Aleph, UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences

FemTech, a term coined in the past decade, encompasses technological products and diagnostic tools that cater to women’s health. While its creation was inspired by the neglect of women’s health needs, the FemTech philosophy represents a break from previous feminine products by empowering women to take ownership of their health. We illustrate the neglect of women’s health through the necessitated creation of a FemTech industry, in contrast with the absence of a superfluous ManTech industry. This paper analyzes the FemTech movement through a case study of Future Flora, a microbial sanitary pad, in comparison to other microbial projects both taboo and not. We demonstrate that FemTech’s success is determined by society’s reception of its feminist message. Nevertheless, the movement’s feminist message is necessary for the desensitatization and ultimate destigmatization of feminine health, the importance of which has been historically minimized. Sociologically, the movement hopes to achieve equitable representation of males and females in science and the market, and ultimately disestablishment of FemTech.