The Anthropologist as Female Head of Household

A description of how field work experience helped mold an anthropologist's attitudes & behavior in her personal life, especially in relation to her role as a single parent & head of household. Different ways in which ethnographers establish rapport with their Rs are discussed; it is suggested that the degree of intimacy achieved varies with the SS & general personality of the researcher, as well as with the nature of the fieldwork & the expectations of the host culture & individual Rs. The researcher can be drawn into the culture & changed in unpredictable ways. Gender, age, race, upbringing, & marital status have important effects on such changes. Recognition of this aspect of fieldwork may have implications for anthropological theory & feminist theory, as well as for the individual psychological development of researchers. Modified AA.