Thread by @MARIADAHVANA

If anyone doubted that the world of pregnancy apps is a misogynist, batshit, blameful place? I just received this notification, complete with alarm bells, at week 26. Note: this app is called Flo. It’s a period tracker that switches to a pregnancy app. It’s really popular.

Here, some more highlights from @flotracker’s misogynist pregnancy “Health Insights,” sent as notifications, and as though they contain actual science rather than paranoid folklore, shaming and bizarre instructions about haircuts.

To be clear, the reason this app is still in my life is that I’m inherently interesting in analyzing misogyny and the way it shapes identity FROM BEFORE BIRTH. I mean, hi, I just wrote a whole novel about this topic. But these notices are next level.

Here, for your edification/infuriation is a notice from a similarly popular “daddy” app - in this case “Daddy Up.” Which is lumberjack themed. 😖Check out that week 16 tip. Note: “babe the blue” is the title I put in, because this app is all about your woman being livestock.

My house had a theoretically comedic readaloud of these notifications and one by one everyone fell into a silent gasping rage against binarized heteronormative misogynist Yellow Wallpaper-meets-Bro-cultural standards. So, be warned.

Here’s another lumberjack themed one from Daddy Up. Check out that week 23 tip.

One of the main reasons I decided to talk about being pregnant out here in the wilds of the web is...FURY. The moment I had to engage with pregnancy culture, I was flooded with ads for products to fix me, to make me thin, & to make sure my partner didn’t flee my emotions.

Equal parts targeted ads for pregnancy Spanx (this exists) & bow-throat dresses to make me “cute.” You know what kind of consumer I am. Rock & roll sequins, covered in tattoos, & write books about misogyny FOR A LIVING, but the moment my data said pregnant? Floods of misogyny.

Make no mistake: the ways apps like this sell period data & pregnancy planning data, while also pressing consumer panic buttons, in one step away from actions like this. harpersbazaar.com/culture/politi…

My present to myself at 26 weeks is to raise my fists in the air against the way this culture trains women to hate themselves, sells data in order to make pregnant people afraid that they’re now inappropriate, and supports rape culture by insisting that consent is unsexy.

Today in @flotracker. I think we all know that a positive attitude is really all you need to embark into childbirth with. It will definitely keep any complications from occurring. Gimme a smile!