Cycles, the Sacred and the Doomed: Inquiries in Female Health Technologies

by Morgane Billuart

In a world propelled by swift technological progress and perpetual obsolescence, women frequently find themselves adapting and altering their daily experiences in order to remain functional. In the 21st century, as technology purports to comprehensively assess and address women’s conditions and physical discomfort, Cycles, the Sacred and the Doomed delves deeply into the realm of female health technologies, revealing a space where science, holistic methods, and mythology converge. This book challenges the idea of combining ancient wisdom with modern innovation and takes readers on a multidisciplinary journey to explore the intricacies of female’s health.

136 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2024

Reviews

[Um · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so so glad to have found a book written about this!!Particularly in relation to PMDD. This book has given me a lot to think about; new perspectives, ideas and feelings to evolve. Will continue to sit with me for some time.

[Becca M]

meh

[Natalie]

- I love the concept of this book, and I love artists investigating these issues. I enjoyed the format of mini essays, which introduced food for thought on a range of topics in a digestible way.
- BUT overall, I think the execution was pretty flawed. It could have used much tighter editing and review from subject matter experts, there were many typos / formatting / consistency issues (especially with the block quotes), word choice that didn’t totally make sense, many ideas were repeated or redundant throughout without adding new info, and importantly many arguments were made very superficially with no supporting evidence or “examples” that didn’t make sense in the context (ie on my read didn’t actually support what she was trying to say.) or, she’d state one thing and then in the next paragraph contradict that (and not in a self aware way). imo the essays showed a lack of, or very very rudimentary, understanding of all issues raised (privacy, participatory research, solutions) and workings of the femtech industry (which wasnt defined and often referred to as a monolith). I also personally disagreed with the POV on “alternative” medicines, and thought it was irresponsible not to highlight the potential risk to health as the biggest concern. There’s definitely value to non experts writing critically about these things, the impact and implications of tech, but i was disappointed by how incoherent this was.
- i thought the strongest parts were when the author recounted personal experiences, rather than trying to explain theories or research or advancing arguments. I would have loved to see more of the personal, and to see things presented as her own opinion rather than a definitive point of advocacy or statement of fact. The excerpt and interview at the back of the book was cool too.

[Grace Weissman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book and am so disappointed! It reads very stream of conciousness, which would be fine if it was only a memoir, but it is also attempting to be an academic text. The book is not well written or organized, leaving most of the arguments fairly incoherent. The most clear point made is that the author sees increasing integration of technology and use of AI in healthcare as the path towards their “dream” future. I work in data analytics for a major healthcare company in the US and also work as a labor and birth doula. I simply do not see how someone can care about healthcare, and in particular care about the health of vulnerable populations, and simultaneously promote the use of AI— a technology that is having dramatic effects on the health of our environment and thereby on the health of marginalized communities. I would also add that while the author rightly acknowledges concerns about privacy and bias in AI models, they seem to believe that this is a sign that underrepresented groups must be compelled to share more of their data. Legacies of extreme violence and unethical use of patient data from such groups have instilled deep distrust of medical institutions. It strikes me as a huge blindspot to not consider this as the author is urging people to contribute their data.

I wish there was more and better research into female health, I wish there were better healthcare systems that instilled greater trust between patients and providers, and I wish individuals had greater literacy about their own bodies. Unfortunately, the analysis and solutions proposed in this book are not leading us towards any of those goals.

[crystal yamna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having a menstruating body is quite oppressive and exhausting.

I have enjoyed the raised questions on healthcare misogyny, body optimization core, and two words on ancient wisdom about menstruation and rituals — I expected to read more about it based on the blurb of this book, though — so i did some additional research and learnt that the word Ritual comes from Sanskrit R'tu, meaning, remarkably, Menstruation. Somewhere along the way, that became something we need to fix.

The question the book left me with is if we werent expected the same productivity and emotional output every day (shaped by patriarchal capitalism) would we even need optimizing at all?

[Paula Reixach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Food for thought!! ¿Cuánto de lo que sabemos (o no sabemos) respecto a nuestros ciclos hemos cuestionado? ¿Cuánta falta de información (o desinformación) sobre nuestra salud como mujeres en una sociedad patriarcal tenemos?