PRESENTER AT THE Hope and Empathy in Uncertain Times Symposium

Digital technologies and embodied experiences: a study in a sample of women in Australia

Today, new dietary trends such as clean eating, veganism, intermittent fasting and paleo continue to attract attention and conflict with evidence-based advice endorsed by government-led initiatives. The affordances of digital technologies, namely social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok, are important features when analysing contemporary health and food-related domains as they present the affective forces that support and reproduce normative ideals of embodiment, self-responsibility and food consumption.

My research project aims to explore the role of digital technologies among women aged 18-35 living in Australia to uncover the factors that influence food intake. I situate my study as part of an emerging field of scholarship that draws attention to the entanglements of relational ontologies and engagements that explain human health and embodiment. Here, I integrate a traditional public health model with a sociomaterialism framework to better understand the factors that drive or hinder food consumption. Initial findings from qualitative fieldwork point to the micro-political encounters and affective forces that surface for women when making health and food-related decisions.

To date, there is limited research on the impact of digital technologies to create, support and reproduce normative ideals of embodiment and food consumption in Australia. Given the potential effects on health outcomes, individual experiences that prompt and shape certain food behaviours require analysis.