According to Vice News, the billionaire venture capitalist is backing a "femtech" app called 28.
The app, created by a controversial women's publication called Evie Magazine, claims to be a "cycle-based" nutrition and wellbeing program that helps women regain control of their bodies in the most natural way possible
A lot of Americans have just lost, rather than reclaimed, a significant degree of bodily autonomy, so funding a fertility startup is a bit of a turn.
A closer look at the app, and those who made it, shows a powerful political intersection between tech, health, and the wellness industry in which conspiracy theories and dubious pseudoscience are feeding a growing counter-counter-culture.
The science is not clear for a number of reasons. The main idea of the app is to get women to stop using modern birth control methods. It's almost comically vague on what the alternative might be, but a focus on "cycles" suggests that it's essentially the rhythm method, which involves attempting to avoid sex during ovulation. The rhythm method is not very effective, with a quarter of couples accidentally becoming pregnant over the average year.
There are more questions about the publication behind the app. Evie's makeup, workout, andholistic health tips and tricks are sandwiched between transphobia essays and anti-vax arguments. The rejection of a very specific version of feminism seems to be a natural extension of that apparent mission.
"We embrace our nature and our bodies, and care for them the way they deserve," reads 28's website. We asked questions that were unpopular and didn't wait for society's approval.
The pill had a negative impact on the brains and bodies of women. They were getting off it in droves and looking for natural alternatives. Provide women with the tools they need to thrive.
Women have had adverse reactions to the pill. Women of color have been left out of medical studies and tend to get mistreated by the medical establishment.
28's anti-birth control rhetoric ignores the fact that there are many different contraceptives and no one-size-fits-all to reproductive care. The demonization of hormonal birth control has become a sort of rallying cry in certain circles of the women's health community, where skepticism and conspiracy theories are common. In these growing communities, embracing the pill is to reject an inherent womanhood, and rejecting the pill is the only path to a beautiful, feminine body.
Evie has a broader anti-abortion, pro-life message. One Evie story, titled " Argentina, A Hot Spot For Human Trafficking, Just Legalized Abortion", argued that "trafficking, abuse, and abortion are inextricably linked," while many of its other stories make similarly dubious anti- abortion claims. One person says that the abortion pill is bad for women, while another person says that the abortion issue has nothing to do with reproductive freedom. The personal account of Hugoboom is filled with anti-feminist, pro-life rhetoric. The magazine claims to be a political one.
It's all being said, what could the man want with this app? There are other popular cycle- tracking applications. He wanted in on 28.
Of course, he could want the data, which has been a concern regarding some of Thiel's past investments, especially those related to his CIA-backed data analytic firm. Vice takes a look at the famous contrarian's penchant for funding and participating in bizarre health treatments, many of which center on an apparent interest with youth and living forever, an obsession shared by many in the tech industry
Not only is he in the tech industry, but he's also interested in funding other companies. Most of the campaigns that the billionaire has recently funded are anti-w. Evie funding is more than just a business bet. It's a political issue as well. Evie Magazine and 28 seem to be safe bets now that Roe America has passed.
"I tried to follow the science, but it wasn't there," reads a graphic that was recently shared by Hugoboom. I found the science after following the money.
It was oddly poignant.
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