You may feel minor discomfort : examining IUD insertion pain on Tik Tok
(2023) MKVM13 20231Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
- Abstract
- This thesis in media and communication studies examines the #IUDinsertionreaction trend in which creators film their live reactions undergoing an intrauterine device (IUD) insertion and post it on TikTok. This study specifically looks into how the platform’s high shareability and user-friendly experience allows for the production and distribution of experiential knowledge as well as collective validation in its comment section. It delves into how people react to these videos, the stories that they share, the tips that they give other users and their criticism of various issues around IUD insertions. Following Sandra Harding’s standpoint theory, this thesis inductively examines 1,000 comments across 10 different TikToks that use the... (More)
- This thesis in media and communication studies examines the #IUDinsertionreaction trend in which creators film their live reactions undergoing an intrauterine device (IUD) insertion and post it on TikTok. This study specifically looks into how the platform’s high shareability and user-friendly experience allows for the production and distribution of experiential knowledge as well as collective validation in its comment section. It delves into how people react to these videos, the stories that they share, the tips that they give other users and their criticism of various issues around IUD insertions. Following Sandra Harding’s standpoint theory, this thesis inductively examines 1,000 comments across 10 different TikToks that use the #IUDinsertionreaction tag to pull out recurring themes using Udo Kuckartz’s qualitative textual analysis. The results of interviews with 10 different participants are also included in methodology to further enrich the analysis. This thesis is written within a North American context.
The research in this thesis is positioned in gendered health and digital advocacy. The literature review provides an in-depth historical perspective on hysteria, the development of gynecological practices in the United States and the current resulting pain and data gap, as it pertains to this case study. It draws on the frameworks of several scholars in media and communication studies including various ideas discussed in Deborah Lupton’s Medicine as Culture, Stefania Vicari’s participatory health communication and Rita Charon’s narrative medicine. It also cites Banet-Weiser & Higgins work on gendered believability and Foucault's medical gaze to further support its arguments.
The findings in this thesis demonstrate that users do come to the digital media platform, TikTok to both give and partake in experiential knowledge around IUD insertions. Users also use this space to criticize doctors and healthcare providers on their lack of transparency of how painful an IUD insertion can potentially be, while some doctors on TikTok also take the opportunity to respond to these issues. This thesis concludes with why it is critical for people to have control over their own pain narratives and the potential consequences of not having that power.
Keywords: Participatory health communication, experiential knowledge, use of mediated spaces (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9119289
- author
- Mazzarisi, Alexandra Leigha LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MKVM13 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Participatory health communication, experiential knowledge, use of mediated spaces
- language
- English
- id
- 9119289
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-09 15:32:17
- date last changed
- 2023-06-09 15:32:17
@misc{9119289,
abstract = {{This thesis in media and communication studies examines the #IUDinsertionreaction trend in which creators film their live reactions undergoing an intrauterine device (IUD) insertion and post it on TikTok. This study specifically looks into how the platform’s high shareability and user-friendly experience allows for the production and distribution of experiential knowledge as well as collective validation in its comment section. It delves into how people react to these videos, the stories that they share, the tips that they give other users and their criticism of various issues around IUD insertions. Following Sandra Harding’s standpoint theory, this thesis inductively examines 1,000 comments across 10 different TikToks that use the #IUDinsertionreaction tag to pull out recurring themes using Udo Kuckartz’s qualitative textual analysis. The results of interviews with 10 different participants are also included in methodology to further enrich the analysis. This thesis is written within a North American context.
The research in this thesis is positioned in gendered health and digital advocacy. The literature review provides an in-depth historical perspective on hysteria, the development of gynecological practices in the United States and the current resulting pain and data gap, as it pertains to this case study. It draws on the frameworks of several scholars in media and communication studies including various ideas discussed in Deborah Lupton’s Medicine as Culture, Stefania Vicari’s participatory health communication and Rita Charon’s narrative medicine. It also cites Banet-Weiser & Higgins work on gendered believability and Foucault's medical gaze to further support its arguments.
The findings in this thesis demonstrate that users do come to the digital media platform, TikTok to both give and partake in experiential knowledge around IUD insertions. Users also use this space to criticize doctors and healthcare providers on their lack of transparency of how painful an IUD insertion can potentially be, while some doctors on TikTok also take the opportunity to respond to these issues. This thesis concludes with why it is critical for people to have control over their own pain narratives and the potential consequences of not having that power.
Keywords: Participatory health communication, experiential knowledge, use of mediated spaces}},
author = {{Mazzarisi, Alexandra Leigha}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{You may feel minor discomfort : examining IUD insertion pain on Tik Tok}},
year = {{2023}},
}