Dr. Marissa Doshi joined the faculty at Hope College (USA) in 2014. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication and a Masters in Science and Technology Journalism from Texas A&M University. Her B.S. in Life Sciences and Biochemistry is from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India. Dr. Doshi's research draws on feminist perspectives to examine the creative and cultural dimensions of communication technologies and media practices.


The title of her talk is "Barbies, goddesses, and cyborgs: A content analysis of women’s health apps".


In this talk, she will discuss the results of a critical content analysis of mobile phone applications, or apps, in the iTunes store that are marketed to women for managing their health. Research has focused on the ways in which women include mHealth in their lives and if the behavior changes advocated by health apps align with current behavior change theories. Recently, however, researchers have begun questioning the behaviors and knowledge that are prioritized through mHealth design. This study contributes to this conversation by using a technofeminist perspective to understand if and how apps challenge dominant discourses about women’s health. Results show that the healthy female body promoted by women’s health apps can be understood through two primary archetypes. 1. Barbie with booty and 2. Earth goddess. Together, these archetypes show that white, skinny, young and fertile female bodies are constructed as the standards for health. Women are encouraged to achieve these bodies through practices of self surveillance, disclosure and self-advocacy, which are encouraged and normalized through use of women’s health apps. Thus, although these apps have proliferated in recent times, they promote narrow understandings of healthy female bodies.