Rhetoric Society Quarterly May 2016

Wearing an Ostomy Pouch and Becoming an Ostomate: A Kairological Approach to Wearability

Molly Margaret Kessler

Abstract

In both popular and scholarly discourse, wearable technologies are characterized primarily as technologies that quantify, providing wearers with new knowledge about themselves and their environments. Such limited characterizations do not fully engage technologies that are, indeed, wearable but do not simply quantify. This essay argues that wearability encompasses rhetorical work beyond that of popular, mainstream technologies like fitness trackers and sleep monitors. Using Judy Segal’s “kairology,” this essay traces five ostomy pouch narratives—focusing on narratives of empowerment and constraint and analyzing competing experiences of wearing and the divergent identifications those experiences support. The essay concludes with preliminary insights into how kairology is well-suited to help researchers tease out the dynamic processes between wearer and technology, as well as the identities that those processes make possible.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2016-05-26
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2016.1171693
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
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Citation context

Cited by in this index (8)

  1. Swartz (2024)
    Biodigital Literacy through Intimate Data: User Perceptions of FemTech and Pelv…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Swartz (2024)
    Biodigital Literacy through Intimate Data: User Perceptions of FemTech and Pelv…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  3. DeVasto (2024)
    Toward Rhetorically Infused Methods for Relational Network Modeling: The Visual…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Kirkscey (2021)
    mHealth Apps for Older Adults: A Method for Development and User Experience Des…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Gouge et al. (2018)
    Wearable Technologies and Invention
    Rhetoric Review
Show all 8 →
  1. Arduser (2018)
    Impatient patients: a DIY usability approach in diabetes wearable technologies
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Amidon et al. (2018)
    Sensors and gizmos and data, oh my: informating firefighters' personal protecti…
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  3. Jones et al. (2018)
    Guest editors' introduction wearable technologies and communication design
    Communication Design Quarterly

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CrossRef global citation count: 12 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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