Objectifying your sister

I am unsure about the notion of including the researcher as a subject within the research. Our scout included footage and interviews of me. How is it research? However, perhaps it is the only way to avoid what Ann Oakley (the sociologist, not the sharpshooter) was describing when she "...characterizes interviewing women, at least from a feminist perspective, as a 'contradiction in terms' because it involves 'objectifying your sister.'" (See Taylor and Rupp in Researching the Women's Movement, in Beyond Methodology (Indiana University Press, 1991). Oakley suggest that traditional guidelines for interviewing is a one way hierarchical process.

I've wondered about that and am thinking that it is going to be important to avoid that type of objectification of any of our subjects in our project. I am proposing to Paulette that we are both forthcoming about our personal expereinces with courthouses to attempt to break down this barrier.