Openings, Obstacles, and Disruptions: Desire as a Portable Queer Method

This article positions desire as a queer portable methodological alert to illuminate the ways in which power weaves throughout qualitative fieldwork. Building upon representations of identity within queer scholarly work, desire is called into action here as an immediate self-reflexive act within fieldwork. Through a methodological reflection on a study of lesbians who labor at gas stations, flirting is examined as a pleasurable strategic signal used to navigate the critical relationship between researcher and main informant, bridge class differences, and highlight when desires clash.