The term Female Technologies (FemTech) refers to a range of products and services for health conditions that are specific to or differently affect people who identify as female: from period underwear to nutritional supplements, blood, urine and saliva tests, app-based menstruation and ovulation trackers, telemedicine services and wearables such as pelvic floor trainers, milk pumps and smart rings. As disadvantages for women* in health research and medical care continue to be prevalent, these products and services are marketed as emancipatory tools with which women* can take charge of their health. In this context, leading Femtech start-ups describe FemTech as a technological and digital innovation. However, a number of current digital FemTech “innovations” starkly resemble analogue techniques and devices for women’s* health developed in the feminist health movement since the 1970s.
The project traces FemTech back to feminist self-help initiatives, community clinics and health organizations in which female* health continues to be a political, noncommercial, community-driven concern. As the FemTech market is growing exponentially and select FemTech is already available by medical prescription and paid by insurances, it is critical to understand today which female health knowledges and practices will and will not be privatized and what normative presuppositions about gender and health will be built into future FemTech.
