#5SmartReads - February 28, 2023

Hitha on the economy, queer representation and celebration, and Nigeria's elections

February 28, 2023

What’s happening in the economy, corporate profits, and consumer spending has been a bit confounding.

Despite the recession chatter, increasing interest rates and prices for consumer goods, layoffs in the tech sector, consumer spending has been increasing over the past few months (the opposite would be expected with this current climate).

And while corporations will be just fine (profit margins are the highest they’ve been in decades), it will be at the expense of consumers. We’ve begun to see delinquency rates for credit card and automobile loans increase, especially among younger borrowers.

If prices don’t stabilize or lower, a significant part of our population will begin to spend more than their earning. And when you consider the already high cost of childcare and low pay (something Reshma has been sharing about in her feed), I don’t see how American families can endure without the public and the private sector stepping up.

This is not a simple problem, and there will not be a simple solution. But the best we can do is understand the many factors contributing to this macroeconomic problem, and do our best at home when it comes to our own budgets and teaching our children about personal finance. If you’re interested in the latter, come join the conversation in the comments of this Instagram post:

Having finished the latest season of Drive To Survive, Formula 1 is all I want to talk about at the moment (and am grateful to friends like Lily, Abby, and Melissa who are just as eager to dissect the series and swap predictions on the upcoming F1 season and motorsports in general).

My biggest issue with F1 is also my biggest issue in sports - the lack of opportunity and respect for women athletes. Susie Wolff - the former test driver for Williams Racing - came closer than any woman did to get on the F1 grid (driving in a practice session at Silverstone in 2014).

Susie’s rise in motorsports is a fascinating one (driver to ambassador, commentator, team principal in Formula E, and wife to Mercedes' principal Toto Wolff). Williams is also the only team on the grid who’s had a woman as deputy lead principal (Claire Williams held the role at the family-run team from 2013-2020).

So when Susie talks about how to increase women’s participation and expand opportunity in motorsports, she’s speaking from a depth and variety of experience - and we should all listen. And this is what’s driving her newest campaign, the “Dare to be Different” initiative.

“We just need more young women entering the sport, there are just not enough women competing to rise to the top,” she says. “Naturally it would help to have one young woman racing, I believe when you can see it you can believe it, open up the sport, make it more accessible and you will inspire the next generation…

…at my time at Williams, I had Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, it was a very strong line-up so I don’t have any bitterness that I didn’t get my chance,” she says. “But there were some very tough moments along the way, walking into a garage and people having a lot of scepticism when they see you in the car, so you felt you had to prove yourself more than your male counterparts. That was part and parcel of what I was used to.”

If you’d like to join in on the F1 madness (and please do!), I recommend the following:

  • listen to Choosing Sides first to get a solid foundation of the sport, teams, and key players in F1. Follow it up with Drive to Survive (you can skip to the latest season once you listen to the podcast) so you’re caught up for the 2023 season.

  • subscribe to Lily’s newsletter, Engine Failure.

  • listen to Engines, EVs & Espresso and Two Girls 1 Formula to stay up to date on the business and culture of F1

There are far better things our tax dollars can - and should - be used for than banning inclusive books or comprehensive curriculum that teaches the perspectives of non-white, non-straight Americans.

What we read, watch, and listen to (especially for our own enjoyment) helps shape how we view the world. I am beyond grateful to be raising my South Asian sons in a time where they see themselves in the shows they watch and the books they read. I also make sure they’re learning about how other kids and families live as well through books and films and shows.

While representation helps us find our own identity, a diverse media diet helps us cultivate empathy. And sadly, that's what Moms 4 Liberty, book bans, and this conservative culture war is fighting.

The Human Rights Campaign, PEN America, the American Library Association, and GLSEN are doing what they can to combat the harm that these book bans are causing right now. This piece details what happens when a book is added to the “ban list” and the precarious position librarians and teachers are put in to comply with unjust laws while keeping their jobs - something they should not have to deal with.

If you’re looking to take a small action to support diverse books, may I suggest supporting Feminist Press? You can make a donation or purchase one of their books (Tabitha and Magoo Dress Up Too is one of our favorites!)

Disclosure - I’m on the board of directors of Feminist Press

Family Karma is one of my favorite shows on television right now, and I was thrilled to watch the season finale with Amrit, Nicholas, and Sushma (my brilliant friend who officiated their wedding, shown on the season finale).

One of the most powerful moments in this season was watching Amrit and Nicholas meet with their fertility doctors about freezing their sperm, and receiving some hard news about their samples. It’s both deeply relatable to anyone who’s faced fertility challenges, and unique in learning about the many challenges gay couples face when starting a family.

It’s a fascinating contrast to another Bravo show set in Miami and another gay couple’s challenging path to grow their family (albeit contrasted with one wife’s transphobic posts - something I fundamentally disagree with).

“Paths to queer parenthood are varied, and they’re also difficult — even for the most privileged members of the LGBTQ+ community. Julia is wealthy and has a lot of access, and Nicholas and Amrit don’t seem nearly as rich, but they do seem financially secure, have jobs, and have platforms reality television stars. And yet even for people with a lot of access and power, it’s still hard…

…reality television is far from real, but when it does manage to capture realities like this? It does things even scripted television doesn’t do.”

Perfectly said, Kayla.

When I think of a leader, I think about women like Blessing Adesiyan, Esther Ayorinde-Iyamu, and Luvvie Ajayi Jones.

I’ve learned so much from each of these women on how to lead, how to use my voice, and how to build tables and teams to work towards a common goal.

Nigerian women are formidable leaders in the private sector and on the global stage. However, they have minimal representation in their own country’s leadership - and that’s by design.

“Only recently, Nigerian lawmakers rejected a number of bills that would open the door for increased representation of women in politics, including legislation mandating that women fill 35% of appointed positions in government and 35% of elective positions. The current rate of women candidates for the upcoming elections is not encouraging.”

The first step in changing a narrative or making change is to understand the issue at hand. I learned a lot in this piece about the specific challenges Nigeria’s women leaders face in getting elected and serving in the public sector. And while you may wonder what this has to do with the rest of the world, consider that Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa and its non-oil sector is growing steadily, thanks to a robust entrepreneurial sector. What happens in their elections will have a global impact and an impact in the girls and women in the country, who are too often ignored or whose free labor is taken for granted (sound familiar?).

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