Shooting Pains: Addressing Illness-Related Pain through Video Autobiography

Broderick Fox, Occidental College

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Full journal issue available at: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pain2010ever11007102.pdf

Abstract

This paper examines autobiographical videos and emergent uses of social software sites such as YouTube to explore the possibilities of first-person media as a pain management tool. Beyond the therapeutic possibilities, the paper also explores the potential of such personal media acts as a means of breaking down taboos around pain and illness – offering up models for managing, discussing, and even ‘performing’ pain in the public sphere.