Re-Imagining Futurity for Fat, Disabled and “unhealthy” Bodyminds: A Response to 23andMe’s Health + Ancestry Genetic Testing Kits

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the era of rising biotech corporations integrating into the medical landscape, how can a future for non-normative bodyminds be reimagined? The biotech company 23andMe sells the idea of controlling, curing and knowing one’s bodymind and biological future on a genetic level through their Health + Ancestry kits, research, and various new products and tests for weight loss. 23andMe plays into the pre-existing desires to erase fat, disabled, and “unhealthy” bodyminds from the future. This article explores the impact of 23andMe’s Health + Ancestry kit and research initiatives on fat, disabled and “unhealthy” bodyminds to question which bodyminds are understood as deserving empowerment and which are marked for erasure – and moreover, who is benefiting from this. This is accomplished through outlining the roles of technology, new media, social media influencers, researchers, and medical professionals in marketing and normalizing direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing kits and self-surveillance. Further, this article asks how to imagine alternative means of survival through crip care networks, coalition building among fat, disabled and “unhealthy” bodyminds, and a re-imagining of biotech products through crip technoscience.