Wearable

“Wearable devices that measure, track and analyze physical data about the user have become integrated into the ways we understand health and wellness. As walking self-experimenters, we begin to hypothesize theories of the datafied self in conversation with our devices. Our theories meet the rapid growth of medicine's reliance on data and algorithms. A contest between big and small data, and between autotheories of health versus medical theories of how to quantify the health of the individual ensues. Is there an opportunity in wearables for the user to seize control of the means of big data production? Can we imagine challenging the impact of hegemonic discourses organizing health and medicine through wearable devices, say a counter-fitbit (counterfeit bit)?” – Kalindi Vora

Kalindi Vora is Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at University of California Davis, and Director of the Feminist Research Institute.