((PRELIMINARY Q’s))
Changes may be made to these before I record the final audio interviews w/my housemates. They will be conducted slightly informally (because of our closeness w/ each other) but taken very seriously. I have provided them with these questions in advance so that they can work with them//think about them thoroughly before the interview takes place. These are questions I have actively been trying to ask and answer myself as I have worked my way through my project’s ideas.
I N T E R V I E W Q U E S T I O N S : : : : :
: : : : : : : : d e m y s t i f i c a t i o n / / c r e a t i n g a h u m a n i z e d e x p e r i e n c e : : :
o Who are you? Tell me about yrself (lol examples:: what is your name, how old are you, where are you from, what do you study, what are something things that are important to you at the moment?)
o Because of the nature of this project, and its specific interest in the function of female pleasure, it is important for me to create an awareness of all bodies along lines of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Would you be comfortable sharing with me some of this information in an attempt to orient our individual & collective identities in response to our very white-capitalist-imperialist-heteronormative-patriarchal society?
o How have you benefited from certain//specific types of privilege? (i.e. the experience of whiteness//white-passing, cis-gendered-ness, middleclass-ness, heterosexuality, etc.) Please address all that apply to you.
o Simultaneously, how have you also been exploited because of your body? (i.e. the experience of female-bodied-ness, gender-queerness, bisexuality, homosexuality, etc.)
o What spaces do you feel most comfortable in?
o How important is it for you to maintain privacy within your intimate life? Does intimacy with yourself or someone else need to remain private in order for you to feel comfortable and//or safe? At what point do you decide what can be shared and what cannot?
o How often do you masturbate on a weekly basis?
o What does intimacy with yourself feel like? Do any compromises exist when you are alone with yourself?
o What are the limits of pleasure? > >>>When does something that was once pleasurable turn into something not pleasurable? What makes this change? Do you think limitations for giving//receiving pleasure are important? Unavoidable? Already in place for us? Decided by ourselves? By someone else? By who?
o What are your body’s limitations? > >>>How do either internal or external forces limit you and what you are capable of ? ? ? < <<< (when you are walking down the street, when you are interacting with a stranger, when you are with someone you care deeply about, when you are alone, when you are touching yourself, when you are making judgments about yourself, when others are making judgments about you, when others expect something from you that you cannot give…e.t.c..)
o What gives you power//makes you feel powerful?
o How do you think sex objects disrupt power?
o How do you think your sex object ((specifically)) disrupts something? Is it disruptive because of the way it looks ((non-phallic)) or because of the way you will use it?
o Why are you excited to be a part of this project?
o What do you want your sex object to look like? Be as specific as possible….