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"The Need to Bleed? A Feminist Technology Assessment of Menstrual-suppressing Birth Control Pills
... While feminists hold a range of positions on menstruation and menstrual technology, a key focus of many feminist engagements has been valuing women's experiential ways of knowing and diminishing stigma (Aengst and Layne 2010;Bobel 2010). In addition to critiquing scientific representations of menstruation, feminist researchers have worked to generate new ones (Dan and Lewis 1992;Fausto-Sterling 2000;Martin 1991). ...
Hasson provides an examination of menstrual suppression technologies and the implications they have on understanding menstruation as both quintessentially natural and socially constructed, and even what ‘counts’ as menstruation. Taking the case of birth control pills, Hasson studies menstrual suppression by analyzing medical journal articles, FDA advisory committee transcripts, and website marketing. Across these contexts, she finds that new definitions of ‘menstruation’ converge on the distinction between bleeding that occurs when women are taking hormonal birth control and when they are not. Finally, Hasson draws attention to the concept of redefining a biological process that is deeply significant for gendered embodiment, as well as a challenge to consider both the social and material construction of gendered bodies.
Why AI does not include gender in its agenda? The role of gender in AI, both as part of the community of agents creating such technologies, as well as part of the contents processed by such technologies is, by far, conflictive. Women have been, again, obliterated by this fundamental revolution of our century. Highly innovative and the first step in a series of future studies in this field, this book covers several voices, topics, and perspectives that allow the reader to understand the necessity to include into the AI research agenda such points of view and also to attract more women to this field. The multi-disciplinarity of the contributors, which uses plain language to show the current situation in this field, is a fundamental aspect of the value of this book. Any reader with a genuine interest in the present and future of AI should read it.
In the following, I first define what a feminist technology is, referring to the approach of Linda L. Layne, Sharra L. Vostral, and Kate Boyer. In a second step, the two examples of dating apps and sex robots—with a specific focus on embodiment and the datafied self—will be examined from different classical feminist perspectives. Finally, a critical posthumanist analysis and critique will provide an answer to the initial question of whether dating apps and sex robots are feminist technologies or if the question itself might cover exclusionary (and thus antifeminist) traits.
To what extent can innovative reproductive technology contribute to meeting the needs of intended parents and to address women's health and care issues in different milieus? This paper adopts a combined critical materialist feminism and philosophical perspective and examines the discourses and policy developments found in the cross-border assisted reproduction technology (ART), the US's and the World Bank's development and family planning policy in Africa. The paper argues for re-framing an ontological and epistemological space of 'the political' which can provide a robust ethical basis for accommodating diverse conflicting requirements and setting rules in a transnational shared health governance.
Since the beginning of the so-called second wave feminism (in the middle of the 20th century), there has been a growing awareness of the urgency of a critical reflection on technics and science within feminist discourse. However, feminist thinkers have not consistently interpreted technics and science as emancipative and liberating for people who identify as women. At the same time, many early feminists criticized the structures of dominance, marginalization, and oppression inherent in numerous technologies as well as the technoscientific social structures. This is because technological development is mostly embedded in social, political, and economic systems that are patriarchally hierarchized.
Cervical cancer is a preventable disease. HPV infection has been linked to more than 90% of cervical cancers. A vaccine to prevent the acquisition of HPV has been available since 2006. The purpose of this study was to investigate women's perceptions of cervical cancer prevention, including HPV vaccination. A reproductive justice framework guided data collection and analysis. In 2016, researchers conducted 70 in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews with women aged 19–78 years in South Carolina. A purposive sampling approach was employed to maximize requisite variety based on social, economic, and environmental axes of inequality. Participants self-identified as white (53%), African American (33%), and Hispanic (9%). Data analysis included an inductive constant comparative method to identify patterns and themes across the interviews. Misinformation about the prevalence and risk of HPV and cervical cancer led to “othering” of women with HPV-related diagnoses based on the flawed assumption of not being at risk. Participants described a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness and safety of the HPV vaccine. Social norms influenced participants' perceptions of HPV vaccination and cervical cancer, including concerns about sexual activity and intergenerational communication. Participants’ social construction of identity, including race/ethnicity, socioeconomic position, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status, impacted their perceptions of cervical cancer screening and the HPV vaccine. In particular, participants believed that the HPV vaccine was “only for girls” and identified gender norms that limited uptake. Participants described barriers to accessing health care and cervical cancer screening, including cost, health insurance, and life changes (e.g., pregnancy, relocating). Many participants experienced an abnormal Papanicolaou test and described follow-up care, including biopsies and treatment for cervical dysplasia. Findings from this study offer insight into women's identity and perceptions of cervical cancer prevention. Results provide practical recommendations to increase women's agency in the development of successful public health interventions.
Despite a great deal of feminist work that has highlighted its social construction, menstruation seems a self-evidently “natural” bodily process. Yet, how menstruation is defined or what “counts” as menstruation is rarely questioned. Examining menstruation alongside technologies that alter it highlights these definitional questions. In this article, I examine menstrual suppression through an analysis of medical journal articles and FDA advisory committee transcripts, paired with websites used to market menstrual suppression to consumers. Across these contexts (clinical research, FDA regulation, and advertising), new definitions of menstruation converged on a distinction between bleeding that occurs when women are taking hormonal birth control and when they are not. The case of menstrual suppression birth control pills provides an opportunity to study the work of redefining a biological process understood as quintessentially natural and deeply significant for gendered embodiment, as well as a challenge to consider both the social and material construction of gendered bodies.
NovaSure® is an endometrial ablation procedure that destroys the inner lining of uterus to stop heavy bleeding. It is performed mostly on women entering menopause who are experiencing irregular and heavy bleeding. In this article, this biotechnology, promoted for women approaching the end of their reproductive life, is analyzed. The analysis is informed by a feminist science studies and medical anthropology background. The discourse of ‘normal’ menstruation and representations of menstruation in the promotional materials for NovaSure® are explored through a textual analysis of the NovaSure® website and patient brochure. The themes in the materials analyzed include the idea of getting back to life, ‘normal’ bleeding, and having a choice among different medical procedures and interventions. The possibility of getting rid of embarrassment that accompanies heavy bleeding is also emphasized. It will be argued that NovaSure® contributes to the redefinition of what is ‘natural’ and ‘necessary’ by combining the ‘unnecessary period’ idea of pills such as Seasonale®, which is aimed toward women in their reproductive years, with the ‘unnecessary suffering’ idea related to menopausal complaints. While advertising the procedure, NovaSure® promotional materials co-construct the ideal user for the technology and reproduce the taboos and embarrassment that accompany menstruation.
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