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A shared life: childbirth, illness and death on the internet

Abstract

In this article, we analyse how ways of exposing bodily experiences on internet sites articulate with contemporary subjectivity formations. More specifically, we discuss what it means to share particular bodily events widely and publicly in terms of subjective configurations. We develop this theme through the examination of websites, Facebook groups and YouTube videos regarding three specific contexts of bodily management: at childbirth, in breast cancer treatment, and in the process of dying through assisted suicide. Our analysis emphasizes the significance afforded to choice and the legitimacy of experience, by means of which physical suffering becomes an element of self-transformation and of life enhancement.

Key words:
body; subjectivity; life; internet

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