TY - JOUR
T1 - Postfeminist Healthism
T2 - Understanding the Gendering of Healthism Using Menstrual Tracking Apps as an Example
AU - Riley, Sarah
AU - Evans, Adrienne
AU - Robson, Martine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.
PY - 2025/11/16
Y1 - 2025/11/16
N2 - ‘Postfeminist healthism’ offers an essential framework for understanding how healthism is gendered. In this article, we describe and advance the concept of postfeminist sensibility and its synergistic alignments with healthism. We then consider how postfeminist healthism operates as a subjectifying force for the millions of girls, women, and other feminine-identified people globally—even when it harms their mental or physical health. We use menstrual tracking apps (MTAs) as an indicative example to both demonstrate how a postfeminist healthism acts at the intersections of bodies, subjectivity, and health, and to show the value of a postfeminist healthism in understanding MTAs. Overall, we show the importance of understanding the distinct ways in which healthism is gendered through postfeminism.
AB - ‘Postfeminist healthism’ offers an essential framework for understanding how healthism is gendered. In this article, we describe and advance the concept of postfeminist sensibility and its synergistic alignments with healthism. We then consider how postfeminist healthism operates as a subjectifying force for the millions of girls, women, and other feminine-identified people globally—even when it harms their mental or physical health. We use menstrual tracking apps (MTAs) as an indicative example to both demonstrate how a postfeminist healthism acts at the intersections of bodies, subjectivity, and health, and to show the value of a postfeminist healthism in understanding MTAs. Overall, we show the importance of understanding the distinct ways in which healthism is gendered through postfeminism.
KW - Gender
KW - Healthism
KW - Menstrual Tracking Apps
KW - Postfeminist Sensibility
KW - Postfeminist Healthism
KW - Humans
KW - Menstruation
KW - Female
KW - Male
KW - Mobile Applications
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105021960737
U2 - 10.1111/1467-9566.70116
DO - 10.1111/1467-9566.70116
M3 - Article
C2 - 41243336
AN - SCOPUS:105021960737
SN - 0141-9889
VL - 47
JO - Sociology of Health and Illness
JF - Sociology of Health and Illness
IS - 8
M1 - e70116
ER -