Dismantling Feminist Biology Through the Design of Etextiles

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Dismantling Feminist Biology Through the Design of Etextiles Dismantling Feminist Biology through the Design of eTextiles Abstract: We present the design of a toolkit that ex- 1 2 Teresa Almeida , Ko-Le Chen , plores textile materials with electronics as interac- Rob Comber1 and Madeline Balaam1 tion material for intimate health literacy, and method for engaging women in self-care. This toolkit includes 1 KTH Royal Institute of Tech- nology, Stockholm, Sweden a series of artefacts designed for research. A range of [email protected], rcomber@ design and craft techniques were used, and materi- kth.se, [email protected] als explored, as medium to engender conversations 2 Newcastle Universi- between communities of women on practices of in- ty, Newcastle, UK timate care. The toolkit consists of a set of materials [email protected] for the following two activities 1) body mapping and 2) do-it-yourself (DIY) wearable eTextiles. We pre- sent findings from our case study that included itera- tions with the toolkit within four discrete workshops, and a total of 22 women and girls age range 15-52. Our approach draws from feminist biology to assi- milate notions of embodiment and bodily functions in ways that are conducive to knowledge production. Within this study we put a focus on interweaving aesthetics with the material landscape of electronic textiles and the body; making with and through DIY artefacts supported by technology-enabled materi- als, to shape and strengthen knowledge of processes within and between bodies. We contribute a design- erly approach to creating bodily awareness through hands-on engagement with crafting technology. Keywords: Intimate care; tool- kits; eTextiles; feminist biolo- gy; woman-centred design 1 Frictions and Shifts in RTD #rtd2019 #researchthroughdesign #delft #rotterdam 2 Almeida, Chen, Comber and Balaam | eTextile Toolkit. 3 Introduction erly approach engages with crafting technology The bodies through which we produce knowledge and uses aesthetics and the materiality of a tool- matter (Haraway 1988; Harding 1991), and how kit to enable the development of intimate body we know what we know is conditioned by systems knowledge and awareness in a ‘public’ setting. Frictions and Shifts in RTD of inclusion and exclusion from the communi- ties that configure knowledge (Schiebinger 1993). Bodies and Technologies Traditionally, women have been a group of people Throughout history, the female body has been ignored in the production of knowledge (Tuana associated with taboo, a restriction that to this day 2006), even so when knowledge is directly related continues to hinder the development of women’s to them and their bodies. Historically, it was the intimate health and care, e.g. across geographies professionalisation and medicalisation of wo men’s (Tuli et al. 2018) and devices (Rossmann 2008). health that, in detriment of women’s traditio- Whereas the biological body has long been a nal knowledge, was instrumental in establishing problem for feminism (Birke 1999), or feminists “women as objects of knowledge, but not as au- arguing that there are no ‘women’s bodies’ at thorised knowers” (ibid 2006). In light of this, we all (Frost 2011), new approaches that look at the contend that design, as an effective tool for social body as a living organism explore how process- change (Prado de O. Martins 2014), is uniquely es involved in the materiality of the body, e.g in situated to withstand what previously has hindered its anatomy and physiology, can actively matter women’s development in, and access to, health and and contribute to social and cultural constructs care. In our work, we aim to make accessible topics (ibid 2011). Similarly, we advance that biologi- of the body, such as those that are intertwined with cal processes and behaviour are shaped by the taboo and misinformation in connection to biolo- social and the cultural, but also that of the mate- gical knowledge. In doing this, we challenge tradi- rial. Bodies hurt, bleed, and are made of flesh. tional forms of engaging women in understanding their bodies, and propose renewed approaches to We shift the focus to that of processes and acti- designing materials that promote bodily aware- vities within and between bodies. In health, we ness, value care, and invite women to become em- might take for granted our bodily functions and bodied knowers. As argued elsewhere, knowledge, the way our bodies manage themselves (Birke or lack thereof, is actively produced (Tuana 2006), 1999). While the biological body might be a part and we explore notions of the body in relation to its of the great unmentionable (ibid 1999), the bio- biology to disentangle novel approaches conducive logy of the body “is crucial – and a vital ally – in to create self-awareness through interaction with terms of how we understand both embodiment (technology-enabled) materials and activities. (our own and others) and the subtly sociopoliti- cal dimensions of scientific knowledge produc- We position our approach in that making de- tion” (Åsberg and Birke 2010). Biology is also sign-as-inquiry enables tackling sensitive topics what includes bodily functions, and this study and engagement with varied communities with- was aimed at using novel interactive materials in workshop settings. This designerly approach as tools to open dialogues within communities contends that thinking through making is integral of women in understanding biological proce sses to knowledge and understanding (Durrant et al. such as those involved in pelvic health care. 2017), and it views research through design as a resource for the production of new knowledge Whereas the design of eTextiles as interactive (Storni 2015). Hence, we draw from a conceptual- materials that generate knowledge has mainly ization of feminist biology, one that accounts for focused on learning and teaching computation and the processes within the biological body and is engineering, (Buechley and Perner-Wilson 2012) removed from gender bias, to explore biological also note that “the experience of making things knowledge and biological embodiment in legi- by hand is an important part of being human” timate ways that are useful to the production of and different ways of doing can engage different knowledge. Put into practice, we designed a toolkit kinds of people in creating technology. More- that combines tangible visual media and on-body over, approaches that apply eTextiles as artefacts interactions to support learning about intimate to facilitate and mediate knowledge of the body body parts and their functions. This toolkit con- vary from making and designing wellbeing, e.g sists of a set of materials for the activities of body (Briggs-Goode et al. 2017), through anatomy and mapping and DIY wearable eTextiles, and it was physiology (Norooz et al. 2015), the latter using used in four workshops and 22 women and girls in computational textiles to deliver an interactive ex- total, from 15 through to 52 years old. This paper perience of unseen “body organs” to children. In a introduces findings from this case study to high- similar way, the research introduced in this paper light qualities that merge knowledge-generating combines making and wearable eTextiles as a form activities with the design of artefacts. The design- of raising awareness of the body. Specifically, we #rtd2019 #researchthroughdesign #delft #rotterdam 4 explore such an approach as catalyst for body organs that are intimate, the set of materials discussion around sensitive, embarrass- available during the workshops invited partici- ing, taboo topics as described earlier. pants to recall existing body knowledge, and to expand on that same knowledge through a hands- ‘Doing’ enables different concerns for embo- on process of DIY discovery of and ‘on’ the body. diment, emotionality, and situated enquiry o­­ To do this, we integrated two research methods therwise overlooked (Rosner et al. 2016), and the to making and working with tangible materials 1) experience of engaging with the making of ma- body mapping: Body maps have a history of fa- terial objects can contribute to engage in more cilitating conversations around sensitive topics intricate issues (Ratto 2011). Generally defined, (Solomon 2007; Zablotny 2014), and we used body experiences are far more effective tools for pro- mapping as a creative method to talk about bodily voking estrangement, discomfort and, ultimately, taboos that are problematised by touch (Suvilehto reflection (Prado de O. Martins 2014). In explo­ et al. 2015), specifically the anatomy of the pelvis ring ways for technology to contribute to cre- and the female perineum. Moreover, the difficulty ating bodily awareness around intimate pelvic associated with researching ‘troublesome’ to- health, the interactions that took place between pics and the “social codes that dictate that we do the toolkits and women in the workshops opened not talk about our ‘private parts’ with strangers up the space for ‘knowing’. Such generating ac- or acquaintances” as it were a transgression of tivities led to conversations around experien- boundaries between public and private is explored ces of care and revealed how qua lities of body in (Braun 1999). In this sense, body mapping was knowledge can be affected by topics of taboo, positioned as an alternative approach that em- misinformation, and lack of self-awareness. ploys clothing as embodied experience to express knowledge of the body and to facilitate conversa- The eTextile Toolkit tions around these anatomical private parts; 2) The eTextile Toolkit introduced in this paper DIY wearable eTextiles: In engaging with clothing combines technologies to explore novel ways to as embodied experience, the focus remains in promote bodily awareness around pelvic health the anatomy. However, by introducing eTextiles, (figure 1). It aimed to bring to the foreground re- we focus on the morphology of the pelvic floor search in a sensitive topic and to challenge lines muscles, which is an unexplored, albeit crucial, of inquiry that continue to be absent. In gene- topic in intimate health education.
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