PhD Application Document Final

My research question is what methodology of ethnography creation is (I) fairer and more useful for us, that is, Trans+, IBPOC+, “sexy dancers (i.e. drag, burlesque, draglesque, pole dancers, and another other sexy dance performers who are a part of the sex worker communities, even if they maintain high positions within the sex worker’s hierarchy),” kinky (i.e. those partaking in the BDSM lifestyle), and neurodivergent who face issues about their multiple identities based on their colonized experiences. (II) From the perspective of empirical methodology; how we could, and will survive and transfer survival skills across generations, and incorporate these practices into daily life. (III) Especially these questions are particularly focused on visibility of skin color, body shape, gender expression, and body movement. Additionally, how we can propose political schemes and regulations that are (IV) better for the exploration and healing of our trauma and helping us step forward, toward their fruitful futures.

<Background> I started coming out and speaking out about my identities this April in Victoria. I am an Ainu/Emishi First Nation in Japan, nonbinary, not straight, neurodivergent, sex worker, and kinky. I began my research projects in Trans+ communities in Japan in 1997, where I have done conducted fieldwork and, interviews, and written ethnographies and spent 16 and half years as a full professor in sociology specializing in gender studies, but I never told anyone about my identities because if I had said something, people in academia may have devalued my academic abilities. Thus, I hid my identities, continued pursuing transgender studies, and succeeded at securing a position as a professor—this was my form of activism. I have spent time in the Chair in Transgender Studies at UVic since April 2019 and started a research project; Trans+ Identity Words Project, which interviews Trans+ activists in Canada to create an online oral history archive at the Transgender Archives at UVic. Also, I have started coming out as a nonbinary person. After coming out in public and worldwide last Spring, I started to live in my own communities in Victoria. I also plan to earn one more PhD to explore my own and my communities’ stories, skills, wellness, and justice by attempting to create our multi-ethnography, which is an all-online writing para-ethnography project.

<Interests/plans> Five aspects of my work are novel in terms of academic research. (1) My work deals with the combination of sex workers, IBPOC+, and trans are an area that is severely under-researched despite them being instrumental in the Stonewall riots. (2) Para ethnographies do not have a long enough history, leading to insufficient treatment of online fields. (3) There are not enough analytic perspectives on interaction, not only in addition to everyday, face-to-face interactions, but online communication is a rich resource for analysis and description especially by Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis (EMCA). (4) Additionally, individuals usually have multiple traumas and traumatic experiences, also as a result they may have several mental health disorders, addictions, and dissociations because of the government’s and society’s the patriarchy, misogyny, and heteronormativity, which impact us as people politically, financially, in education, in business and in all other aspects our lives. Moreover, (5) EMCA and Goffmanian analysis I based on is not enough to decolonize their methodologies. That means, the fact that, EMCA and Goffmanian ethnography are done by Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WIRED) scholars has not been sufficiently examined from this viewpoint.

Simultaneously, the description of the method is itself a multi-ethnography about racism, de-colonization, sex work and BDSM in BC by IBPOC+ Trans+ “sexy dancers” inspired by Goffmanian and EMCA perspectives focus on visibility and interactions. The process of research is as follows: I (A) continue to live and spend time in our communities as a dancer, kink, or worker of at my own company for “my people,” and get to know what is happening to and for us currently and in the past, and (B) attempt to document everything online, especially on Social networks platforms. Everybody could comment on my writings posts and message me. I would then revise my writings accordingly. Also, I plan to (C) write publicly, gather comments, and have engagement in real-time discussions. Of course, I would (D) give feedback to the relevant communities in person, which will also inform further revisions. All of this becomes part of a digital tattoo that is archived in this panoptic digital society. (E) Through these writing processes, I could heal my trauma by empowering communication within our communities and help look for survival skills in each other and sharing them, also by exploring political schemes or regulations that benefit us. This healing will hopefully be extended to the online and offline audiences too. Finally, this process (F) heals me and empowers me and allows me to take back the strength needed to live in this tough world, which includes academia.

<Reasons for choosing the program> The SDH program is specialized for research that has the potential to reach out and stimulate better health and wellness. This program's theme is in line with the research methodology I am trying to create, and further accomplishments will be in expanding the benefits afforded to our communities to the realm of actual public policy. In addition, my professional skills in transgender and gender studies, sociology in medicine, and research methodologies including statistics, which I gained through my experience as a professor and ethnographer could support this program.

<Supervisors, rationale for selecting them based on their expertise and research experience> Dr. ann-elise lewallen (Pacific & Asian Studies) is an engaged anthropologist committed to critical qualitative research through decolonial mapping and environmental health for low-resourced Indigenous and racialized communities in Japan, India, and across Asia. Due to lewallen’s two-decades’ experience of qualitative and community-based participatory research, and her recent work with communities impacted by environmental toxins and related health issues in Asia, lewallen is an ideal co-supervisor for my proposed work. Dr. Midori Ogasawara (Sociology) is a researcher of communication technologies and surveillance, who has a journalism background. She also conducted ethnographical research in Japan, China, Korea, and Canada on colonialism and surveillance, which will help my understanding of social dynamics in online media, including surveillance and censorships. Also, I could continue my “Trans+ Identity Words Project” with Dr. Aaron Devor (Sociology), who has always been supportive and empowering. Finally, Dr. Chase Joint (Gender Studies) could advise me because his career began at UCLA with EMCA scholars.

<Post-degree plans> I am in the process of creating my own company “PlatHome Inc.” that will support our Trans+ or queer, “sexy dancers,” kinky, and neurodivergent in the IBPOC+ or Pacific Asian communities and organize “Queering ‘Studies’ Project.” as my life project. It will supply knowledge to educate people about us, whether we are oldcomers and newcomers to Canada. This PhD research project is one of my projects.