In this article, I consider ways in which the concept of "proximity" can be put to work to understand how gendering occurs in the conduct of gender research--the theme of this special issue. If we accept that researchers are always already inside and implicated in the issues into which they inquire, and that they simultaneously establish an outside position which enables them to notice patterns, make inferences, and develop understandings, then we can say that researchers are always in proximity to something, and that this proximity, inherited or otherwise, places objects, capacities, and understandings within their reach, while also permitting them to extend their reach. In this article, I consider what happens in gender research contexts when researchers register certain proximities, fail to see others, or deny those that make them uncomfortable. Framed by my ongoing research into place cultures in boys' schools, I argue that thinking gender research practices with the concept of "proximity" pushes researchers to think beyond essentializing accounts of how they gender and are gendered in doing gender research. (Contains 1 note.)