Female identity research study using creative visual methodologies.

 

Word count: 2485 words

 

The politics of looking is one where ‘men act, and women appear’ as suggested by John Berger in his book, Ways of Seeing (2008). In the phallocentric society of the western world, visuality is structured in this gendered way where the pleasure of looking is divided between active/male and passive/female (Mulvey, 1989). Women are viewed in terms of ‘fetishistic scopophilia’, seeing them as beautiful object on display for the male spectator (Rose, 2016).

 

In a process to begin to unravel at which point in life perceptions of female identity are formed, the following small-scale pilot study was conducted to define some characteristics of what constitutes the female visual voice. Visual voice is described as the context of communicating through a visual medium by Marie Bourgeois in her talk on Finding your Visual Voice (2014). To explore this idea, participants took part in a one-and-a-half-hour workshop where they were asked to create models of their female identity using plasticine. Its purpose was also to test the validity of a creative visual research method in the field of media and culture research. Conducting this small-scale pilot study developed an interest in participatory visual research methods and being able to think in a self-reflexive manner to mould and adapt the method to be able to draw a valid analysis. This reflective commentary documents the experiences had as a researcher experimenting with a creative research method.

Figure 1: The overarching questions which directed the study are displayed here.

 

This case study was inspired from David Gauntlett’s book, Creative Explorations (2007). Gauntlett establishes a creative approach where participants ‘spend time applying their playful or creative attention to the act of making something symbolic or metaphorical, and then reflecting on it’ which he describes as ‘new creative methods’ (2007:3). These are alternatives to language driven qualitative research methods. His approaches invite participants to produce narratives, revealing different kinds of accounts, allowing the researcher to understand certain subjectivities to a fuller extent (Gauntlett, 2007).

 

Method

 

In this participatory method, participants were tasked with creating metaphorical models of their female identity using plasticine, which would then be used as a stimulus for discussion and reflection. To be able to form some analysis as the researcher from this session, audio was recorded of the session to protect the participants identities. Once the workshop was completed, the participants were debriefed. They were given another opportunity to ask any closing questions. They were also made aware of their ability to withdraw consent at any given time. They understood what the study was researching and how their identifiable data would be protected.

 

Applying Gauntlett’s approach was beneficial, as the activity of creating 3-D models, encouraged participants to think about female identity in a relaxed environment. The participants were able to make a statement about female identity through the material they produced. The ideas presented could not be described as ‘pure’ as the models they create will take influence from their past experiences, friends and family affiliations and their own ideas.

‘Nevertheless, these factors add further layers of interest, and the methods open invitation to creative response has the benefit of allowing the researcher to collect complex and mediated responses which it is impossible to obtain with the rigid and formal procedures of experimental and questionnaire survey research, these being methods which define the responses which they are looking for in advance.’

(Gauntlett,1997:80) Cited in (Gauntlet, 2007:96).

 

The project aims were broad; to find out more about female identity in this age group. Using the creative visual research method in a workshop setting added value to the models that the participants created. Being able to discuss the models during the creation stage enabled me to engage with them in a variety of ways. This was through asking questions, taking photographs of the models, recording audio and observing discussion between themselves. By conducting a workshop, I was also able to observe how female identity would present itself in the relationships between participants.

 

Rather than having a set shooting script of questions which can be used to elicit deeper responses from participants (Suchar, 1997), my interaction with them was purely to prompt them to explain to me the decisions in the design process. One of the benefits of having an open conversation during my observation, was that it took place while all participants were creating their models. Reflecting on my field notes, it appeared that the act of modelling plasticine elicited deeper responses and the girls were able to open up to me about their experiences and stories about themselves.

 

My involvement in the workshop was designed to have no influence on the participants behaviours of their interpretations.  I felt my contribution to the work would have skewed their ideas and generate less true/valid findings. Spending time with the participants observing their behaviour allowed me to gain an understanding of their perspectives or female identity which are ‘truthful’ for them (Gauntlett, 2007).

 

Given the age range, plasticine was chosen as it offered the best flexibility in fostering creativity in creating 3D models. “This method is fun and allows children to really enjoy putting their perspectives across. A lot of information and analysis can be gathered by applying this method.” (Johnson et al., 2014). Plasticine can be used here as it is a malleable and straightforward medium similar to Play-Doh which children are already familiar with. It is worth noting though, creative visual research could use a wide variety of potential materials to conduct a creative visual research approach (Gauntlett, 2007).

 

Ethics

 

The topics that apply to research with children are mostly relevant to all research contexts (Mahon et al.,1996). Regulatory, ethical and legal context was thought through to obtain valid informed consent in relation to conducting qualitative research with a group of participants who are considered vulnerable as they are children and to ensure the study was conducted in the safest possible manner (Wiles et al., 2005). In any kind of research working with the vulnerable group, a DBS (disclosure and barring service) statement can be required to legally permit conducting research. Due to my other roles, I have completed a full DBS check with Roehampton University which is enhanced to allow me to work with under 18’s (University of Roehampton, 2020).

 

Consent was needed from all participants and was to be ‘informed’ to ensure they knowingly agree to participate in the study. Using the ESRC (Economic and social research council) guidelines, provided a framework of factors to consider and ensured the study was consciously and ethically designed to protect and safeguard children (ESRC, 2020).

 

One specific factor was, “The differential power relationships between adult researcher and child participant, and how this may affect the child’s right to withdraw or decline participating in research” (ESRC, 2020:1). To counteract this, the parent of the participants was notified and given information of the study two weeks prior to the study commencing. This allowed the mother a window of two weeks, to discuss with the children the activity they would be taking part in and for them to reflect on the decision to participate.

 

‘Informed consent is a basic ethical tenant of research on human populations’ (Papademas & IVSA, 2009). In the field of visual research, consent should be obtained in ways that are consistent with the research methodology and comply with ethical standards (Papademas & IVSA, 2009). As part of University of Roehampton, the participant consent form available on the Ethics page on the website was used as a template to create this document to comply with the university’s regulations (University of Roehampton, 2020)(Appendix, Item 1). It was also made clear to them that if at any point they decided they no longer wanted to participate; they had the right to withdraw consent. The participants were also provided with a copy of the signed form.

 

As it was not necessary to the research study, no identifiable details were disclosed in the field notes concerning the research participants. Participants were numbered and referred to by their number throughout the notes made, allowing them to remain fully anonymous.

Audio was recorded for the purpose of needing to transcribe the data. They were informed that the audio will be kept on a password secure laptop and once the module has been completed, the recordings will be safely deleted.

 

There were concerns around accessibility with the COVID-19 guidelines, as during the planning stages, England was in a national lockdown. Following the guidelines, I was able to visit the participants in their home and conduct the study following social distancing measures.

 

The workshop

 

Here are the photographs of the models created by each participant, with notes I have made on the collages to indicate what the participants created. The collages are accompanied by captions taken from the transcripts from the workshop session (Appendix, 3).

 

 

 

Analysis

 

The children worked independently on their identity models but in a collaborative environment filled with discussions, compliments to one another and sharing ideas. The models were complex and distinct and allowed them to communicate and engage in meaningful ways.

 

From observations, the study found, the workshop setting, in combination with the activity of creating the models, engaged participants in discussion. It opened up discussions about when the girls felt their most honest and true selves and larger debates around women’s rights and who is making the decisions regarding women. There was also casual chat about a range of unrelated issues such as, making biscuits, past memories and types of food they like. This sort of conversation enabled processing of ‘backstage’ talk, as Peter Dahlgren notes, was not likely to be gathered in a formal context if an interview was used (Dahlgren, 1988).

 

The workshop steadily progressed with eye contact 10 minutes into the session and questions directly to me 15 minutes in. The girls were able to speak at particular length directly and with enthusiasm to explain their versions of female identity. If the study were to be done on a larger scale, it would still be advisable to sustain small focus groups to ensure that the issues of independence could be maintained.

 

The method allowed the children to demonstrate their interpretation of female identity and present this in a three-dimensional model, revealing their unique perspective. These same responses would not have been elicited naturally, had an interview or survey technique as part of a quantitative research method been employed here (Gauntlett, 2007).

 

The participants were well educated and current in the conversations about the social and political context of gender equality. Participant four, who was eight years old, was able to discuss gender equality and human rights, as well as participant one, age 15, raising a debate about women’s representation in religion and society on her own accord. As time went on, it became apparent that the level of education the participants had access to, would bear some significance on their perspective of female identity. A prominent feature of the models created, was that all participants leant towards a feminist stance rather than one which is aligned with how women are viewed in the media.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

As I began to understand the social, political and economic factors of women’s rights in terms of their menstrual health, which is part of a larger project I am working on, I was able to see the context of how female identity is core to these conversations. Bearing this in mind, the research questions were formed to understand viewpoints, interactions and processes of the participants. The findings here would facilitate developing specific research questions to further investigate (DeCuir-Gunby & Schutz, 2017). At this stage, it is important to note that the findings are speculatory and in order to draw valid analysis, further research would need to be conducted. The study is not making any final conclusions at this stage.

 

It is inevitable that any research process has limitations and drawbacks, which at the very least require acknowledgement. Upon reflection of the design study, the invitation to talk about gender identity as well as myself identifying as a female is inherently biased. At times it was very challenging to be talking to a young impressionable group of girls discussing femininity and to not share my personal views. There is also bias in that the participants were related to one another. Being sisters, any analysis drawn from their behaviour was influenced by their family dynamic and could not be extended to another group of participants who were not related.

 

In order to conduct the study on a larger scale to draw valid findings, there were other factors that needed to be taken into consideration, such as the type of school the children attend, their level of participation in extracurricular activities, their parent/sibling/social influences, IQ level and demographics. If extended, a survey to gather this information would be beneficial to understanding if these factors bear any standing in the models they create.

 

After conducting this pilot study, there is conjecture that there may be a feminist focused stance in young girls understanding of female identity. From this, conceptualisations and further workshop activity can proceed. Delving deeper by refining the research questions would enable further data collection and analysis which would continue to reveal patterns and ‘enhance seeing’ of the female identity (Suchar, 1997).

 

References:

 

Berger, J. (2008) Ways of Seeing. Penguin UK.

 

Economic and Social Research Council (2020) Research with children and young people. Available at: https://esrc.ukri.org/funding/guidance-for-applicants/research-ethics/frequently-raised-topics/research-with-children-and-young-people/(Accessed: 30 November 2020).

 

Dahlgren, P. (1988) What’s the meaning of this? viewers’ plural sense-making of TV news. Media, Culture & Society. 10(3) pp.285-301.

 

DeCuir-Gunby, J. & Schutz, P. (2017) Developing a mixed methods proposal: A practical guide for beginning researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781483399980

 

Gauntlett, D. (2007) Creative explorations: new approaches to identities and audiences. London: Routledge.

 

Johnson, V., Hart, R. & Colwell, J. (2014) Steps for engaging young children in research: The toolkit.

 

Mahon, A., Glendinning, C., Clarke, K. & Craig, G. (1996) Researching children: Methods and ethics. Children & Society. 10(2) pp.145-154.

 

Mirzoeff, N. (2009) An introduction to visual culture. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

Suchar, C. S. (1997) “Grounding Visual Sociology Research in Shooting Scripts,” Qualitative Sociology, 20(1), pp. 33–55. doi: 10.1023/A:1024712230783.

 

Mulvey, L. (1989) Visual and Other Pleasures. Springer.

 

Papademas, D. and International Visual Sociology Association, 2009. IVSA code of research ethics and guidelines. Visual Studies, 24(3), pp.250-257.

 

Rose, G. (2016) Visual methodologies: an introduction to researching with visual materials. 4th edn. London: SAGE Publications.

 

TEDX (2014) Finding Your Visual Voice: Marie Bourgeois at TEDxUND [YouTube]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34B_S4rs58k ( Accessed: 10/10/2020)

University of Roehampton (2020) Ethics forms and guidelines. Available at: https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/research/ethics/ethics-forms/

(Accessed: 30 November 2020).

 

Wiles, R., Heath, S., Crow, G. & Charles, V. (2005) Informed consent in social research: A literature review. NCRM Methods Review Papers NCRM. 1.

Appendix

 

1: Consent form used

2: Field notes from workshop observations

 

 

 

3: Transcripts from Audio recording

 

Transcript from participant one

Age 15 years old

 

The mother commented asking participant one, “why have you made chairs, are you waiting for something? “. Participant one responded, “waiting for equality” and all joined in laughter.

 

Participant one was very protective of her model and did not want anyone copying her ideas.

 

“So, I thought, “why don’t I do something that’s more personal,” so I did a model about a violin. And something I always ask is why do I have to sit differently compared to the boys because boys can sit however they want when they’re playing violin and I have to sit in a straight and certain way, I can’t move, I have to stay in that way.

It also kind of affects the way you’re playing violin because it affects the way you’re sitting, it affects your arm, which affects your playing but with a boy they can sit however they want, they could lie down on the chair or however. The teacher said this is the way because it was protective for women and that’s how it started. But I asked her, ‘why do I have to do it’, and she said it’s just tradition’.

 

“I end up sitting how I want to sit, I can’t sit back against the chair my feet have to touch the ground, I can’t lean back, it hurts my back. I get in a little bit told off because it affects how I play violin. I can’t sit back against the chair, my feet have to touch the ground, I can’t lean back, it hurts my back.”

 

“We are learning about women in Nazi Germany, we learnt that Hitler wanted the women to work, he showed everyone the statistics from before he ruled, and most women were working and then after he was in power, he showed more statistics. He also told all the women that if you stay home, we will give you benefits and everyone else will get employment. In the statistics, it showed that more jobs were available and more people are working but this was just because less women were working, so there were more jobs for men, so when he gave the statistics everyone believed it but in actual fact, he stopped the women from working. Then in 1938, that was when they needed all the women to work for World War II.”

 

“We FaceTimed a woman from Parliament, the internet was really bad.”

 

“Women are objects, I saw an Instagram post about it. There was a thread going around about how women are objects and that people were sharing”

 

Participant one asked participant four, “do you still want to be a wrestler, I’m just curious?”

 

There was this one girl at school, she just did it for attention to get people’s reactions, she used to say that she supports Donald Trump, she used to make racist comments, she was just doing it for attention, she didn’t mean it. Everyone would laugh. She was in care.”

 

Participant one turned to her mother and complained that participant one had stolen her idea.

 

“When I was in primary school, you would get in trouble if you went onto the boys pitch.”

 

“That’s the conduct at the front, I added green to the ground so that it looks like the world. So, I did the chairs, the music stand. The first girl on the right was going to be me, I started off making me but then I just kind of went on. Next is my friend and then there is a boy lying down. There is this boy, he sits on the ground, it just looks annoying. Everything has to be in order. I was made the concert master, so I’m responsible in orchestra to make sure everyone is sitting in order and playing their parts but he’s just sitting on the floor. The conductor actually looks like our conductor. I put the white line around the edge to make it look neat. I added the pink music notes to show that, if we’re all working together, then we can make really nice music. The boys sitting is normalised. Me and my friend sit however we want. I put three people, because there is violin one, violin two and violin three, so violin one has the main sheet music.”

 

“I have something to add, in Christianity which is the world’s largest religion, in the bible it says that man is the head of women, so a lot of Christians might follow that belief so that could also influence. It says wives you must submit to your husbands. We learn in school how women are in different faiths and religions like how they’re presented. We are doing Christianity this term, Mary has a significant role and the disciples were men. I asked a question, can women be popes or how come there weren’t any women, the teacher said that this was just the way it is. Mary had a big role so there don’t need to be any more women roles. I wonder if there are women Muslim Imams.”

 

 

Transcript from participant two

Age: 13 years old

 

“Can you tell what this is… thank you (participant 4 name)…it’s the hands and in the arms”

Participant two decided to initially scrap the hand as she felt it could not be recognised.

 

“I’m making a book and it’s not going well”

 

“What do we do with these when we’re done?”

 

“Oh, I should make a list made of white clay.

“Women are objects, objectified, we talked about this in school, I could write it”

“I don’t have Instagram, but there was a thread going around school “.

 

“I learnt about women in the media”.

 

Participant two asked participant four, “Do you not want to be a wrestler because someone laughed at you? Or do you not want to be a wrestler because you’re not interesting anymore, be honest”

 

“Everyone at school wants equality and stuff like that”

 

“How do you do a weighing scales, like justice”

 

“You know those signs, boys will be boys, oh that’s not very ladylike, I want to write something like that.”

 

“So, this is the weighing scale, that was about the equality, this is the world, with like a woman sitting on top of it because think about it, there wouldn’t really be people without women, they give birth. And these are meant to be muscley hands to be like strength however I did pink but I didn’t really think about that because it gives off the wrong connotations.

That’s meant to be a book because of like education, because some women in the world, they don’t get their education they deserve, it’s always like men who get the education, women don’t. The worlds thought that men are better than women, people believe that. Women are not strong, they are meant to be like housewives, it’s been like that for so many years and no one really made much of a difference… Wait, no, the suffragettes. It was always men who are the strong ones and women who had to take care of the children, be the housewife, cook, clean and stuff like that.

Then there’s the list, you know like social media, society, there is like a standard for women, you have to be one thing, like smart, polite, there is a list of things women have to do to fit into society.

I don’t want to follow the list and standards, you know like be with you are, you don’t have to listen to society and what society tells you, you do what you think is right, what you’re comfortable with.

I just made the magnifying glass, a magnifying glass looks at objects very closely, they try and look for the small details of women, small little things.

Women or objectified, in real life and in the media, some people don’t take into account that they are real people too, they have feelings, but just treat them as objects, like in film posters. In media we looked at film posters and women were just dressed up for tea. The men are in the back that have strong dominant positions and the woman is just there as an object.”

 

 

Transcript from participant number three

Age: 11 years old

 

“The boys think that girls can’t do lots of sports”

 

“There’s a lot more boys in the class than girls, I don’t like it, I like more girls than boys… “

 

“Most of the girls are quite rude, they are rude to people in the class.”

 

“I did the football and netball and a cricket ball”

 

“We all wear trousers to school”

 

When reviewing the audio, during one of the discussions, participant number one, whispered to participate number three, and said, “you’re just making PE things, stop making PE things.”

 

“People say women are objects, but I don’t understand what they mean”

 

“I made the yellow and black hair because all the girls are different in my class, I made the blue because some people say that blue is a boy’s colour, so I made the top blue and I made trousers because I wear trousers.

 

“[Number one] said men lead the world so I think girls should too.”

“the X is a “NOT”, like women are not objects”

 

“I did sports because the boys were playing football and it was the last match, it was like the finals, I asked what happened and then one of the boys said, “Why are you telling her? She’s a girl she can’t play sports”, and then my friends were there too and they started shouting at him, he started muttering “shut up”, I couldn’t really hear anything else and then we had to go back upstairs. He said, “girls shouldn’t play sports”, even though the girls from the other class play sports. There is this girl who plays sports, she is really good at sports, but no one really picks on her because she is better than the boys, the boys pick on us. I did a table because it’s an object, like girls are objects.”

 

“the trousers are just normal, I did the blue shirt because the boys say that boys’ colours are blue and girls’ colours are pink, I did the hairs those colours because all the girls have different hair in the class, I just made the skin colour like that because.”

 

“boys make fun of girls for how they look so I added a unibrow because they made fun of me. I don’t think they should say that because the girls might say it back and then they would pick more and more on the girls, so we really don’t see these kinds of things.

 

 

Transcript from Participant four

Age 8 years old

 

“Sometimes during playtime, I play with my friends and then some boys would just, they made a chant, “Boys rule, girls in the bin”.

 

‘’Sometimes we have really big arguments with the boys, sometimes we stand up to the boys. One of my friends asked us to come and stand up against the boys because they would sometimes be rude to her and be a bit judgmental about their gender”

 

‘’I’m going to do a trash bin because they would say, “Boys win, girls in the bin”, so I’m going to do someone’s head poking out of the bin.”

Researcher: “Who is this someone?”

“It is all of the girls because they usually say to all of us just randomly… the boys have less manners.”

 

“It’s just a bit rude, my friend certainly doesn’t like it, she says we are in battle with the boys, we have to fight against them because they’re not doing anything to be nicer or stop making fun of our gender. But most of the time we just ignore them and carry on.”

 

“I did the girl standing next to the bin because that’s what they would say”

“The girl is a mix of everyone, the bandanna is from one girl, the plait is from another girl. They are not my friends though.”

 

“My best friend, some people call her a boy because she wears trousers, so I did a skirt instead of trousers on my model, some people say trousers are for boys instead of girls. It’s kind of unfair because it’s not really for boys to decide how women should dress up. It’s your decision not theirs, it’s your life not theirs, you don’t have to listen to what they say if you don’t like what they’re saying.”

 

“Can I do a violin?”.

“I copied you with the violin”.

 

“There was this old teacher of mine, he asked us, “what do you want to be in the future?”, I said wrestler, but then everyone started laughing.”

 

“The message I wanted to say was boys’ rule, girls in the bin, so I did a bin next to the girl when she was sitting uncomfortably. I’m talking about my own idea, this is the boy, this was the handle from the bin, I don’t know why it fell off, the boy is making fun of her. Boys rule, girls in the bin, he was actually meant to be over here pushing her in the bin, but it doesn’t actually happen. There is a table in the middle. Just sometimes, the boys would say to all of us, not one girl in particular, because it would all just be so unfair, I find it really unfair because the boys shouldn’t have a right to just bully girls when they didn’t really do anything, they just minding their own business. We were playing it and I got a bit tired, so I went to get a ball and then we were playing but then the boys started snatching away the ball from us when we were just playing around with it. The next day they would chant, “Boys’ rule, girls in the bin”. We will just have to fight against it, my friend was really caring about what this was doing to affect us. She would kind of form a wall. We said to her “just keep calm”, if they really do something to us then we should actually complain and stand up to them but then they do the “L” to us sometimes. It’s just really, really unfair that they do it to us, we wouldn’t do it to them. Fire can’t fight fire so if we do the same thing it would basically be bullying. It would just be an everyday thing and just carry on the fight, you wouldn’t be able to stop it, nothing would really happen, it will just stay like that, and you’ll just be in school for the rest of your life being bullied by the boys.”

 

“At school there is the boys pitch, I wanted to play football, but the teacher said I would get hurt playing on the boys pitch. I said I want to play, he said, “there are boys so you might get hurt”. There is the girls pitch, and the boys pitch. On the girls pitch they play tennis and skipping.”

 

“At school when I had to play football, the boy’s sighed when I joined the team. I am a little bit slow, but we still won”.

 

“These are just decorations, I chose the colours because everyone says pink is for girls, green is for boys, so instead you can have any colour you want instead of one colour that someone decides is your favourite choice, not theirs.”

 

“If we go to the church every year, why can’t we go to the mosque too?’