social sciences systematically stabaliznig social constructs?

In New Feminist Approaches to Social Science Methodologies: An Introduction, Sandra Harding and Kathryn Norberg, the authors write "Researchers, like the societies in which they live, cannot detect - much less correct - the assumptions and practices that shape the interests, conceptual frameworks, and research norms of social science." (Signs, 2005 pg 2010). They explain in their introduction that social research and the social sciences play an integral role in the shaping of group identity, and that this problematic assigning of people to groups enables institutions that are governed by elites to manage the said groups. Thus the interests of those already in power are held constant, while the groups that originally had less power are marginalized further (pg 2009).
And so women's studies students are faced with another challenge: how do we do research without compromising our integrity?  The article in question suggests that "...research that holds itself ethically and politically accountable for its social consequences - can in many instances  produce knowledge." (pg 2010) Is our goal then to produce knowledge and social change rather than think about knowledge that is already established, whether that be local knowledge or mainstream? I can not help but notice how easily this discussion flows from the conversations we have had as a class and the readings previously assigned (well done, Professor).

If this is becoming a matter of retaining our integrity as feminists and feminist researchers, then we necessarily have a commitment to ourselves and to our field to be essentially political individuals. Allow me to elaborate, as I have been attempting to articulate these thoughts for a while now: Women's studies students are in a unique situation. As a pre-teen in high school, I got involved in some leadership positions. After a while of being involved in a co-counseling, peer-mediation group that met during and after school, I became the leader of a monthly woman's group. This group met at the same time as a men's group for an hour and a half, after which time the groups would combine and discuss highlights of their own meetings. The members of the women's group were young women ages 14-18, in the high school. Meetings would be set up in a certain format. First we would play a game, then I would discuss a topic for conversation, then we would break into groups of two. During this time one person would talk for about 5 minutes about what the discussion made them think about, or if they were having a bad day they would speak about whatever was on their mind, while their partner listened attentively. When one individual's time was up, we'd switch role of talker/listener or counselor/client. These ten minute sessions were deemed mini-sessions. We would come back to the group, and I would do a demo, or demonstrative session, where one 'client' talked about the subject in front of the entire group. The woman's group met once a week during school in addition to the once a month meeting during the evening.

One of the most interesting things I encountered, and discussed in the group was the tendency of young women to say "I don't know." When asked a question, women I was counseling would frequently say "I don't know, but I guess I think ..." and then finish their though eloquently. It isn't that these young women weren't voluble individuals, they absolutely were, but it seemed like by saying "I don't know," before stating something that was important to them, or something that was radical they shirked responsibility for their statements. Thoughts like "it's unfair that women have to spend so much time worrying about appearance" would come out in group, but by saying "I don't know, but I think it's not fair that girls have to think about what they weigh all the time," would make the statement more relativistic. Once I realized how often the phrase was uttered, I would not let it go. Especially when the young women were asked what they thought. Frustrated because of the use of the phrase by these young women as well as myself, I developed my own phrase in response: "You DO know. You're the only one that knows what you think."

When I graduated from my high school, I heard "I don't know" less frequently, though I'm not sure it have entirely dissipated. I hear it now more in terms of "Well, I don't know, where do you want to go to dinner?" The point of this anecdote is that we are not coming from a society where young women are taught to feel that they can/should articulate their own wants and needs. Whether this is because they lack a context in which what they want is deemed important, or if they are given such a rigid framework of gender construction that they do not see themselves as autonomous thinkers, I'm not sure (but it's probably a mix thereof). We're not necessarily coming from a place where our thoughts are valued, so it is imperative that we develop an autonomous set of beliefs as individuals. Our politics don't have to be perfect or pure, but if we have never taken a step back to ask "What do I want?" then we will not be prepared to defend our beliefs or sharpen our critical thinking skills. We can not live our lives with integrity and simultaneously please everyone around us, or avoid confrontation.

This is what I have been trying to say in class:
Because we are women's studies majors, we have our discipline and our work questioned internally and externally. If we do not develop individual beliefs and a language to discuss and defend those beliefs, then we are not equipped to have the kinds of conversations that we have in this class, like how do we do responsible research. Like Shahnaz Khan states in Reconfiguring the Native Informant: Positionality in the Global Age, "I too contribute to a voyeurism legitimized by social science." (2023) She realizes and discusses what it means to be socially situated, but she is not disabled by the fact that she is subjective. She can grapple with the intricacies of power relations, and research anyway. We need to research/think/write/discuss anyway.