Positionality and the Pen: Reflections on the Process of Becoming a Feminist Researcher and Writer

During her years as a graduate student, the author was involved in not only the outward process of research but also the inward process of developing her own identity as a researcher. This article outlines her experiences as a woman and as a researcher engaging in the process of becoming a qualitative researcher and writer. It grapples with the issues she faced during her fieldwork, specifically, with concerns about her own positionality in relation to her research participants, and discusses how feminist methodology both challenged her and allowed her to see herself as part of a research community. By telling her story, she hopes both to create a more honest analytic process for her own research and to reassure other young feminist researchers that they are not alone.