Page 122 - Prathima Volume 12

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On the other hand, Silverstein and Ellen (2016) examined the role of feminist
anthropology scholarship in current anthropology in terms of how the feminist
scholarship has challenged anthropology with reference to changing interests and
persuasions of the field. This new engagement has generated theoretical and
methodological innovations in anthropology. There was a greater transformation due
to the inclusion of people of color, LGBTQ+ Individuals in anthropology. In addition,
analyses of colonialism, post-colonialism, and globalization are effectively included
in current feminist anthropological discussions. Furthermore, to tackle the issue of
reflexivity, feminist anthropologists have included participatory action research
methods, storytelling methods, and personal narratives in ethnography. Consequently,
the vigorous involvements challenged the male oriented “top-down” knowledge
production. Anthropology should substantially address the issues of power, identity,
agency, relativism, and local cultural practices in studying women issues in different
cultures. Also, the current understanding of gender and sexuality is expanded by
including new theories and methodological implications on sexuality and gender
studies. Moreover, the new generations of feminist anthropologists will have to equate
non-Western sexual or gender variations with contemporary Western gay and lesbian
cultures.

In terms of feminist scholarship in ethnographic research methods, Dána-Ain and
Christa (2016) have suggested many new avenues in ethnographic research. By
feminist ethnography, which some define as a framework that should reflect a feminist
epistemology; “an examination of how knowledge is produced from a feminist
standpoint” (Dana-Ain & Christa, 2016, p. 9), and others address feminist
ethnography would demonstrate a range of methods. Some claim that “feminist
ethnography is a research practice informed by politics of social justice” (Dana-Ain &
Christa, 2016, p.9). More importantly, ethnography is the central method in
anthropology, but feminists have found women absent in previous anthropological
scholarship because much of the previous research is male-centered. So, the
combination of feminist scholarship and ethnographic research methods are used for
the development of feminist ethnography. However, emergence of feminist
ethnography would face many challenges; first feminist ethnographers will take cross-
cultural examples of the types of changes faced in gender-based research into account;
some scholars strategically criticize the term 'feminist' looking at it as a Western
imperialist and elitist term. Although feminist ethnography has faced different views,
critics, and challenges, it has projected a “new terrain on the challenges of power
dynamics within fieldwork” (Dana-Ain & Christa, 2016, p.56).

In addition to feminist representations in ethnographic methods, I would like to pay
attention to the role of the native ethnographer in ethnographic research because some
anthropologists emphasize on the insider/outsider or etic/emic dilemma in conducting

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