The Bio–Theopolitical Governance of Women’s Bodies and the Algorithmic Data Regime in Religion–Integrated FemTech Applications

Abstract

This article argues that mobile applications designed within the women’s health–focused FemTech ecosystem, integrated with religion, produce a bio–theopolitical governance architecture that merges with religious authority and articulates with surveillance capitalism by transforming physiological and ritual processes related to the female body into algorithmic practices. In this study, conducted using qualitative descriptive design, the applications Your Home–Mikvah Calendar, FEMM/PeakDay, and MyHayd, selected through purposive sampling, were examined using the walkthrough method and content analysis. The analysis, conducted along three thematic axes—algorithmic religious normativity, the reproduction of religious authority in the digital interface, and the informational religious subject—shows that cycle data are algorithmically converted into religious categories, that structural mechanisms linking decision flows to religious authority references are embedded in the interface, and that the user is positioned as a dual-layered subject who both fulfills religious obligations and produces sensitive data. The study introduces the “DEF” category to the FemTech literature, proposes the concepts of “algorithmic religious normativity” and “informational religious subject,” and aims to reveal the structural conditions that enable DEF applications to be integrated into the bio–theopolitical data regime.

Keywords

• Religion–Integrated FemTech
• Bio-Theopolitical Data Regime
• Algorithmic Religious Normativity
• Informational Religious Subject
• Data Privacy

Din–Entegre FemTech (DEF) Uygulamalarında Kadın Bedeninin Biyo–Teopolitik Yönetişimi ve Algoritmik Veri Rejimi

Abstract

Bu makale, kadın sağlığı odaklı FemTech ekosistemi içinde dinle bütünleşik olarak tasarlanan mobil uygulamaların (DEF) kadın bedenine ilişkin fizyolojik ve ritüel süreçleri algoritmik pratiklere dönüştürerek dinî otoriteyle birleşen ve gözetim kapitalizmiyle eklemlenen bir biyo–teopolitik yönetişim mimarisi ürettiğini ileri sürmektedir. Nitel betimleyici tasarımla yürütülen çalışmada amaçlı örnekleme yoluyla seçilen Your Home–Mikvah Calendar, FEMM/PeakDay ve MyHayd uygulamaları walkthrough yöntemi ve içerik analizi aracılığıyla incelenmiştir. Algoritmik dinsel normativite, dijital arayüzde dinî otoritenin yeniden üretimi ve enformasyonel dinsel özne olmak üzere üç tematik eksen üzerinden yürütülen analiz, döngü verilerinin algoritmik olarak dinî kategorilere dönüştürüldüğünü, karar akışlarını dinî otorite referanslarıyla ilişkilendiren yapısal mekanizmaların arayüze gömülü olduğunu ve kullanıcının hem dinî yükümlülüklerini yerine getiren hem de hassas veriler üreten iki katmanlı bir özne olarak konumlandırıldığını ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışma; “DEF” kategorisini FemTech literatürüne kazandırmakta, “algoritmik dinsel normativite” ve “enformasyonel dinsel özne” kavramlarını önermekte ve DEF uygulamalarının biyo–teopolitik veri rejimiyle eklemlenmesini mümkün kılan yapısal koşulları görünür kılmayı hedeflemektedir.

Keywords

• Din–Entegre FemTech (DEF)
• Biyo–Teopolitik Veri Rejimi
• Algoritmik Dinsel Normativite
• Enformasyonel Dinsel Özne
• Veri Mahremiyeti

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