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Internet imagery is a powerful tool in which representation of people perpetuate discursive constructions that may invariably rank individuals according to race. The research informing this paper involved searching for Internet images associated with vaginal fistula and an analysis of racialisation in representations within. The data set consisted of photo images, drawings and diagrams of vaginal fistula. Observations were that photo images were predominantly of black women and drawings and diagrams of non-black women. This asymmetrical representation of vaginal fistula, we argue, locates the deservedness, worth and concern for women according to race - Black women as curiosities, dirty and/or deviant; non-Black women as clean, with dignity and worthy. We propose that these constructions serve to silence certain women and their health issues on the basis of race.
Introduction
This paper originates from an unintentional finding, which extended to a small research project in itself, when searching the Internet for images to support a presentation on vaginal fistula. Our initial Internet observations were of differences in the way vaginal fistula were represented in what appeared to be racialised images: Black women's images took the form of photographs; non-Black women's images took the form of non-photo images such as drawings and diagrams. In extending our observation to the current project, we conducted a Boolean search of the Internet using both tracking and non-tracking search engines; going through each image of vaginal fistula and the associated websites one-by-one to analyse the racial themes surrounding them. Searches confirmed our initial suspicions that vaginal fistula was exemplified in Internet images according to race. In this paper we theorise the racialisation of these images and consider how the racial themes identified may accordingly and adversely impact on the women represented.
Vaginal fistula is an abnormal communication between two or more epithelial surfaces, usually the vagina and bladder, or vagina and rectum. These types of fistula lead to the escape of urine or faeces through the vagina and cause women to live with extreme indignity. While the causes of vaginal fistula are many, the majority develop during prolonged labour in which pressure on the vaginal wall severs the blood supply, causing necrosis of the tissue and subsequent formation of a cavity (Donnay and Ramsey 2006; Wall 2012). Females in the...