Thread by @Suebearoo

"Navigating Depression and Graduate Research during COVID-19"
Sue-Ann Benson-Haughton
University of Manitoba
Master's of History (2022)
I am tweeting on Treaty One Territory, home of the Anishinaabeg, Cree and Dene peoples.

#PandemicMethodologies #CdnHist @PMTC2021 @CndHistAssoc

I've struggled with depression for 6 years. Trying to complete my M.A. during a pandemic has been exceeding difficult. Campus? Closed. Libraries? Closed. Archives? Closed. I’ve had to re-learn how to learn in isolation.
#PandemicMethodologies #Gradstudents #depression

In 2019, I worked as a stripper for 4 months, while attending full-time M.A. classes and working PT. I lost both jobs in March 2020. I didn’t have classes again until Jan 2021. It felt like the rug was ripped out. Pandemic dragged, my depression got worse.
#PandemicMethodologies

My research interests changed in the fall of 2020, when Canadian stripper Onyx Sachi spoke out about the abuses that Canadian dancers face within the adult entertainment industry.
survivetheclub.com/news/2020/12/9…
#PandemicMethodologies

I am not the first university student to work in the sex industry. As a white, university-educated woman, society places me in a position of privilege over street-based and racialized female sex workers. I reject this.
aninjusticemag.com/what-is-the-wh…

#PandemicMethodologies

As a part of pursuing research about sexual labour, I have had to challenge and introspect my privilege and preconceived notions ingrained in my psyche since childhood. This has helped me heal and understand my depression better.
thewhoresofyore.com/katersquos-jou…
#PandemicMethodologies

Under Capitalism there is this socially ingrained ideology that a never-ceasing notion of productivity is required to be successful, happy and fulfilled. Scholars have emphasized agency and empowerment as being central factors. But what about Money?

#PandemicMethodologies

Internet censorship and the cultural distancing between online sex work and full-service work demonstrates in real-time the issues that historians have with accurately depicting the experiences of sex workers within the historical record.
#PandemicMethodologies #sexworkiswork

Despite increasing acceptance of civilian women participating in sex work on their own terms. Increased distancing between these activities and full-service sex work negatively affects street-based workers who don't have access to online spaces.
#PandemicMethodologies

In order to write better histories, we must challenge our internal belief systems and re-frame our education processes to incorporate more self-reflection and introspection. This is essential for every scholar.
bostonreview.net/gender-sexuali…

#PandemicMethodologies

I’m still learning myself. If you’d like to learn more about the histories of sexual labour, drug use, or how the stigmatization of these activities affected and continues to affect women today, here are some books that helped shape my research so far.
#PandemicMethodologies

- From Witches to Crack Moms by Susan C. Boyd
- Sex Work Matters ed. by Melissa Ditmore
- Workin' it: Women Living Through Drugs and Crime by Leon Pettiway
-Regulating Girls & Women 1920-1969 by Joan Sangster
#PandemicMethodologies #gradstudent #CdnHist

And here's a TikTok I made this morning to summarize my experience over the last year in a fun way!
#Pandemicmethodologies
Thank you @PMTC2021 for organizing this wonderful conversation!