TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantified sex: a critical analysis of sexual and reproductive self-tracking using apps
AU - Lupton, Deborah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2015/4/21
Y1 - 2015/4/21
N2 - Digital health technologies are playing an increasingly important role in healthcare, health education and voluntary self-surveillance, self-quantification and self-care practices. This paper presents a critical analysis of one digital health device: computer apps used to self-track features of users’ sexual and reproductive activities and functions. After a review of the content of such apps available in the Apple App Store and Google play™ store, some of their sociocultural, ethical and political implications are discussed. These include the role played by these apps in participatory surveillance, their configuration of sexuality and reproduction, the valorising of the quantification of the body in the context of neoliberalism and self-responsibility, and issues concerning privacy, data security and the use of the data collected by these apps. It is suggested that such apps represent sexuality and reproduction in certain defined and limited ways that work to perpetuate normative stereotypes and assumptions about women and men as sexual and reproductive subjects. Furthermore there are significant ethical and privacy implications emerging from the use of these apps and the data they produce. The paper ends with suggestions concerning the ‘queering’ of such technologies in response to these issues.
AB - Digital health technologies are playing an increasingly important role in healthcare, health education and voluntary self-surveillance, self-quantification and self-care practices. This paper presents a critical analysis of one digital health device: computer apps used to self-track features of users’ sexual and reproductive activities and functions. After a review of the content of such apps available in the Apple App Store and Google play™ store, some of their sociocultural, ethical and political implications are discussed. These include the role played by these apps in participatory surveillance, their configuration of sexuality and reproduction, the valorising of the quantification of the body in the context of neoliberalism and self-responsibility, and issues concerning privacy, data security and the use of the data collected by these apps. It is suggested that such apps represent sexuality and reproduction in certain defined and limited ways that work to perpetuate normative stereotypes and assumptions about women and men as sexual and reproductive subjects. Furthermore there are significant ethical and privacy implications emerging from the use of these apps and the data they produce. The paper ends with suggestions concerning the ‘queering’ of such technologies in response to these issues.
KW - apps
KW - digital devices
KW - healthcare
KW - self-surveillance
KW - self-tracking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84924487462&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13691058.2014.920528
DO - 10.1080/13691058.2014.920528
M3 - Article
SN - 1369-1058
VL - 17
SP - 440
EP - 453
JO - Culture, Health and Sexuality
JF - Culture, Health and Sexuality
IS - 4
ER -