Enacting up: using drawing as a method/ology to explore Taiwanese pregnant women's experiences of prenatal screening and testing

Through studying pregnant women's experience of prenatal screening and testing in Taiwan, this article argues that the collection of participant drawings provides a valuable contribution to feminist methodology where participants are seen as knowledgeable about their own situation. Drawings offer a context that enables us to analyse how participants (pregnant women and their partners) situated themselves in relation to their foetuses, technologies and families. This approach taught us an important methodological lesson, namely that methods always embody a particular political and epistemological location. Inspired by this line of thought, we suggest the concept enacting up, which combines the idea of enacting and the expression acting up to challenge scientific objectivity and biomedical practice while simultaneously giving voice to our participants.

Automated summary

Based on the study of prenatal screening experience of pregnant women in Taiwan, this article highlights the significance of participant drawings in feminist methodology, emphasizing that participants possess knowledge about their own situations. Drawings provide a context for analyzing how participants establish their relationships with their fetuses, technologies, and families. This approach teaches us the important lesson that methods always represent specific political and epistemological positions, and proposes the concept of "enacting up" to challenge scientific objectivity and biomedical practice while giving voice to the participants.