#13 - Critiquing Cyborg Menstral Interventions

Hello and welcome to the spaghetti juntion in my Brain. Today I am reading through the second part of my most recent essay, I-AI-Woman-Womb.I reflect on the feminisation of AI and its implications for women’s bodies and the future of humanity. I talk about the Blade Runner films as an example of how we see these dynamics playing out through sci-fi on the big screen. I reflect on Donna Haraway’s essay, A Cyborg Manifesto’, and, drawing from my own life experience, I recount decades spent contorting myself, using hormonal drugs and implants, and trying any remedy to suppress my body’s natural cycles—often at great personal cost, including being hospitalised due adverse effects of the mini pill. In my case birth control was not being used so much for reproductive control, but was mostly driven by a pressure or need to maintain productivity and meet societal expectations, rather than learning to slow down and seek what was truly best for me and my body. Over time, I have learned to listen to my body and started accepting my natural cycles. Of course birth control is a very important intervention and something that all women should have access too, but not all people suit it and it’s important to recognise that many of the interventions placed upon women’s bodies serve larger systems—fitting us into capitalist structures—rather than bringing genuine personal wellbeing or true liberation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasheeran.substack.com/subscribe