Letting the Lions loose

THERE was once a man and a lion travelling together through a forest, debating who was more powerful. Whilst disputing, they passed a statue depicting a man strangling a lion. “Ha!” Said the man. “See there! Look how strong we are, prevailing even over the king of beasts.”

Upon hearing this, the Lion paused, smiled and wryly replied “That statue was made by a man. If a lion had been the sculptor, you would see Man placed under the paw of the Lion.” ¹

This simple fable attests to the truth that what we hear invariably depends on who is telling it. As discussed in our Power and Inequity panel, in research the ‘teller’ is us. Moreover, it is a privilege not afforded to everyone. And so, the question must be asked: what story do we tell? Why?

Just as the statue affirms the man’s belief in his ‘superiority’ over the lion, Tracy McIntosh emphasised the sheer power our research carries in forging the lens through which the world is perceived. Consequently, the very act of putting pen to paper to conduct and disseminate research is profoundly political, intimately entangled in questions of power, privilege and exclusion. As the panellists were quick to note, it has far too often served the interests of the researcher and the societal ‘man’ at the expense of the ‘lions’, be they marginalised social groups or the researched themselves.

During the lecture Carisa Snowden posed the question of how we can make people participants in our research rather than merely objects. The answer she mused lies in co-construction. This task is far from easy. Like passionate sculptors, researchers take prideful ownership of their work and feel threatened by what could impact its perceived quality. By allowing others to meaningfully work on our research, we must be willing to accept that what we make, and indeed how we approach our work is subject to change. However, the price for not doing this can be far higher.

Whilst we as researchers may hold the chisel, for a more representative statue we must allow the lion to wield the mallet. Although daunting, the outcome is guaranteed to be surprising.

Feature Image Credit: Parker, Lara. “For everyone who thinks Simba is Hot: He’s the Mane attraction.” Buzzfeed. Accessed 7 May 2020. https://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/for-everyone-who-is-sexually-attracted-to-simba