Starving for safe spaces : knowledge production, consciousness-raising and “the political” in the Facebook group Fittlife

Abstract: The thesis explores online knowledge production around a subject that has been considered taboo and inappropriate through history – sexual, reproductive and genital health for people with female genitals. Therefore, it also examines the political potential of coming together to openly discuss such “delicate issues”. The focus of the study is the Swedish Facebook-group “Fittlife – underliv och hälsa”, where questions are posed and advice is shared on matters regarding genital health and sexuality. In accordance with feminist standpoint theory, qualitative interviews with nine young women have been conducted, in order to understand the explanations and interpretations of Fittlife-members themselves. Fittlife is a unique case as it allows for looking at online knowledge production on genital health as well as for extending the view to include the social context and political potential of said knowledge production. Although there are many studies on health-related media use online and several of them research support groups and forums – and despite there being many studies about feminist online initiatives, such as feminist digital activism, there is not much done that matches the combined parameters of this study. The framework for analysing the group’s political potential is Peter Dahlgren’s “civic cultures” and Bennet and Segerberg’s “connective action”. The findings reveal that “the political” can be present even in seemingly apolitical settings. Although the women engage in Fittlife in order to learn more about genital health and broaden their horizons on bodies and sexuality, they are also part of a collective struggle with feminist foundations. They partake in the practice of consciousness-raising, linking their own experiences with those of others and mapping the reasons behind knowledge gaps about female genitals. The insights from the group reaches those outside of it too, but for the political voice in Fittlife to become even louder and lead to bigger societal shifts, more will be required. The study shows that the challenges lay in forming a collective identity and deciding which issues to prioritise.