This book chapter explores the role of fem and sex technologies in contemporary society for tracking menstruation, fertility, menopause, sexual pleasure and intimacy. We introduce this chapter with a discussion on the use of femtech, and continuing on to further commentary on the application and use of sextech. We then explore the design approaches to such technologies and devices with recommendations for future research. Over the last two decades the phenomenal development of technology is vast. Ranging from smartphones to apps, social media platforms, how we communicate through social media expanded platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or through ios platforms such as Facetime. Interoperability whereby the person interacts with a technology device but manages on another device e.g., a smartphone is more than ever a critical factor to the adoption and usability of these devices (Shore, 2019). Yet, one of the growing areas of scholarly research is fem(ale) focussed health technologies also referred to as ‘femtech’ (Tin, 2016) and sextech technologies. There are many forms and interactions associated to sex and fem technologies including dating apps, sex robots and dolls, Bluetooth enabled toys (e.g., vibrators), virtual reality (VR) porn (Dekker, et al., 2020; Elsey, et al., 2019), or VR environments - cybersex (Harley, & Morgan, and Frith, 2018), health and sexual wellness platforms or apps (Cheok, & Zhang, 2019).
The discourse presented in this book chapter explores how some of these technology devices and toys are used by different audiences such as people with disabilities or women seeking self awareness to reproductive and menstrual cycles or managing menopause symptoms. This cross-disciplinary position piece explores fem and sex tech from the perspective of health, wellbeing and lifespan/life course design, contributing to the fields of sexology, product design, social sciences and menopause. The potential impact leading on from this work relates to a will contribute to knowledge through a heightened awareness of fem and sex tech into mainstream disciplines e.g., gerontology and gerontechnology. This will encourage new approaches and greater cross-disciplinary research opportunities to build up evidence-based research - ultimately setting out a new area of research in these respective disciplines.