Paper short abstract:

When researching gender and sexual morality with young children, it is not always appropriate or productive to raise certain topics directly. In this paper on the value of visual methods, I reflect on my experience learning from Karen children in Thailand about their experiences of gender.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation, I share samples of visual materials collected at a

Thai public school located in an upland Sgaw Karen village in Mae Hong

Son Province. Included are drawings, photographs and video clips that

shed light on a range of matters relating to gender in my fieldsite.

While researching gender and sexual morality among Karen schoolchildren,

it was not always appropriate or productive to address certain topics

directly through conversation. During fieldwork, child participants in

my research ranged from 5–16 years of age and warranted use of a range

of different methods for collecting data on potentially sensitive

topics. My fieldwork was primarily concerned with attitudes toward

romantic relationships between teenagers. Among my much younger

participants in particular, visual methods provided useful ways of

learning about childhood experiences of gender-related issues.

I regularly joined the younger children in drawing pictures, allowing

them to guide the subject of our ‘conversations’ that were taking place

on, and mediated through, the page. I also regularly gave the children

control over my camera, allowing them, under my supervision, to choose

what to document through film and photography. In addition to giving me

a record of interactions between my research participants, sitting down

and reviewing these materials alongside participants afterwards provided

new opportunities for guided conversation. I reflect both on the

anthropological values driving my use of these methods, and on the local

gender values embedded in the data they helped me to collect.