Fertile Becoming: Reproductive Temporalities with/in Tracking Technologies

Abstract

Through close analysis of fertility and menstrual cycle tracking apps, this contribution explores how reproductive bodies, and their temporalities are understood, made and reshaped with and through technologies. We rethink reproductive temporalities through the lens of Kafer's (2013) and Forlano's (2017) notion of queer/crip time to account for the different and individual temporalities of bodies. By tuning into the everyday rituals and temporalities that emerge when living with real-time data around sociocultural norms of reproduction (Forlano, 2017), we make visible how fertile bodies are in a constant state of becoming. Empirically, we home in on the processes of becoming or unbecoming fertile and engagements of self-tracking as well as practices of self-care by drawing on data inquired through digital ethnographic methods. To contextualize the analysis within broader, (sub-)cultural imaginaries of reproductive futures, we combine walkthroughs of apps (Light et al., 2018) with analysis of discussions and data-sharing practices on social network sites dedicated to fertility tracking and queer/non-binary experiences of reproduction.