Thread by @wiczipedia

ICYMI: I’m pregnant with my first child, and was shocked to encounter the manipulation and outright disinformation that exists on pregnancy apps. I wrote about it for @WIRED: wired.com/story/pregnanc…

There are a few things I’d like to address that have come up in the 24 hours that the piece has been out. A short thread:

It’s interesting—though not surprising—to see who’s engaging with this piece. I’ve gotten a lot of notes from other young mothers and women who are tired of the way the internet and society overlooks our needs, and expects us, as I write, “to grin and bear it.”

I’ve gotten two notes from young fathers. Otherwise, veeeeery few male-presenting accounts have even clicked like on the piece, or congratulated me. This is part of the problem—our collective treatment of pregnancy as a mystical, feminine experience, and not a fact of life.

So, my dudes, just because the headline says “moms-to-be” and the art includes a pregnant belly doesn’t mean you can’t read, engage, support, and think critically about the ways that the internet underserved half of the population (and by extension, children).

Also, I’ve gotten comments about my use of “pregnant people” throughout the piece, as well as my call out of an internet built for and by “cisgender white men.”

First, it was important to me to make sure this piece was inclusive. There are many non-binary people who give birth.

Second, my research on online abuse underscores not only how difficult it is to be a woman online, but how that difficulty is compounded when a person has intersectional identities: wilsoncenter.org/publication/ma…

The same is true for pregnancy apps and some medical care.

And finally, the callous reaction of some to this piece just underscores how poorly understood and respected pregnancy and childbirth is by the majority of the population, and why apps like these filling a gap where reputable information could live is even more dangerous.

If you think it’s “funny” that for some American women (especially those who are poor and marginalized) an app that is feeding them unreliable medical information and attempting to get them to spend money they don’t have is a PRIMARY MEDICAL RESOURCE, then please unfollow me.

TL;DR:

PREGNANCY IS A SOCIETAL ISSUE, NOT A WOMEN’S ISSUE. SOCIETY BENEFITS WHEN PREGNANT PEOPLE ARE TREATED BETTER AND EMPOWERED, NOT LIED TO AND MANIPULATED.

And now this pregnant lady is going to take a nap.