Why the world needs Clue (and thank you!)

A personal letter from Carrie Walter, Co-CEO with Audrey Tsang.

What we are doing at Clue has always felt salient to me. But in the final weeks of 2021, it seems particularly pressing. The heartbreaking stories of Afghan women are a reminder of how gender is used to deny basic human rights, in circumstances already desperate for everyone. Closer to home, the Texas vigilante abortion ban shows that being one of the richest places on earth is no protection against society tearing itself up over the control of people’s uteruses.

Even though most people (of all genders) seem to agree that there should be more choice, better family planning options and accessible healthcare, a fanatic minority is capable of capturing the system. There is still a wide and deep belief that female bodies need to be controlled and obscured. That civilization somehow depends on policing who and what counts as “female”, who and what doesn’t, and enforcing the difference.?

Our users in 190 countries report that the sexual, menstrual and reproductive facts of life come with cultural baggage, everywhere.

None of this is news. It has just made me think a lot recently about how Clue can truly be most helpful to as many people as possible. We make an app that wants to educate about menstrual, sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. We want to create a space in which people can closely observe their own unique experience, unhindered by shame or restrictive norms. We want to take high-quality information about universal characteristics, and help people relate it to their lives - whether an experience is painful or wonderful. In most lives, it is both at some point, and everything in between. Only sometimes is medical intervention warranted, but every day we are making meaning out of what it feels like to live in this body.?

By treating people with respect for their experience, their health and their intelligence, Clue will contribute something to the world that is truly needed.

Clue necessarily straddles two worlds: on the one hand, the world of science and healthcare - and on the other hand, the world of subjective experience, of emotion and identity, spirituality even. Our users in 190 countries report that the sexual, menstrual and reproductive facts of life come with cultural baggage, everywhere. They also share some of their most personal highs and lows, and transformations. Because there is so much at stake, helping people relate to their experience in a way that is more honest and more accepting holds such enormous potential for human flourishing.

I’ve sent this to the whole team at Clue internally, but Audrey and I want to make sure we publicly thank you for your incredible care and dedication to the mission this year. I believe that if anyone can hold the multiple perspectives needed to build human-centered technology, you can. And by treating people with respect for their experience, their health and their intelligence, Clue will contribute something to the world that is truly needed.?

Carrie Walter is Clue's co-CEO.