Of Mobiles and Menses: Researching Period Tracking Apps and Issues of Response-Ability

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is an attempt to identify and reflect upon the accountabilities and practices that arise from my research on menstrual apps. Employing Haraway’s concept of multispecies response-ability and drawing on the field diary that accompanied the research process, this text can be situated somewhere in between autoethnographical exploration and theoretical reasoning of how to determine responsibilities and implement ethical responses. After a short introduction of multispecies response-ability and period tracking apps, I pay close attention to my affective and sensory perceptions during the fieldwork. I then identify concrete practices of response-ability and acknowledge the limitations I have encountered in the field. Finally, I briefly draw on the figure of the cyborg to conceptualise the complex intertwinings of bodies and technologies.