 10 at 1:41 pm
Yeah, I mentioned that I think a lot of the regular readers won’t do it.
Unfortunately, so much of the research about trans people just reinforces the whole “transgender automatically means nonbinary not men or women” idea.
Lisa Harney
29 Jul 10 at 1:43 pm
Discussion about the third-gendering is here on FWD.
Lisa Harney
29 Jul 10 at 2:30 pm
I cannot in good conscience take this survey. Were I to take it, I’d be enabling the continued coercive third-gendering of binary-gendered trans people.
I’m also getting a whiff of white middle-class centering from the survey’s description. Maybe I’m wrong about that – I hope I am.
GallingGalla
29 Jul 10 at 2:42 pm
I’m not concerned about the coercive third-gendering so much (since I just ticked Woman/Female) but more that I had to divide myself up into two parts and then pick which one I wanted to claim.
Lisa Harney
29 Jul 10 at 3:17 pm
I want to apologize again for this. I’ve talked about it a great deal here:
http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/07/20/signal-boost-surfing-the-third-wave-the-present-day-feminist-movement-online/
I’m also open to any additional questions/comments at ncraven@udel.edu. I’ll be writing a great deal in my final report about the issue, and I’m committed to learning and growing as a researcher and as an ally.
Nena Craven
29 Jul 10 at 4:18 pm
Also, yeah, your acknowledgement and the fact that the survey itself can’t be altered at this point.
And even though I didn’t like doing it, I went ahead with it anyway. I think the survey was fine past that point, and that the point itself was addressed.
Lisa Harney
29 Jul 10 at 4:21 pm
I just took it. I’m glad you’re researching this stuff and I look forward to hearing from you about the results.
The gender question was a little odd, indeed, not because there’s anything inherently wrong with self-identifying as “trans” rather than “male” or “female,” but because the word “trans” has so many meanings, most/many of which are entirely compatible with “male” and “female.” The obvious alternative would be to include a separate question asking about trans status, or (my personal preference) to make “gender” an open-ended field.
In my experience, recoding open-ended gender prompts, even with thousands of participants, is pretty easy. If you want my VBA macro for doing it, feel free to e-mail me at seburke at umich dot edu.
Sara
29 Jul 10 at 8:35 pm
Given that Nena has been very open and non-defensive in her responses to critique from trans* folk, I’ll be taking the survey after all.
GallingGalla
30 Jul 10 at 7:07 am
so far I’ve seen confirmation of good intentions, and apologies, about the gender question. but not a lot of concern over how that’s going to mess up any collection of demographic data. “I’m sorry this hurt people” is different than “I also recognize this will impact my research/results”. but perhaps I’ve missed something.
the “race” category also forces a choice. apparently bi- and multi-racial folks don’t exist
MHS
30 Jul 10 at 7:18 am
ah nevermind about the race question… I scrolled down. but it still would’ve been worlds better to “choose all that apply,” which would allow people to fully identify as their own race(s), and as bi-racial, at the same time.
a lot of the “or other” fields seem well… othering. even the census was better.
MHS
30 Jul 10 at 7:20 am
MHS- sorry if it wasn’t clear, but I am definitely concerned about how this will affect my results. My plan is to write extensively about the critiques I’ve gotten from the online community, so that anyone reading and evaluating my results can judge for themselves how valid my conclusions are. I’ll also do my best to point out places in the analysis that I think could be influenced by the problematic structure of the gender question. I’ll do the same for race, as well.
Nena Craven
30 Jul 10 at 7:38 am
I started filling out the questionnaire, but stopped, for three reasons: firstly, I’m growing more and more uncomfortable with this identity-business: I feel it’s the other people who identify me as something, and to me, personally, the question is mostly irrelevant. Secondly, I found the race questions puzzling. I understand that race is important in the USA, but I’m from another continent, and the divisions just don’t make much sense to me locally. The third reason is that I’m temporarily slightly disabled (my dominant hand is MIA and I’m on heavy painkillers), and the amount of questions is just too much to wade through.
I have to give props for some of the accessibility features built into Gnome, though. (Sticky keys rock!)
Carto
30 Jul 10 at 11:15 am
I was so focused on looking for trans stuff I didn’t think about race. Sorry!
It seems like there’s really no academic standard for dealing with race and gender (and other categories – was there a question about disability? I don’t remember one). Other surveys I’ve started were so alienating from the start that I really had to walk away because there was no way to answer the questions that fit my life.
I don’t mind Talking about identities because they’re loci of oppression and privilege, although I’ve been becoming more interested in a more holistic approach that’s more about bridges than walls? I don’t know, if I could get this stuff typed out it’d make a good post.
Lisa Harney
30 Jul 10 at 1:51 pm