Blood and Data Flows: Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies and the Production of Corporeal Experience and Gynecological Knowledge: This study examines menstrual cycle tracking applications (MCTAs) as emerging "cloud-based care infrastructures" (Langstrup, 2013) that integrate diverse personal data, from medical and physiological to lifestyle and social information. While menstrual tracking has existed before, digitization has transformed it, making users’ intimate data central to MCTA business models. Despite privacy concerns, users rely on these apps for insights into their bodies, managing fertility, health, and daily life. This research, drawing from feminist science and technology studies (STS), explores how MCTAs shape gendered bodily experiences, considering how users interpret app-generated data, balance it with bodily sensations, and navigate uncertainties—what Lomborg et al. (2020) term “data doubt.” Through the MenstruTECH project, this paper presents preliminary findings from document and interface analysis of MCTAs, online ethnography, interviews with 30 users, and a survey of 2,000 participants. Findings reveal significant variations in how users produce and use intimate data based on their health status and relationship with bodily experiences. Initial results indicate a need to connect sexuality education with digital literacy around platform economics, highlighting the interplay between data use, user privacy perceptions, and the material realities of the body, as argued by Wilson (2015) and Grosz (1994).
Key Points
Findings reveal that menstrual cycle tracking applications transform intimate data into actionable insights, impacting users' health management.
In interviews with 30 users, notable variations were found in how users produce and interpret intimate data based on health status.
Document and interface analysis alongside ethnographic research provided a comprehensive view on the influence of menstrual tracking technologies.
The study underscores the importance of connecting sexuality education with digital literacy to address user privacy perceptions.
Abstract
International audience
Like
Bookmark
Share
Like
Bookmark
Share
Blood and Data Flows: Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies and the Production of Corporeal Experience and Gynecological Knowledge: This study examines menstrual cycle tracking applications (MCTAs) as emerging "cloud-based care infrastructures" (Langstrup, 2013) that integrate diverse personal data, from medical and physiological to lifestyle and social information. While menstrual tracking has existed before, digitization has transformed it, making users’ intimate data central to MCTA business models. Despite privacy concerns, users rely on these apps for insights into their bodies, managing fertility, health, and daily life. This research, drawing from feminist science and technology studies (STS), explores how MCTAs shape gendered bodily experiences, considering how users interpret app-generated data, balance it with bodily sensations, and navigate uncertainties—what Lomborg et al. (2020) term “data doubt.” Through the MenstruTECH project, this paper presents preliminary findings from document and interface analysis of MCTAs, online ethnography, interviews with 30 users, and a survey of 2,000 participants. Findings reveal significant variations in how users produce and use intimate data based on their health status and relationship with bodily experiences. Initial results indicate a need to connect sexuality education with digital literacy around platform economics, highlighting the interplay between data use, user privacy perceptions, and the material realities of the body, as argued by Wilson (2015) and Grosz (1994). | Synapse