Knowing what’s normal. The Production and Conveyance of Knowledge via Menstrual Tracking Apps and what that has to do with Capitalism

Menstrual tracking applications that enable users to translate bodily states in relation to their menstrual cycle into data by means of predefined categories are part of the growing lifelogging and (self-)datafication trend. Combining questions on customisation and capitalistic logics in the digital present, the article first reveals two levels of (self-)disciplining by interweaving exemplary observations of the menstrual tracking application Flo with theoretical considerations. In the subsequent analysis, it becomes apparent that human and algorithmic optimisation in the context of menstrual tracking applications merge in an almost economic process. Through the interrelationships among (self-)discipline, health, and capitalism, technology-induced pre-sortings and algorithmic prefigurations become visible, prompting a debate on the modes of subjection in the digital present.